You’re Allowed to be Human While the World Burns
I’m coming straight out of the gate with some honesty for you today—every time a global crisis gains immediate urgent attention on social media, we enter into an unnecessary activism-Olympics that does nothing but fuel white supremacy culture’s goal of exhaustion, division, and never-enough-ism. The literal system of oppression that is the enemy wins every single time someone exerts more energy into finger-pointing someone else’s activism rather than focusing on collective and community service, care, and healing. I’m not saying there’s never a time for accountability when someone is actively causing harm that can’t be ignored. But more often than not, that’s not what I’m seeing. What I see are people hiding behind screens, quick to pounce on others in a rush to boost their own moral high ground, all while avoiding any real reflection on themselves.
Guess what?
That’s white supremacy culture. And that is perpetuating the very system that is responsible for the very oppression you claim to be fighting against.
But, here’s the thing (and I’m going to hold your hand while I say this): most of you all are not trying to fight white supremacy.
Why?
Because most of you benefit too much from white supremacy to want to actually dismantle it. (Ouch.) In fact, many of you still internally (or maybe even externally) reel from the words white supremacy. For many of you, it still feels like an attack on YOU as a person (if you’re white.) And if you’re white, you likely want to stroke your I’m-doing-something-good-ego more than you want to actually see oppression become obliterated. Because, in order to see oppression vanish, you must be willing to release your grip on the power other people’s oppression secretly gives you. And that power is fueled by white supremacy.
White supremacy demands our constant belief that we are never doing enough or are never enough as human beings. And yes, this is directly connected to the oppression that both hoards wealth and power in America and funds genocides abroad. White supremacy only works when it convinces humanity that there are versions of humanity that are more worthy than others. It maintains this when it convinces us that it is our fault that we are not worthy so that we put ourselves in a never ending loop of overwork, overwhelm, and shame so that we either send exuberant amounts of money trying to become worthy (thus fueling capitalism which is like the engine that keeps this machine running), stay too exhausted to fight back, or focusing so much on dividing and criticizing each other that we burn out and throw in the towel.
The more white supremacy culture can instill in us that the value of everyone’s humanity is contingent upon proximity to whiteness (who’s life is more valuable), performance (how I can perform in such a way that look like whiteness so that I can prove I am valuable), or productivity (how much I can produce, achieve, or sacrifice in order to be seen as worthy or righteous), the more we find ourselves subconsciously feeding the system that justifies all oppression. Running yourself into the ground in the name of activism because you want to prove that you’re “doing enough” feeds the system. Looking for every single flaw in everyone else’s activism and demanding a level of performance—that you likely aren’t giving yourself—feeds the system. Refusing yourself rest, joy, or continuance of your life because “nothing else should matter right now,” feeds the system.
I’m not saying that when there are crises—like the ones we are rightfully focusing on in Gaza, Sudan, Congo, Yemen, and more—that we carry on with life as usual just because “rest is resistance.” That is privileged and inhumane. However, the expectations we often set for ourselves, which are typically the result of the fear of getting called out on social media, aren’t liberatory for anyone. They’re just trauma responses masked as activism. They’re just white supremacy culture hard at work.
I’m not taking away the urgency of the crises we are witnessing.
Yes, these crises are urgent. We can never overlook the fact that millions are dying in an intentional genocide, forced starvation, and full government takeover of Gaza and other nations around the world. Every single human life deserves our utmost attention, noise, protest, boycott, and whatever other resource we can offer. Silence is complicit. However, no amount of perfect performance will save you, prove you, or change the system. Ignoring your own life will only exhaust you to the brink of no return, thus causing you to bow out of the fight altogether.
I know it feels selfish. And I know it feels like your own life challenges, situations, and even joys are arbitrary when thousands of mothers are watching their children die of salvation. But, your human needs must be met if you plan to withstand this fight. If you are in this liberation fight for the long haul—meaning you plan to continue fighting for every single human who suffers under the weight of oppression, then you must be as well a you can be to do so. You must look at your rest, joy, and even your daily life responsibilities as fuel for the battle. You cannot fight for someone who is starving if you are hungry yourself. Your fight will be less effective and likely taper off before you’ve truly gotten started.
White supremacy culture will weaponize your burnout. When we are always reacting, hustling, and performing out of fear, we will not be able to sustain the slow, rooted work that true liberation requires. And yes, the crises at the forefront are urgent and need our immediate attention. But, liberation work doesn’t stop there. For lasting liberation of all peoples, the work must be slower, intentional, thorough, diligent, and patient. And it takes a great amount of energy to sustain it. It is lifelong work, and we need every hand on deck to make it happen. That means yours—your well-rested, well-fed, perfectly imperfect, doing-your-best-with-what-you-have hand is needed.
So, how do we stay urgent without becoming what we’re fighting against?
First, we define what liberated urgency looks like. Hint: it don’t look nothing like the urgency we’re used to that’s driven by white supremacy culture. Liberated urgency doesn’t demand that you be everywhere at once. Pick one to two ways you know you can show up for both the emergent genocides and deeper, systemic-changing liberated work. You can’t do everything and there’s no use in feeling guilty over the limitations of your humanity. That’s literally called being a human.
Liberated urgency also prioritizes impact over optics. Social media is the place for a nice optical illusion. Everyone wants to look like they are making an impact, but so few are truly making said impact. Don’t worry about what you look like. All that will do is center yourself and take your focus off what matters. Focus on what impact you can make with the resources you have. If it’s donations, wonderful. If it’s emails, text, and phone calls, awesome. If it’s protests at your local city hall or state capitol building, awesome. You can make enormous impact without advertising it on social media. Yes, social media is an excellent tool for speaking up and raising awareness, but it is not the place to prove your impact.
Second, make space for a rooted focus on sustainable action. Build rhythms of resistance into your life that work with you and for the collective liberation of all. This includes internal work (breaking up with white supremacy culture is key) and external work (making noise in your places of local impact such as school boards, town hall meetings, and church groups.) If you happen to be raising children—or teaching them—remember that they are the work, too. Much of the deeper, rooted work may feel less glamorous, Instagram worthy, and quickly satisfying. This doens’t make it less important. It makes it that much more necessary.
Urgency doesn’t have to mean chaos. It can mean commitment. Commitment to showing up when it’s hard. Commitment to staying when the spotlight moves. Commitment to becoming the kind of person who can hold complexity and still act.
Third, pick a few embodied practices to anchor yourself in the work without losing yourself to the work. These practices can be a part of your sustainable rhythm and lifelong liberation work. Some ways you can do this include:
making space to grieve and take action
participating in mutual aid requests (not just reposting them)
resting as a way to reclaim your nervous system from white supremacy culture
building local community as a form of resistance (and continuing your commitment to shop local, small, and BIPOC-owned businesses)
continuing to weave joy into your life to fortify and edify you for the fight
Most importantly, remember that your humanity matters, too
The fire is over there—we see it, and we’re running full steam ahead to help put it out. This isn’t some “all lives matter” deflection. This is not about ignoring the crisis. Focusing on yourself, too—remembering your humanity—is not a distraction from the cause. It’s fuel for it.
It’s the gas that keeps the engine running.
It’s the charger that keeps your battery from dying.
And it is, in and of itself, a form of resistance—because remember: the system is counting on you to forget that you matter at all.
You are allowed to still be a human when the world is on fire.
You are allowed to still be a human when also fighting to end suffering.
You are allowed to still be a human while the headlines feel unbearable.
You are allowed to still be a human.