The Gathering | Fiercely triumphant joy - Avodah

The Gathering | Fiercely triumphant joy

Published Jul 1, 2022
Patrick Perkins; Unsplash
I was teaching a session last month on finding your pathway into justice work when one of the participants challenged a slide. I’d identified some of the ongoing tools we need: space for grief, investment in joy, seeking out inspiration, and deep reliance on our relationships. The participant was specifically reacting to the suggestion of holding joy as central to one’s justice work—he found it hard, if not impossible, to find joy in working on such dire issues.
 
I thought of him as I attended marches and events last month related both to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Pride Month. The newest incarnations of threats to bodily autonomy and human rights, in particular queer rights and reproductive rights, presage a tremendous amount of suffering and harm. Rage is necessary and warranted, as is sorrow. Yet, I also found exuberance throughout those community actions. We need material and physical support, electoral and legal change, as well as activists who are working toward radically different ways of building and being that go far beyond any of what we have now. Similarly, we also need room for many methods of spiritual nourishment if we are going to sustain ourselves throughout the ongoing work: we need rage and grief; love and joy. 
 
At these events, there was solidarity and relief in spaces created for people to share their abortion stories. There was energy in music and dancing, in costumes that delighted us and signs that made us laugh. There was a clear commitment: even—and especially—when our institutions do not protect us, we are here for each other. We celebrate and value each person in our community. We insist upon building and maintaining a better world for each other—and that world absolutely must include loving, fiercely triumphant joy.
 
— Sarra Alpert, Director of The Avodah Institute for Social Change

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