I Participate in the Systems of Oppression

I participate in the systems of oppression. I own an iPhone 11. My chosen family is trying to find land together to build a community. I have made countless interpersonal mistakes. I take flights often for work. I eat Korean BBQ meat. There are so many instances.

I also have joy. I laugh until my cheeks hurt. I eat indulgent food at friends’ homes. I take naps. I go to museums that also have colonized work in them.

Why am I sharing these things?

I am sharing these because I am not better than anyone else nor am I more special. Do not saint-ify me. Do not pedestal me. I am a fellow human trying to navigate being human in a dehumanizing world.

I also am sharing these because I have witnessed countless friends doing vital and movement-changing liberatory work get shredded by their own people for showing joy, for showing they are human, and for participating in this system in which we are all a part.

My life’s work is offline, this account is my free time. I know this account will continue to grow, even though that is not something I am trying to do. But as it grows I have noted how it also becomes more dehumanizing.

So when folks inevitably try to attack me for being human, for being fallible, for showing emotions, for not showing emotions. For sharing my joy, for not sharing my joy. When folks dehumanize me for being human, I can say I spoke up and tried to fight the monster.