in this edition of our newsletter you’ll find:
🌱 What is Collective Liberation? ~ How can we come together to dismantle interconnected systems of oppression?
💧 What’s happening at noe?
🪴 A selected poem from our community: My Crime, !جريمتي by Khalil Sima’an
Enjoy!
Your noe team
Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up to get your own copy of the noe newsletter to your inbox with inspiration, empathy knowledge, and community building.
Contribute! You would like to contribute to our community column, be featured by our noe stories, or join our next noe circle? Shoot us an email: contact@networkofempathy.org
🌱 Planting Seeds
In this section we share thoughts and concepts around empathy that have inspired us and made us think.
Collective Liberation - Empathy and Solidarity
“Creating a world where all life on earth is able to exist freely, in symbiosis with a healthy environment, without the threat of violence, and with all the resources needed to thrive.”
On Collective Liberation, Slow Factory
Collective Liberation means freedom for all groups and all people; living in harmony with a healthy and safe environment. It recognizes that systems of oppression are intersectional and that all our oppressions are connected, and emphasizes the need to work together in solidarity to achieve Collective Liberation. Solidarity recognizes intersectional nature of oppression and builds community from across the shared experiences of oppression.
Collective Liberation is more than just an ideal; it's a grassroots, inclusive movement that brings communities together to dismantle systemic inequities. Empathy is at the heart of it as it fosters deep understanding and solidarity across diverse communities. In addition, genuine solidarity involves not just supporting but deeply connecting with each others' struggles. It requires environments that appreciate and actively integrate diverse perspectives and address historical injustices. Empathy helps create such inclusive spaces where everyone’s experiences are valued and addressed. By practicing empathy, we can more effectively create systemic change and achieve Collective Liberation.
If we take a look at the Palestinian movement, where thousands have and continue to gather across the world to protest against the Gaza genocide and Israeli occupation, we can see a shared sense of solidarity and the strive for Collective Liberation. News channels have reported anti-occupation and anti-genocide protestors from around the world. You may have heard the rallying cry “In their thousands, in their millions, we are all Palestinians” -a powerful chant, echoing across all continents. A united voice that understands the struggles of oppression, occupation, and colonization, driven by a compassion to fight against all systems of oppression for Collective Liberation.
Solidarity, and at its core, empathy, is key to Collective Liberation. It involves learning from one another’s experiences, acknowledging how we might have contributed to or benefited from each other’s oppression, and committing to share power and hold each other accountable. This is essential for transforming systems and institutions and achieving Collective Liberation.
💧 Watering the Mind
In this section we share updates from the noe team and concrete offers that allow you to build emotional intelligence and resilience skills.
noe is reflecting… and cooking
Still reeling from the noe experience, we are taking this summer to reflect on how far we’ve come, the lessons learned, and to look forward to the future of noe. With the success of the noe experience, we are eager to further expand and build our community and offer more noe circles, exchanges, and experiences. We are even more dedicated to our mission to strengthen emotional skills and cultivate empathy and compassion to enable personal growth, community-building, and social and systemic change.
Did you miss noe circles?
Worry not! They are coming back very soon. Follow us on social media and stay updated as we share more on our upcoming noe circles and more.
Exciting things ahead!
If you would want to join our community or support us, don’t hesitate to get in touch at contact@networkofempathy.org.
🪴 Vines of Community
In this space we foster connection and inspiration by sharing stories, poems, and thoughts of community members.
This month, Nada chose the poem My crime, !جريمتي by Palestinian writer Khalil Sima’an.
I am a thistle
in the throat of a cannon
a blood clot
in the veins of invaders
a scribble on the margins
of a decrepit promise
an afterthought on discarded maps.
My crime is that I live
and keep on living, like
a resounding love song
filled with hope
in the hollow halls
of criminal factories
for weapons of mass murder.
!جريمتي
أنا شوكة مزهرة
في حلق مدفع
جلطة دموية
في عروق الغزاة
خربشة على هامش
وعد رث
فكرة لاحقة
.على خرائط مهملة
جريمتي أنني أعيش
وأنني أستمر بالعيش
كأغنية حب مدوية
مفعمة بالأمل
في قاعات جوفاء
لمصانع إجرامية
.لأسلحة الإبادة الجماعية
Source: Fikra magazine
A Palestinian literary magazine.
*18,800 Souls commemorates 18,800 Palestinians who perished in Gaza in the 2023 genocide (March 21, 2024).