Author: Michael Tino

“If there’s no such thing as a Bad Guy out there somewhere, then it’s clear why our fear-based system of dehumanization is failing to keep us safe: we can’t get to lasting safety by insulating ourselves from mythical external threats with border walls; we can’t get to real safety by expelling or confining certain kinds of people…. We can’t run from ourselves. The answer to safety is always closer rather than farther away. Only together can we create safety.” -Zach Norris, in Defund Fear

How can you help to create safety in your communities?

Discomforting the privileged
in the name of wholeness
in the name of holy
Discomfort
in the name of holy
Disruption” -Kiakiali Bordner, from “Holy Discomfort and Holy Disruption”

How have you experienced holy discomfort and holy disruption in the name of justice?

“You are the embodiment of what we need…
The embodiment not of productivity but
the embodiment of radical love, care and sanctuary.” -Elandria Williams, from “We Are Worthy”

How can you embody radical love, care, and sanctuary today?

“Let us know, and let it be said by generations to come
that when the pain of our separation was revealed,
We moved closer to the promised land of our beloved community.” -Anya Sammler-Michael

How has the pain of separation helped you to envision the beloved community?

“Words are imperfect tools we use to tell our story, to know our truth. If we remember their limits, perhaps we can use them to greater benefit. If we remember that we are all and always translating, listening for the words beneath the words, then perhaps we will make more time and more space to listen and even to hear.” -William Sinkford

What words do you struggle with in our work for justice?