Paint, write, sing, gather, march, bear witness
No action is too small. Poetry & Art for Palestine
Hi friends,
It’s been a while. I’ve been intentionally staying quiet - leaving room for the important conversations that needed to happen, the conversations around oppression and colonisation. My grandfather passed away recently - he lived through some of the worst colonial violence during India’s partition. He spent the rest of his life traumatised, isolated, absent. Growing up with the consequences of colonisation, and islamophobia meant that the events in Gaza has been extraordinarily brutal & raw to witness. Art, as always has been a way to process all that is happening inside and out. I have often thought of the excerpt from William Carlos Williams poem that I sent out in the very first entry of this newsletter
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
On one hand, the lack of connection we have with each other, the othering and dehumanising is more visible than ever before, but on the other so are the songs, the posters and the poetry of protest. I have sat with helplessness, sent letters to the local MP, signed petitions, donated, not looked away. I have held all the innocent lives, the injustices caused by the occupation, the displacement, in my heart and painted.
I remind myself and you to take the time to connect with yourself and with others not like you. Paint, write, sing, gather, march, bear witness - no action is small. We all create the drum beat, the line & meter for what we think the world should be.
I’ll leave you with these calls to action:
1.
Here are the paintings I made during the last couple of weeks as way to sit with the collective grief and trauma of this moment.
If you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces, do send me a message - 100% of the proceeds from any purchase from this series will be donated to Medical Aid for Palestine - an organisation that does the crucial work of providing medical aid and support to Palestinians in the time of humanitarian crisis.
2.
A coming together unlike any I have seen before. I was able to attend the Outspoken Press’ Poets for Palestine event that I highly recommend watching/listening to as a recording. If you, like me, are needing to bear witness and process the brutality of this moment, you know how important it is to not look away.
3.
If you have made it this far, consider the immense privilege and responsibility that comes with being able to witness all of this from the safety of your home, of having space to process any of this - please do consider donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians so crucial medical aid can reach where there is no end to trauma.
Love,
sana