and may the agents, systems and forces of oppression and harm
be neutralized and transformed, for all who dwell on earth. – a message from our friends at T’chiyah, a Detroit synagogue gearing up for Rosh Hashanah this weekend
Shana Tova!
Many of Belle Isle’s ancient trees, however,
The Summer is coming to an end. It has been amazing - and HOT. Here are some highlights.
The Michigan mid-terms shimmered on the side of LOVE and justice.
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| Ran into Donavan McKinney in our neighborhood a few weeks before he beat AIPAC-owned Shri Thanedar… We have spent an enraging amount of time + energy, over the past three years, calling and emailing Shri’s office, advocating for an end to the U.S.-sponsored Israeli genocide being waged in Palestine. We promised that if he continued to ignore his constituents— on this, and myriad other threats to survival the hardest hit Detroiters face— then we would work to unseat him. Thanks to Donavan’s compelling campaign of moral clarity, political courage + spiritual depth, we, the collective, were finally able to make right on that promise. We couldn’t be more thrilled to now be represented by a native Detroiter like Donavan, who faced endless racist attacks, amidst his grassroots campaign to give Detroiters the representation we deserve, and came out victorious, integrity intact. |
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| ...and Abdul did it too! |
Once again, we participated in the Interfaith Action for Palestine in Washington DC at the beginning of July. Tommy wrote all about it here.
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| Really creepy sign. Lol. |
(Many of the above photos are a collection from photographers who gave generously of their time + skill to document this year’s IAP.
If you’re interested in following more photo-journalists and organizers documenting + testifying to hope-inspiring collective organizing + action throughout our country,
give these accounts a follow on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/abbychavastein/ https://www.instagram.com/1photographer4justice/ https://www.instagram.com/khurram_jay/ )
Consider reaching out to us about ways to get involved, or throw your support CFP’s way,
if you are looking for a diverse, ecumenical, intersectional spiritual-political home,
one that is actively organizing U.S. Christians and allies seeking to end the genocide in Palestine,
as well as resisting the rising dangers of Christian Zionism + Christian Nationalism:
driving our country into endless wars abroad,
and deeper authoritarian repression at home.
We went to SoCal right after our DC trip! We celebrated 81 years of Sue Airey at the Troll exhibit in the botanical garden in Palos Verdes. It was 90 degrees, and at the end of the hour-long tour, Sue was begging for a margarita.
Tommy was twinning with his mother-in-law Nancy, right after she turned 70!!!!
Lindsay got to have fun at the waterpark,
with Kristen and two of her younger besties…
alongside their besties.
It was fun in the sun kind of medicine,
with barely any injuries to the participants in their 40’s to report! ;)
And, of course,
we made time to rest + recover together
at one of our favorite places on earth:
The Hole, SC.
Belle Isle: a sacred space in the Summer for Lindsay.
One Summer Sunday in Ann Arbor, Michigan: we went to church to listen to Dr. Sarah Nahar preach a message called "Holy Shit" and then we joined the Nahar clan and friends in a piano-moving adventure!
A few weeks later, we re-united in Detroit for playground fun and Yemenese food at Sheba Express.
In August, Tommy went on a 16-day road trip west. Most nights, he slept in the back of the minivan. He wrote about it a little bit here.
We survived our first ever tornado warning in Dertroit on Tommy's birthday last week. Went down to the basement for happy hour. Our home and neighborhood were spared from any serious direct or indirect impacts of the tornado that ripped through Detroit.
along with power lines, homes and other infrastructure
throughout the city and SE Michigan,
were not spared.
A harsh reminder,
among far too many this summer,
that an uncertain new era of increasing climate catastrophe
is coming for us all,
harshest and earliest for those
the system has already discriminated against and structurally abandoned.
Lindsay picked up a new weekly “Aunt-ing” gig for some dear friends toward the end of Summer…
as hanging with the little ones is one of her favorite things, it helps to have a new adoptive nibling who lives close enough to hang with weekly :)
A great way of reviewing and identifying the places each of us have been harmed,
within an addictive society,
and have learned to cope in ways that,
though they helped our little ones survive the best they could,
often get us the opposite of the intimacy and trust
we desperately crave as adults.
A helpful tool to remind us of all the ways we cope,
especially under stress,
so that we can identify the wounds needing more support to heal,
and get free.
May all beings be/get free!!
May we be the participants in making it so,
at the personal and collective,
micro and macro levels.
And may justice flow for the earth and all her peoples,
especially for those catching the most hell,
at ever-new-and-horrifying levels of brutality from an empire in collapse.
May we all be supported,
in our own corners and trenches,
to weave audacious, unapologetic truth and beauty,
in the face of all forces coming for Life.
