Her work, based in Revolutionary Love, sheds light on student encampments for Gaza.

A dispatch from Valarie Kaur

In the last few weeks, as campuses exploded in violence, my team and I traveled across the country and worked with people on how to respond with Revolutionary Love. Here are glimpses from last week:

• In Baltimore, we sat for hours with students in encampments and led teach-ins on tools for nonviolent resistance based in love. I met behind-the-scenes with administrators on strategies for de-escalation. And they listened.
  
• In Wisconsin Dells, we heard the stories of young people of color surviving acute trauma — and worked through tools for rage, healing and repair.
  
• In Madison, we brought stories, music, and tools to hundreds of community leaders, including educators risking themselves to protect their students. They used our tools to discern their particular role in history. One professor lifted up a call for courage even after he was assaulted by the police.
  
• In New York City, just a few miles away from Columbia University, I talked urgently with faith leaders about the ancestral stories and moral clarity needed to anchor people in shared humanity above all.
  
• In Los Angeles, where horrifying mob violence was inflicted on students at UCLA, my baby cousin, a freshman, was badly hurt by counter-protestors who hit students with metal rods, fireworks, and mace, as police stood by for hours. All the pain I witnessed in the country hit home. As we help her heal, I see in her the courage of countless students risking their safety to stop bloodshed.

I know the horrifying events of the week are cause for despair and paralysis. I offer you these glimpses, so that you may see what I see — thousands of people in pain AND thousands more who can reach out to one another in the dark to offer love. Liberation work is right here, right now, where you are. Imagine there is a role only you can play, an action only you can take, a difference only you can make.

Focus on what breaks your heart — the death toll in Gaza now at 34,000+ including 14,500 children, the invasion of Rafah, the plight of the hostages, the atrocities in Ukraine and Congo and Sudan, the alarming use of force by police and counter-protesters on students, the astounding rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia and all forms of hate. Notice what that heartbreak feels like in your body. Now, hold this question: What does love want you to do?

1. Call for ceasefire. We are making daily calls to Congress to call for a ceasefire. A ceasefire is necessary to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and work to release the hostages. We are following the lead of Palestinian-Israeli groups working together to end the occupation and build a shared future. We cannot implement their solutions for repair without a permanent ceasefire. Join us in this daily practice of calling Congress. Click here for how.

2. Support the peacebuilders.Standing Together is a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace to save the lives of innocent people in Gaza and bring back Israeli hostages alive. They are mobilizing people around a vision of freedom, equality, and security for all in the region.

3. Practice humanity. There is only one side that matters right now: the side of humanity. We are inspired by thousands of you sharing words, images, and tools from our movement to return people to their humanity. Practice the world you want in the space available to you. Use the Revolutionary Love Compass as your guide. Click here.