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12 Reminders to Stay Fueled for the Long Fight Ahead
In the middle of the biggest viral pandemic in a century, a global revolution sparking the largest antiracist movement of our lifetimes, worldwide protests against institutionalized racism and police brutality — and democracy on a cliff — we must fuel up for fight ahead. Here are 12 tips.
Lu Hanessian, MSc
Thomas Merton wrote that, in order to disarm the violence in the world, we must first disarm the violence in ourselves.
In the middle of the biggest viral pandemic in a century, a global revolution sparking the largest antiracist movement of our lifetimes, worldwide protests against police brutality on Black communities — and democracy on a cliff — we must fuel up for fight ahead.
Here are 12 tips for the road.
1. FB, IG, Twitter are not news sources.
It’s called social media. Recognize that it’s like being at a giant gathering where billions of people are talking over each other at high decibel, nobody trusts anyone, you’re unsure if you’re interacting with humans or bots, and yet you convince yourself you can’t leave because you “want to stay informed”. Know this truth: Disinformation is open game now. And it’s not benign. Social media, writ large, has become a high stakes arena where life and death issues play out in insidious ways. Fatigue and information overload make it hard to distinguish news from noise, what’s real from what’s willfully fabricated. Learn to discern. “Being plugged into media 24/7 is a fast track to mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion. Discern what is news and what is noise. What is historical and what is hysterical. What is traumatizing and what is merely uncomfortable.”
2. Post what you actively practice.
These revolutionary times are downloading the building blocks for ground-shifting change. Every hour offers previously unfathomable new developments and news updates. Social media has become a crowded public square, a virtual place for gathering, and a fireball of reactivity. Become conscious of reflex-sharing. Before you post, ask yourself questions like, “Why am I sharing…