“Love thy neighbor.”
“I will change the things I cannot accept.”
“If not now, when? If not me, who?”
These are just a few of the many messages of love and hope that appeared on our Wall of Empathy, written by passersby in our participatory art installation in San Francisco on Nov. 14.
It felt amazing watching people pause from their typical routine, their eyes caught by the colorful Post-it notes decorating walls above the 16th Street, 24th Street and Montgomery Street BART stations. Passersby read and wrote empathetic messages on the Post-it notes throughout the day, and one of the beautiful things was that we didn’t have to tell anyone what to do. Once the Post-its were up and we’d written the first few, everyone knew what to do. It just resonated.
Muriel MacDonald — who I know from my time in NFTY, the national Reform youth group — and Tamilla Mirzoyeva and I organized the Wall of Empathy because we needed an outlet and a chance to participate in community together. I participated because, after canvassing with Bend the Arc and volunteering with Hillary’s office in Reno, Nevada, to help get her elected and stop Donald Trump, it just wasn’t enough. In Nevada, we won the battle, but we didn’t win the war.
For many, it may be tempting to give up hope after the result of the election, to turn our backs on the system and try to wash our hands of it all.
Now is not the time for that.
This is the time we need to remember that we are no less empowered now than we were last week, that our voice is just as important — and even more needed.
Our country is made up of good people, people who are no less good today than they were a week ago.
Now is the time when we need to stand together and continue to fulfill our commitment to making the world a better place, starting right here in San Francisco, and our commitment to help raise up those who most need our support.
Here are some actions we can take:
• Wall of Empathy — The JCC of San Francisco is continuing our Wall of Empathy as part of a participatory art project in its Atrium from Nov. 16-28. This is a way you can show solidarity and build hope and commitment to stand up for what is right.
• Visioning in San Jose — The Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Latino communities will be joining together for a People’s Congress to brainstorm features of a just society and draft principles to move that vision forward. It will meet at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 20 at the Newman Center at San Jose State University. RSVP to Diane Fisher at [email protected].
• Starting with Ourselves: A Jewish Open Space for Anti-Racism — Bend the Arc will be hosting an event to help us build the language, support system and knowledge to do and support anti-racist work. It will take place at 7 p.m. Dec. 1 at the JCC of the East Bay in Berkeley.
• Unity Gathering — Come and express our values of unity and common cause, protecting constitutional rights, healthcare, environmental justice and undocumented immigrants, and take a stand against hate crimes with Jewish, Latino, African American, Asian and other local community groups on Sunday, Nov. 20 1:30 p.m. at City Hall Plaza in San Jose.
Moving forward, there will many more events and ways to get involved. As one of our community members wrote on our Wall of Empathy: “Sometimes negative catalysts inspire people to change the world for the better. Let’s go.”
Melissa Goldman is a leader of the Bend the Arc South Bay Chapter and an organizer with the political arts group DAGuerillas. She is a public speaking and influence skills coach at her company, Speech Capital, LLC. She lives in Los Altos.