Background: My Motivation

In my original application for Anne Braden, we were asked to explain what motivates the political work we do.  This seemed like a good thing to share here:

I’m motivated by the personal relationships I have to people who are experiencing on a daily basis the effects of our racist and unjust system and the resilience I’ve seen in these communities. Having seen the ways oppression manifests itself into poverty, violence and a lack of resources while at the same time seeing the resilience, strength and courage of communities in struggle, I’m motivated by the opportunity to work along side these movements. That being said I do the work I do not only for others but also for me to feel more alive – it’s not a humanizing feeling to know that the system that privileges me in so many ways is causing others so much pain or to notice myself making stereotypes based on skin color.

I’m motivated by a belief that things can truly be different: that we don’t have to live in a world in which I have more resources than I will ever need while millions are without basic access to food, water and shelter; where skin color determines weather you get pulled over, arrested, deported or killed, where people are called illegal in a land that goes back to their ancestors; where people don’t even know their neighbor they’ve lived next to for years. But in the end I’m motivated by love – not just for the people I’ve been fortunate to work alongside - but also love for my family and the belief that they too would be happier in the world where community and human lives were valued over money and power.

While my drive to fight for justice originated through seeing the impact of U.S. imperialism in the global south, I now also root my passion in the history of my own people. As an owning class white Jew in the United States whose grandma fled the holocaust, my family has ingrained in us a story of oppression and privilege. We came here 3 generations ago as poor immigrants, and as a result of our skin color were able to assimilate to whiteness and begin to accumulate wealth. It was the immigration laws that still exist today that kept Jews from escaping the holocaust, and race that has allowed us (as in my family and many white Jews) to flourish. Knowing this history inspires me to organize my own community to fight against racism and classism via the migrant justice movement.