On complacency and compassion
Photo credit: Booker T. Sessoms 2022
Somewhere on the internet there is a clip of an altercation between members of the Russian feminist protest and punk group, Pussy Riot, and neo-fascist nationalists. During this exchange, the neo-fascists throw acid in the eyes of the members of the protest group. And the Pussy Riot members turn towards them and say, calmly, especially under the circumstances: You don’t have to do this. You have a choice.
This exchange felt particularly pertinent this morning after the Trump administration’s first day of executive orders, as we watch reporting on speeches and hand gestures during the inaugural day, as social media feeds erupt in action and reaction ad nauseam. It is what echoed in my mind as I read statements of lawsuits launched and retracted, as the ongoing, and lethal, back-and-forth over Palestine and the Ukraine and the Sudan and so many other territories continues.
You don’t have to do this. You have a choice.
I think about it as I read opinion pieces, deriding complacency in the face of fascism, and yet other pieces recommending staying the course on housing justice or the push for universal healthcare. Engage. Don’t engage. React. Don’t react. I think about it as my inbox fills up with urgent fundraisers and action-briefs, notes about how to live off the grid, and recommendations for how to immigrate to anywhere but here. I think about it as I make coffee, as I sit in silence, as I teach my morning yoga class.
Thing is, I already know I have a choice. I know I don’t have to react to every click-bait, G-d-awful, hateful gesture and policy. I know I don’t have to push my despair out like anger, or assert my privilege like the weapon it truly is. I know I can’t change what I feel, but that I can always — always — choose what I do. I know this is a marathon. I know all of that. I know it in my bones.
And still. I don’t know what it means for me right now. When is my tapping out of social media complacency and when is it self-preservation? What is my obligation towards this imperfect mess of a human collective that we are all accountable for, and how do I discharge it from my equally imperfect perch?
Again, I look to Pussy Riot’s altercation with the Russian neo-fascists. Whatever you think of Pussy Riot, you cannot say that they are complacent. And yet, in this case, they chose dialogue over retribution. They chose to see the desperation and despair in the other, rather than the violence and anger. They chose to act with compassion and curiosity. They chose to say, we are together, rather than, we are apart.
May we all know, and choose, to act with such humanity and care.
