February is Black History Month, where we honor the triumphs and achievements of Black culture across this country throughout our history. Last Saturday, Lunar New Year observances began, a time when many Asian cultures recognize family, culture, and the dawning of a new year. Sunday was the Super Bowl, a secular American commemoration of capitalism and excess. Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, here in Chicago called Paczki Day by some – the last celebration before the restrictions of lent. Paczki are Polish pastries, especially popular here in Chicago because of the large historical Polish population. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, a time when couples revel in their romantic love, or when some acknowledge the place love of all kinds has in our lives. 

It is important that we create and embrace moments of joy in our lives, and each of us might find different pieces of joy within that litany of holidays, moments, and memories. Or perhaps some don’t value any of those I listed – but moments of joy are important for them just the same.

And at the same time we hold those moments close to our own hearts, we must remember that Israel slaughtered another 100 Palestinians today in Gaza in their brutal occupation, which has killed more than 28,000 people and displaced millions. The Palestinians were told to evacuate southward, and evacuate again, until now they are in Rafah, the southernmost point of the Gaza Strip, and there is nowhere to which they can flee. We must remember that thousands have died and many more have been displaced in brutal fighting in Sudan. Ongoing strife and poverty in the Congo, a legacy of civil wars there and, further back, a legacy of brutal colonialism, continue to kill thousands every month. 

And as Americans, we must acknowledge our lack of care about each of those nations. We must especially acknowledge that our own desire for the latest electronic device continues to fuel horrible mining conditions in the Congo, contributing to the ongoing deaths there. And we must acknowledge that our government is the prime funder of death in Gaza. If we withdrew our funding from Israel, the mass deaths would have to stop – Israel does not have the means to carry out this kind of killing without our support.

And those of us who believe in that acknowledgment must move beyond it – we must take action. We must speak out to our Representatives, our Senators, and the President to remind them that we, like a majority of Americans, favor a ceasefire in Gaza. We must work to withdraw funding from Israel. We must protest. We must boycott. We must continue to call attention to what is happening. 

We must hold joy in tension with our sadness and anger about these events, because all of these emotions spring from the same root: the value that we place on life, and the love that we have for our fellow humans. We must not forget to lean into moments of joy. And we must not forget to lean into our sadness and anger. It is only by doing both that we express our full humanity and connect with others in theirs.

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