 NO one Thing is going to save uswritten by Nathalie Edmond, PsyD I have heard some amazing speakers in the last few weeks. Some at the socialism conference in Chicago and some at a local conference in Princeton over the weekend called Endangered Knowledges. Here are some highlights: -Angela Davis talking about activism in different stages of her life and the importance of local struggles being tied to international struggles of the Global South -Noura Erakat centering Palestinian voices and Arab worldview -Black path to socialism panel- Black radical liberation work meets socialism and communism -basic principles of capitalism, marxism, and four different types of leftist movements (social democracy, democratic socialism, anarchy, and communism) -a panel discussing the erasure of Islamophobia and war on terror after 9/11. It got me to read "Letters from Guantanamo" written by one of the panelists who was held and tortured there for 14 years. -racism towards Haitians in Dominican Republic and how the U.S. played a part in under developing Haiti. -Mariame Kaba talking about no one thing is going to save us, we have to have a million little experiments and get in community. She also talked about antidote of fascism and building hope. I loved that she talked about how she focuses on her passions and the ways she can make a difference and she is continually trying to reduce the gap between her values and how she is showing up in the world. Me too! I can't tell you how much Mariame Kaba's transformative justice and abolition work has impacted me. I highly recommend many of her zines and her book "We do this 'til we free us". I got to give an in person workshop in Princeton over the weekend at the conference. I wore my "stop wars" t-shirt. It was so affirming and nourishing talking to a room full of community organizers and activists about the importance of self care, listening and resourcing our bodies, building capacity, knowing that trauma lives in our body (soma), building 300 reps for muscle memory and 3000 reps for embodiment so that we can be sustained in our activism work and build healthier communities. I am looking forward to sharing more about my learnings and ongoing evolution in upcoming workshops, especially in Antiracism Revolution online community. So much is always happening.  I have been thinking about the difference between defund the police and abolish the police. They are different things. I moved to my neighborhood a couple of months ago and last week a cop knocked on my door. Never has this happened to me in 50 years of living that I can remember. My neighbor across the street called the cops because he didn't recognize the car across from his house and thought it was abandoned. He was also having difficulty getting out of his driveway. The cop asked if the vehicle belonged to me. It does. My son was using it until he went to college a few weeks ago. I had moved it further back on my street (still on my property). The cop said I was under no obligation to move it. I did move it. It was a pleasant interaction with the cop. I have had two interactions with cops in the last month both were pleasant. Defunding the police isn't about whether or not you have pleasant interactions with cops it is about not utilizing or funding the police to engage in activities that can be better solved with other resources. Back to my story- I was so offended that this neighbor called the cops rather than walking across the street and introducing himself and asking for what he needed. I marinated/metabolized it for a week and then yesterday I went with my daughter to knock on his door to introduce myself. He is an older Black guy. I am glad that the kinder version of me showed up rather than the rageful one that wanted to chastise him. Did you think he would be Black? I do live in a predominantly Black neighborhood.
How are you doing with living in accordance to your values and not allowing fear to get in the way of building community and comrades across identities in this world that is collapsing? I love how socialists call people comrades. Doesn't mean they are your friends but rather than you are in the struggle together. Were you taught to think that socialism and communism were bad and something to fear? Do you even really know what they are outside of propaganda? Check out upcoming trainings or my book "Mindful Race Talk: Building literacy, fluency and agility" to help you build the repetitions to make material changes in your circle of influence.  "2025 Books that left an impression" written by Nathalie Edmond, PsyD. Books were a resource for me in 2025. I read 119 books! I hope to never read over 100 books in a year again. it lost some joy and curiosity at some point. It became a chore. I had to give myself permission to not finish books. To slow down. I tend to do things with intensity and needed to remind myself to be gentle and let go of the hustle and grind. Storygraph created this cool pic. 89% of my books were nonfiction. I will highlight some of my favorites. I forgot that I read some of these especially the ones from the beginning of 2025.
If you have some books for me to check out let me know. You can reach me here. The books I read helped me wrestle with the continuum of zionism to antizionsim. |
AuthorNathalie Edmond is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of trauma from a mindfulness based and somatic approach. She is also a yoga teacher and anti-racism educator. She lives with her family in New Jersey. Archives
March 2026
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