“Do not be alone right now. Any liberation—all liberation—is collective liberation. My freedom is bound with yours and yours with mine. Inextricably.”-Karen G. Johnston
Seek some company that reminds you of your inherent worth.
Sovereignty and Resiliency
“We cannot submit ourselves to a system that does not serve us nor anyone but a few elite who care about nothing but our death and subjugation. We must engage our sovereignty. We must learn of our own power and strength through the resiliency our ancestors have passed to us.” -Jaque Fragua, Indigenous (Walatowa-Jemez Pueblo) artist
What resiliency has been passed to you by your ancestors? How do you engage it in the work of liberation?
Loving the World
“Because love is an act of courage—not fear—love is a commitment to other people. No matter where the oppressed are found, the act of love is a commitment to their cause—the cause of liberation. And this commitment, because it is loving, is dialogical…. Only by abolishing the situation of oppression is it possible to restore the love which that situation made impossible. If I do not love the world, if I do not love life, if I do not love people, I cannot enter the dialogue.” -from Pedagogy of the Oppressed, by Paolo Friere, Brazilian educator and philosopher.
Express courageous love today.
The Altar of Freedom
“We want more soul, a higher cultivation of our spiritual faculties. We need more unselfishness, earnestness and integrity of high and lofty enthusiasm and beacons of light and hope, people ready and willing to lay time, talent and money on the altar of freedom.” -Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, 19th Century US poet, author, and Unitarian, and one of the first African-American women to have her work published.
What does it mean to you to lay your time and talent on the altar of freedom?
Dr. King’s Liberation Theology
As the US celebrates the life and liberatory ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, we note that King’s liberation theology called him, time and again, to be on the side of the oppressed. To find ways of being in solidarity with those who suffered not only from racism, but also from militarism and economic injustice.
How can you find solidarity with the oppressed today?