Havdalah #27: Mutual Aid, Sudan, & Anti-Trans Bigotry in RI (Take Two)

Hello all, and welcome to Havdalah #27 —

I hope you’re enjoying your September so far; it’s a been a crazy couple of weeks at work for me, but even with that, this gentle sort of golden slide into autumn, after a summer of temperature extremes, has been bringing me some ease. The newest round of Covid vaccines are available, along with flu shots, and while they do hit like a truck if you’re unlucky, try and get them if you can. I’m recovering from my own dose, and I think I’ll take a walk after dinner, among the green leaves not yet turned, listening to the crickets that are already out. It’ll be a fall to take your moments of peace where you can, because there won’t be many of them.

We’ve brought you a newsletter of edification this week, I think. Lee’s Sidebar on Sudan will hopefully make you think about what’s happening there, and what you know already, and what you don’t, and why those categories might have happened, and what blind spots your news sources might have. Anti-trans bullshit has flared up again in RI and is documented in our Fash Watch (and Steve Ahlquist’s blog, our beloved), so check that out as well.

It’s gonna be a long fall, so take a breath, and —

Goodnight, and mind how you go —

Katherine

ACLU: Banned Books Aloud

• When: Thursday, September 26, 6:00pm

• Where: Rochambeau Library, 708 Hope St., Providence, RI 02906

• Come join the ACLU to hear Rhode Island authors read banned books aloud that influenced them or their work.

• This event is free and open to the public.

• Banned Books Aloud Info

Continuing Actions for Palestine

Jewish Voice for Peace Weekly Flyering

• When: Every Wednesday, 5:00pm-6:00pm

• Where: Providence Train Station, 100 Gaspee Street, Providence, RI 02903

• JVP RI invites all to join them in their efforts to spread the word about their work and simple actions people can take to demand an end to the genocide in Palestine. They meet on the Statehouse side of the train station.

Weekly Kaddish

• When: Every Sunday, 1:00pm-1:30pm

• Where: Michael Van Leesten Pedestrian Bridge, Providence, RI 02903

• Jewish Voice for Peace RI and allies will be hosting a weekly gathering on Sundays to recite the Mourners Kaddish and communally grieve the Palestinians murdered by the Israeli military. You need not be Jewish to attend; all are welcome to participate.

Power Half-Hours for Gaza

• When: every day, Monday through Friday, 3:00pm EST

• Where: online

• Jewish Voice for Peace is holding Power Half-Hours for Gaza every day — join us as we channel our fury and sorrow into collective action to stop genocide.

• Power Half-Hours for Gaza Registration

Ceasefire Today Toolkit

• This toolkit has a variety of links, including call scripts, groups accepting donations, phone banks, petitions, and more

• Ceasefire Today Toolkit

News Coverage

• As always, especially when getting news from social media, be aware of who is sharing information and why they’re doing it.

• Al Jazeera Coverage of the War on Gaza has continued to be a reliable source

• Mondoweiss has also provided excellent context and deep dive pieces.

“Appreciation vs. Appropriation” Lunch & Learn

• When: Monday, September 23, 12:00pm-1:00pm

• Where: online

• Join the Tomaquag Museum monthly for a free virtual presentation on Indigenous history and culture.

• Appreciation vs. Appropriation Registration

Help Chelsey Make Rent for September!

Chelsey is a bartender who has been living in financial precarity for a while, and a series of injuries has put her in dire straits, most notably with making rent for this month. Please consider donating if you are able!

Chelsey’s GoFundMe

Lee (she / they)

Maybe you, like me, have heard and read people asking: as there are, tragically, multiple genocides currently being committed in places around the world, why is there so much more attention on Palestine than on the Congo, or Sudan, or elsewhere? I’m not sure this is the case in every context, but it’s true in my own social circles, and my own attention has previously been more on Palestine than elsewhere.

I imagine that anti-black racism has influenced what news stories I am most likely to encounter, and I have let this happen. I have not worked to inform myself about international events and issues affecting African countries — I have not been talking about these issues because I am ignorant. So I have made a commitment to learning more, starting with learning about what’s happening in Sudan.

As someone with no direct experience or personal connection to Sudan, I know that my understanding will be very limited, and likely very biased. It would be easy to use this as an excuse to simply disengage — I am biased and uninformed, so I shouldn’t have an opinion, so I should not spend time thinking about this. But when the US has so much power to arm genocidal military campaigns, as we are seeing with Israel’s genocide in Palestine… How can I not wonder how we are impacting the situation in Sudan, and what opportunities we might have to advocate against policies that support genocide?

Some of the sources I have found most helpful:

• BBC’s brief summary of the current violence and genocide

• NPR podcast explaining the historical background

• Introductory context and interview with a Sudanese organizer

• First-person account from a Sudanese reporter

Some common threads I have seen in what I am reading and hearing:

• This is not a “civil war”, but instead a fight between two military powers (the SAF and the RSF), neither of which is supporting the Sudanese people’s calls for a civilian-led government.

• Both military forces are blocking humanitarian aid, using hunger as a weapon of war and committing violence against civilians.

• The RSF has been committing ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

• Peace talks thus far have not been effective; the existing arms embargoes on Darfur are being violated, and UN experts as well as humanitarian organizations are calling for expanding the arms embargo to include all of Sudan.

In Sudan, unlike in Palestine, the US is not directly providing the weapons to those committing genocide. But other countries are — it appears that weapons being used in Sudan may be coming from Iran and the UAE.

So what can we do, here in the US, as individuals and through policy? I sometimes hesitate at the idea of international intervention — can foreign powers be trusted to prioritize and center the people of Sudan, who have been protesting and organizing for years for a civilian-led government? At the same time, when international policies have created conditions that support military powers in committing human rights abuses and war crimes, calling on our government to do all it can to stop the flow of weapons feels necessary.

I don’t know if calling my representatives will make a difference, but I call and urge them to do everything possible to support an arms embargo on Israel, an arms embargo on Sudan — to sanction any military committing genocide anywhere.

Because of barriers to aid organizations accessing the places and people where aid is needed, some chatter on social media suggests donating directly to Sudanese people and grassroots efforts. I have mixed feelings about taking advice from social media. It offers a platform to people directly experiencing harrowing events and speaking from their experience, and informed people with sharp analysis, and uninformed people saying the first thing that comes to their mind, and trolls, and people like me who are struggling to figure it all out. It feels hard to know which websites to trust and how to get support to the people who need it. But I do believe in supporting grassroots efforts led by people experiencing the crisis firsthand.

I do my best to find trustworthy funds to give to and to share with others:

• Sudan Solidarity Collective (Donate to SSC)

• Keep Eyes on Sudan lists many organizations and funds to donate to

I do not know the right thing to do, but I am committed to continuing to learn. I am willing to make mistakes, and to learn from those too. In uncertainty, I will keep trying.

Needle Drop: “The International Rescue Committee says the global community has failed Sudan”, Morning Edition, NPR

Local News Round-Up: Anti-Trans Crusade Intensifies in RI

Westerly school committee moving forward with plan to edit district’s transgender student policy (Steve Ahlquist, September 9, 2024)

Lincoln folks push back against anti-trans bigotry at school committee meeting (Steve Ahlquist, September 12, 2024)

Warwick defends their children from anti-trans bigots (Steve Ahlquist, September 13, 2024)

East Providence turns out against anti-trans bigotry (Steve Ahlquist, September 13, 2024)

Deep Dives

Mouthbreathing Machiavellis Dream of a Silicon Reich (Corey Pein for The Baffler, May 19, 2014)

How Telegram Became a Sanctuary for Domestic Terrorists (James Bandler, A.C. Thompson, and Karina Meier for ProPublica and Frontline, September 3, 2024)

“We Have to Diminish the Spaces Between People” (Kelly Hayes in Organizing My Thoughts, September 6, 2024)

On Cats, Fascism, and The Moral Clarity We Need (Kelly Hayes in Organizing My Thoughts, September 12, 2024)

Pod Recs: It Could Happen Here

JD Vance & Peter Thiel, An Ideological Love Story (August 14, 2024)

What Happens When A US Volunteer Is Shot by the IDF? (September 6, 2024)

How to Stop the Far Right in Three Easy Steps (September 9, 2024)

Harris V. Trump: The Thriller in Wherever They Filmed This Debate (September 12, 2024)

What Happens When Temperatures Soar at the Border? (September 13, 2024)