Freedom Counts
What counts as freedom? This passover weekend, I’ve read both Zapatista and Jewish texts, or rather stories—mythical, metaphoric, magical—of people liberating themselves from what we Jews call “the narrow place,” … Continue reading
Books as Containers
I see the books that I bring to life not as mere printed object but instead as containers. They are containers of social relationships far beyond what appear on the … Continue reading
An Elegy for the Living
At the heart of anarchism is the simple notion that we, as social animals, need communities. Do-it-ourselves, chosen, autonomous, interdependent, beloved, caring, abundant, egalitarian, queer, collective, ecological, dreamy, and so … Continue reading
We Are Fucking Angry
One of the overlooked and underrated emotions of grief is rage. It is just as cathartic and necessary as sorrow, and likely—if uprisings against murder-by-cop, femicide, or fascist coups are … Continue reading
“Survivor’s Guilt”
During this year+ of plague, I’ve felt the strong presence of my chosen Jewish rebel ancestors. Sometimes they bring comfort and resilience, especially via their millennia-long legacies of resistance and … Continue reading
Ecosystem of Resistance
Whenever an uprising kicks off, we see a flurry of “riot porn” images and direct action tactics/tips posted on our social media. Don’t get me wrong: both can be inspiring … Continue reading
Unfolding with the Earth
On month thirteen of my daily #FuckCOVID19 walks, I’m now wandering through a second spring, yet with even keener eyes. On the most microscope or molecular, or tenderest, of levels, … Continue reading
Weathering Pandemics
(Originally posted on April 8, 2020, on my Instagram @cindymilstein; photo taken during one of my #FuckCOVID19 walks on repeatedly stolen Ho-Chunk lands) *** It rained a cold, dreary-gray, at-times-heavy … Continue reading
Care Is Collective
We cannot get over the pandemic wall—nor any other deadly walls, whether border or prison walls, or less concrete ones such as patriarchy or white supremacy—without rock-solid collective care, among … Continue reading
We Too Hit Walls
We rebels hit pandemic walls. Not the kind that the NYTimes recently wrote about: a lack of productivity and purpose; an existential ennui of “What time is it? What day … Continue reading