is making a thing proof that you exist?

are you defending (in this instance) Irish Catholics as a proxy to give yourself grace, to lump yourself in with "the good ones?"

what you're actually doing is absolving yourself of action and self-reflection. that discomfort you feel about white people perpetrating racism is asking you to do something to bring your actions into alignment with your values. instead, you're discarding this feeling by doing some feel-good mental gymnastics to ensure that there is a narrative that gives you an escape hatch, an assurance that there are good white people in the world (ones with whom you identify).

instead, let your discomfort guide you to do something real because if you're not actively standing up against fascism and its children, you're laying down to get stepped on. here are some real things to do:

donate to support the people who have been attacked, displaced and traumatized in racist attacks in Belfast:

don't have money to spare? find local organizers, join them, triage immediate needs in your community, then play the long game to move the Overton Window towards inclusive values. i do not want to hear any wailing about how nothing you do matters, no one will do anything, etcetera, etcetera; these are more mental gymnastics that allow you to give yourself permission to to do nothing

don't have time, money, or energy to spare? go to your local library and pick up a book to educate yourself and build empathy:

no access to a library? do the internal work and pick apart your own internal biases about race (i'll give a starter question for reflection: why did you feel compelled to respond to a post about violence against Black people and immigrant communities by centering white people?)

Last week I made a post to raise awareness my friend Bisan Salah, who I've been speaking with for some time. She is trapped in Gaza with her family facing immense hardship due to the destruction of her home and life, the onset of winter, and the continual threat of violence. Originally, she made fundraiser primarily to buy a new tent to replace the one her family currently lives in, which is damaged by the elements and unsuited to protect them from the coming cold.

However, since then, the situation has become more urgent. Bisan, who has been working day and night to try and find food and water for her family, was hospitalised with malnutrition just this week. Her life is in danger. Her situation is unsustainable without outside help—help that we can provide.

Bisan needs £8,000 both to buy the tent her family needs and also help pay for vital necessities such as food and medicine. This is not something that can wait a long time. Currently, she is only at £1,774 of that goal. Compared to other fundraisers this is very achievable. Just this week I was able to dedicate the spare money from my paycheck to her campaign, and I know that a lot of you also have steady paychecks and cash to spare. You may not think it's a lot, but donations add up. If you can't donate, please share so that this can reach more people!

We've seen some good progress in the last few days, and Bisan is finally close to her initial goal of being able to buy a tent. But conditions are ever-worsening in Gaza, with the tightened Israeli blockade raising the prices and scarcity of food and medicine. Furthermore, because of how long this fundraiser has taken, winter has already begun, and Bisan needs to get warmer clothing, blankets, and other supplies on top of having already withdrawn some of the fundraiser money for food.

Insects are rampant, and their bites have affected virtually every part of our bodies. We suffer daily from intense itching, inflammation, and wounds resulting from these numerous bites, and we are now in dire need of insecticides to control their spread, as well as medications and antibiotics to treat the resulting infections.💔🐜🕷🪰

Please help me get rid of it. Enough suffering and fear, we're truly exhausted. 😭😭

no one needs to make the equivalent of butch for feminine men because men and women are not dichotomies and gay men don't need an equal and opposite thing for every lesbian thing that exists, and you certainly don't need to appropriate transmisogynistic slurs because some dyke hasn't put in the effort to create a word for you.

you're right, you are getting blocked for this. you didn't need to type this out but you still did anyway, for whatever reason. my blog is not a confessional, you dont need to tell me your sins, especially when you say how you intend to make no effort to change or do better. you're just bragging about your use of slurs

"until someone introduces me to the equivalent of butch but for feminine men"

not "until i find a word that isn't a slur" or even "until we can brainstorm a new term". it always demanding the labor of others, its always making someone else (ie a woman) do the work.

they do this while also blatantly ignoring us saying "no". they know exactly what they're doing.

"i know you dont like me saying this slur, but until *you* do something for me, im gonna ignore you"

this is blatant misogyny. this is how men treat women constantly; belittle us, mock us, ignore us, demand labor of us, and refuse to take no for an answer.