I read two books in the past two weeks that made me think about writing. Not that I need to write, or I want to write, but what writing does to the rest of the world.
One of them was a collection of humorous essays that were well, not all that funny. Which happens. What we find to be funny is super personal. And her book of essays (to me) could have been subtitled spoiled girl life stories. She even talks in them about knowing she's selfish and self centered but then I'm supposed to find the interactions she has after that funny because I know how self centered she is. Instead I just thought, yeah, you are.
But I read them all. One because I kept thinking I would find the essay that warranted the "funny" reviews. The other because her life is completely different than mine. In practically all ways. And that's interesting to me. To read about a world that exists that I am not a part of even though it is clearly in the same world I live in.
And, of course, I read them all because I need antagonists in my own fictional stories so she will work nicely as a frame.
The other book I read was Ta-Nehisi Coates new book The Message and he talks about writing, and in particular the style of writing he does, as being powerful. It can change things. And it's true. His books always give me something to think about. Something that adds to my world view. A perspective that is (much like the other book) from someone who is very different than I am. Who has lived a life that is unlike mine.
I finished The Message while I was on a plane or I probably would have come right in to the office and written a blog right then. Instead I jotted down a quick note and thought I'd get back to it when we got home.
The thing I wrote down was that telling stories, writing stories, changes the world like water changes a landscape. And just like water we might not notice the changes as they happen because it's so subtle, or it might be a flood that washes away everything we thought we knew.
Coates talks about the importance of writing. Of how we need to tell stories. And tell the hard stories. And tell the stories with perspectives that aren't always seen. And how important it is to do that.
He can be like a flood. His audience is large, his reach is wide, and when he chooses to write about something he is like a flood. He wrote about visiting Palestine and Israel in this book. About seeing what was going on there (was as in he visited before October 7, 2023) and how we in the US are not ever really given the full view of the area. We are fed a steady diet of the Israeli perspective. And once you see the other side it changes how you view things.
I cannot remember the first time I was given a glimpse of the other side. The view of Palestine and Palestinians not as an inconvenience to Israel expansion at best and as nothing but terrorists at worse. The first time I was forced to see that these are people who did not ask to be occupied. To be removed. To be subjugated. And then the first time I realized that everytime Israel struck the West Bank or Gaza with missiles in retaliation for rocks it was US bombs they were using.
To see the exposure that has happened over the past year where Netanyahu is finally being called out for what he is. Where the IDF tactics are being viewed more and more for what they are. That has given me a little hope. But seeing the number of people who cannot separate criticism of the Israeli government from antisemitism has remained frustrating.
Both ways.
There are people who will come at you hard for criticizing the way Israel treats Palestine. They will shout you down. Call you an anti semite. Try to shame you into silence. Especially now. They will just bring up October 7th as if that justifies what has happened.
And there are people who can't seem to defend Palestine and Palestinians without devolving into anti semitism. Because there is a lot of anti semitism in the world.
The terrorist attack of October 7th was horrific. What has happened since is not justified by that.
It can't be.
For anyone who has known me for any length of time you know I had the same stance about 9/11. What happened on 9/11 was horrific. What we did over the DECADES that followed was not justified by that.
An eye for an eye just leaves the whole world blind.
Massive drone strikes from the US over Afghanistan and Iraq has lead to more radicalization not less.
The same thing is happening in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon. Ah yes, Lebanon. Much like Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 but we still used it as justification to bomb them Israel has used the Hamas attacks as a justification to attack Hezbollah. Just in case...
But now Coates has seen these things with his own eyes. And he is writing about them. And because he's writing about them he's getting the YOU CAN'T SAY THESE THINGS treatment. But the amazing thing is that he isn't backing down. He's continuing to talk about them. To get coverage for what he wrote. Which will give more people exposure to his book and they can read them as well. And see what he has to say. (I also recommend any of the reporting that John Oliver has done on Palestine over the years, it's been very good as well, that link will take you to the piece he recently did on the West Bank)
He is a flood.
He can change the landscape.
And in his book he talks about how important writing is. And as someone who is a gentle drizzle at best I felt really good reading that.
Keep writing. That's the message I got.
Keep talking about difficult things. That's the message I'm passing along to you.
We can change the world.
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