Thich Nhat Hanh’s Final Mindfulness Lesson

I first read Thich Nhat Hanh my senior year of college, and his words didn't resonate with me at first. The more I let them percolate in my mind, though, the more I was able to appreciate that I had to fully step outside of how I view the world to understand his perspective. I encourage you to not just read this piece memorializing him but also other pieces from his body of work. It will be well worth your time.

Bonus Stories:
Sybrina Fulton Found Her Painful Place in American History
There are few words to describe the impact that the murder of Trayvon Martin had on me and many people my age. His death came at a time that pushed many people like me into action, and the outcry after justice was not served crystallized in many ways my anger surrounding our racist society. His mother's words are always worth taking seriously, and this interview is no different.

Hundreds of NYPD Officers Break The Law
The NYPD is, functionally, a gang. They pick and choose what laws to enforce, they selfishly select which laws to follow themselves, and sometimes they just fabricate laws entirely to harass the communities they neither protect nor serve. Here, we see officers not paying the subway while maskless – something they viciously enforce on the citizenry (which they should not) and which they claim is a cornerstone of safe communities (which it is not).

Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court?
Yes. The answer is yes. And she has been for a long, long time. What's more, the legitimacy of the Supreme Court has been and continues to wane. Even in the long history of horrible decisions and terrible justices, the court has, since Bush v. Gore in 2000, been abysmal and increasingly corrupt.

The Lingering Mysteries Of The Plot Against The Capitol
Not only does this evidence make it clear that the gun laws in Washington, D.C. (which are stricter than in Virginia) greatly influenced the reticence of the insurrectionist to bring their arsenal to the Capitol, but this evidence is also a potent reminder of just how serious the insurrection was and how close it came to succeeding. We are not out of the woods yet... not by a long shot.

Listen on Spotify. 

• Bet | Tinashe (feat. Devonté Hynes)
• Coastin' | Victoria Monét
• We Drink | James Chatburn (feat. Frank Nitt)
• CINDERELLA, Pt. 2 | CHIKA
• It's About A Girl | Ryan Trey

Must Watch Movie

What: In the Heat of the Night
Who: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger
Where: HBOMax
Why: First and foremost, rest in peace and power to the legend, the talented, the hero, the absolutely iconic Sidney Poitier. This film is a classic. It is based on a novel of the same name, and it tells the story of a Black Philadelphia detective called Mr. Tibbs, who finds himself at the center of a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi. You can imagine the racial dynamic at play.

Poiter is a legend for all kinds of reasons, and this film puts so many of them on display. The story is driven by Poitier's power on screen. His character is a tough, kind, unrelentingly brave believer in right and wrong but no fool for lofty idealism. I learned a lot from Mr. Tibbs when I first watch this movie when I was 9 years old. To the real-life hero, Mr. Poitier, I will always be grateful.

Re: Jews Have a Race Problem

Holocaust Remembrance Day is January 27, and each year it marks a moment of pause and reflection on the genocide that very nearly wiped Jews from the face of the Earth. It is a solemn day, of course, but it is also one that makes me increasingly angry each year.

More and more, I have difficulty focusing on the intended purpose of the day. Instead, I am reminded of the flagrant antisemitism throughout the world, which has been rising along with rising fascist movements in the United States and abroad. I am also reminded of the pathetic education most Americans receive about the Holocaust and how that makes it even more challenging to combat antisemitism. Finally, I am reminded of the infuriating fashion by which right-wing folks – be they Jewish or not – contort the real threats of antisemitism to match their politics.

Yesterday, on The View, Whoopi Goldberg incorrectly asserted that the Holocaust was not about race. She is flatly wrong. The Holocaust was very much about race. You can read more about the race ideology of Nazism here, here, and here (and here's a great, short TikTok about it). Americans, even Jews, are very often poorly educated on the Holocaust and frequently hold completely ahistorical beliefs about what took place. The United States has staggeringly high levels of Holocaust denialism, but even among those who are well intentioned, there are often serious misconceptions.

Goldberg – whose last name in this moment it objectively funny – is not an antisemite. She was wrong, she was corrected, she apologized, and she learned. That should be basically all there is to it except for using this moment as a reminder as to exactly how poor American education on the Holocaust and antisemitism is.

Note: one of the reasons why American education is so poor on this subject and others is because of American unwillingness to engage with the reality that we were not the heroes in every story. For example: the U.S. did not enter World War II to stop the genocide. Exactly zero countries did so. The U.S. – and every other country involved – went to war to protect themselves. That the extermination of the Jews was avoided was, to many across the world, a regrettable side effect of defeating the Nazis.

The issue of race and the Holocaust is actually very important. It is a linguistic confusion because the concept and structure of race has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. Jews have been categorized, for hundreds of years, as a separate race. Our modern racial structure is tied almost exclusively to skin color, which would make many Jews white. Of course, there are non-white Jews, though they are far too often excluded from these conversations. White Jews, though, are viewed as white first and Jewish second… for the most part.

In the eyes of white supremacy, Jews are no better than people of color. That can be difficult for people who are not educated on the subject to understand. As a small anecdote, a friend of mine – Ivy League grad and super smart person – recently reached out to me to say he had his world rocked by a recent project at work, which involved researching white supremacist and fascist movements in the U.S. He said he always knew these people hated Jews and Black people, but he did not, until this project, fully apprehend just how fundamental the evil of the Jews is to their worldview. This lack of education is not limited to those without fancy degrees, nor does is follow lines of race, class, or gender.

All of this context would suggest that the issue of Goldberg’s incorrect assertion is not a matter of individual antisemitism but of the systematic antisemitism that keeps people ignorant to the truths of Jewish history and the persecution we have undergone. Instead of using this mild incident as a teaching moment, Goldberg was attacked by conservatives – including Jews – for being antisemitic. Coupled with their attacks on Goldberg has been a predictable trope they attach to all of their bad-faith critiques: that the left (and especially Black people) do not actually care about equality, that the “woke mob” only seeks to criticize conservatives. This is bullshit.

Fascists on the right are not putting forth a critique of antisemitism. They are using accusations of antisemitism to muddy the waters enough that they can employ it as a political tool anytime they want. Fighting antisemitism is about educating non-Jews and protecting Jews from the antisemitic threat. Let me make this plain. Educating non-Jews about the threat is critical to preventing a global, critical mass of people who just do not care enough to be bothered with us pesky Jews and our existence from turning away as another holocaust manifest itself.

It is especially disingenuous and enraging when Jews like Ben Shapiro weaponize their Jewishness to endanger other Jews, erase our experiences, and bludgeon other marginalized groups with their racism and bigotry. For example, somehow every accusation of antisemitism they promote is accompanied by an attack Black people, especially Black women, and especially Muslim Black women (like Ilhan Omar). These attacks are drummed up, out of context, and often outright fabricated. People like Shapiro depend on antisemitism because it is the only political leverage they have to espouse their Islamophobia, transphobia, racism, etc. Ironically, but unsurprisingly, this weaponization of fabricated victimhood is exactly what the Shapiros of the world accuse everyone else of. Because… of course.

The American right has nearly perfected the manipulation of antisemitism, which they have baked into the core values of their political objectives to con Jews onto their side. And American Jews have a complicated history of solidarity (or lack thereof) with other marginalized communities. While there is a strong track record of collaboration between Jewish and Black communities, it feels more fraught with problems today. The result is an American Jewish community that is divided sharply with far too many of us participating in the very immorality that leads to our destruction.

Solidarity is, for Jews, not only a matter of moral obligation but a matter of self-preservation. Too few understand and are willing to admit that.

There is so much to address with this topic, which is really a hundred topics. The evolution of race, Jewish American history, American partisan politics, the staunch conservative movement in Israeli domestic politics… there is a lot to unpack and address. My suggestion is not some overarching conclusion on it all or even some of it. Rather, my suggestion is that, yet again, I find myself reflecting on the confluence of factors at play when someone like Goldberg makes a mistake. I find myself thinking about the rise of fascism in our country, about the people in the Jewish community who are complicit, and, on a brighter note, the immense power that sustained and meaningful solidarity would have if more of us can muster the courage to get off the sidelines.

Coalition building is not sexy, nor does it happen overnight. But it remains, in my view, the only route with any reasonable probability of success. As pessimistic as I can be made to feel, I will not lose sight of that steadfast belief in comradery that is reinforced by my moral compass and the truths of history. 


As always, be you be great.