If I can't go to protests, what else can I do?
We're excited to be back on substack! Join us as we reflect on Deepa Iyer's Social Change Ecosystem
Dear Friends,
It’s been a while since we’ve been here on Substack!
Over the last six months, Laura and I have been deep in our work of community building for healthcare workers - we hosted our second cohort of Artist’s Way for Healthcare Workers in 5 cities across the US and hosted three Celebrations of Creativity for Healthcare. We’ve hosted spaces for grief and collaborated with LAKAS and Don’t Clock Out on a Know Your Rights training for clinicians. It’s been a deeply painful time, as we’ve seen beloved organizations and communities impacted by harmful policies. It’s also been a liberating time as we’ve felt more empowered to be more bold and clear in our values and have connected with so many incredible organizers and activists.
Over the last six months, I have oscillated between grief, rage, fear, paralysis, and hope - it’s been a rollercoaster. Where I’ve most struggled is with taking my desire to do something and translating it into action. I’ve struggled with not becoming paralyzed by my despair. As a physician and parent to a young child, accessing protests and accompanying families targeted by ICE wasn’t physically possible, but I had no idea what else to do. I wanted to do something, but felt unsure where to begin.
A few years ago, I first discovered Deepa Iyer’s Social Change Map, a framework that lays out all the different roles within a social justice movement. Deepa Iyer is an activist, lawyer, and author who developed the Social Change Ecosystem Map in 2017 in response to the first Trump presidency. As an outlet for her feelings of numbness and rage, she built this tool to offer activists a framework to build more clarity on the role we can play for all of us right now. In the framework, there are 10 different roles listed that are necessary to keep movements alive: Weaver, Experimenter, Frontline Responder, Visionary, Builder, Caregiver, Healer, Disrupter, Storyteller, and Guide.
(Credit
, Social Change Map Ecosystem. Learn more here)I love this tool because it honors how immense the justice movement truly is. We absolutely need folks on the front lines, attending protests and vigils, speaking up at City council meetings, calling Congress. We also need folks who care for each other, who offer healing, who tell our stories, who offer a vision of the world we are striving to create. There is a place for all of us in the physical and emotional capacity we have to show up. And our role in the movement can change over time as we grow and change.
Howard Thurman, a contemplative activist during the civil rights movement, speaks about anchoring our justice work on what makes us come alive. In a conversation with Gil Bailie, he offered this advice: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”
In this political moment, the obstacles before us can feel impossible to surmount. And yet- we know there is no other choice but to continue to fight for love and justice in every way we can. As we reflect on the world we wish to create, we can begin by asking ourselves this very question: what makes us come alive?
In this current season of my life, I am focusing my energy on being a weaver - building community and fostering connection every way I can. With our work with Introspective Spaces, we serve as builders and caregivers, doing our best to create a spiritual and contemplative home for healthcare workers as we navigate a harmful healthcare system. Laura and I recognize that our work is just one piece, one small thread, in the broader tapestry of justice work.
Even though we cannot predict what will happen in the coming months, we find solace in knowing we are not alone in this fight. When we center our activist work to be in alignment with our strengths and values, we will find our home within the movement.
What role resonates with you in the social ecosystem map? We’d love to hear from you!
Want to learn more about what’s coming up for Introspective Spaces? Join our full newsletter here to read more reflections on community care in healthcare and stay up to date with events.
With gratitude,
Anu & Laura
What We’re Reading: Decolonizing Wealth by Edgar Villanueva (incredible book on systemic racism & white supremacy in philanthropy and what we can do about it)
What We’re Listening To: On Being Podcast by Fady Joudah
What Bring Us Joy: I’m obsessed with cozy mysteries and am so grateful for this amazing blog that organizes cozy mysteries BY CATEGORY! Thanks to them, I have read an entire series of mysteries that take place in a cheese shop
[Have something that uplifts your soul? Share it with us and we’ll add it to the list]
Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to have to read up on these different roles to see where I can also best help out with the issues I care deeply for.