[ID: A green forest like one would find in Luna’s home state of Michigan, ferns in the foreground and evergreens in the background, with light shining between them. The word “Introductions” is in bold white lettering]
Welcome! Please introduce yourself with your name, pronouns (if you wish), and a little bit about what you hope to gain from subscribing.
Hi, I'm Kaitlyn (she/her)! Similar to many others posting here, I loved your content on Instagram and am grateful you've continued sharing that knowledge and space for reflection. I'm a professor at a small liberal arts university in the south and I teach a lot about crime, punishment, and justice, but from a critical perspective where we center our discussions around harm, safety, and transformative justice and abolition--so your content is always very helpful in informing my teaching! I hope I can use what I learn here to help incite some shift of consciousness in my students, even if just for a brief moment!
Yes! Kaitlyn that's so exciting that you're here and I'm looking forward to learning from you as well if you have time to share your teachings in our discussions to come. Thanks for coming.
My name is Lisa and I am unlearning and learning. I saw the damage of algorithms of Fbook before the last election and sadly see similar now happening on IG. Love the idea of having other connections beyond the mainstream social media as I do the work. Working to unlearn my conservative white washed perfectionist evangelical racist misogynistic upbringing, and live in a more loving way for all people and our planet.
Ditto on the white-Jesus upbringing, Lisa! My knee-jerk reaction is to judge, disparage, and punish people--it's been a challenge to unlearn.
I'm Allison, she/her, millennial. Luna, I've learned so much from your IG account. I agree with your rationale for moving off social media (I deleted Facebook two years ago and Twitter will be next). I want to be part of your community-building experiment and continue to grow in understanding and compassion.
Hi, I'm Angélica (she/her). I do want to reduce my time on social media, be part of spaces dedicated to lifting each other up, be there for people to create solidarity, and become a member of a community that takes action rather than remaining passive.
Hello, I'm Michael (he/him). I've enjoyed the content you have created on instagram and I want to continue to explore how to have more meaningful and intentional interactions in my life. I hope to be reminded of the nuances that exist in conversations and to find more ways to advocate for those who need the most support right now.
Hi, I'm Saba (she/her) - loved what you've been doing on instagram and shared some of it (with credit!). I work with young people, mental health, wellbeing, hate crime, discrimination and secular democracy. The information you've been sharing has been really helpful in learning and continuously educating myself. I made a conscious decision last year that I would use my voice to speak up and speak out, especially raising awareness for marginalised communities. As a POC I am privileged that I can speak out on any topic without fear of judgement or repercussions, and I do. What you provide is succinct, informative - you don't preach and it isn't full of ego!
Saba, thank you so much for coming to this space and introducing yourself. Conflict skills + hate crime is an area I would like to explore more in the future and will keep in mind that you have experience and hopefully we can touch base more about it in future discussions. Looking forward to talking more and thanks for sharing how this is personal for you.
I should have added I also suffer from fibromyalgia and CPTSD as a result of childhood trauma so 'conflict' in every form is a very personal subject to me directly.
Hello Luna (and all)! I’m christopher and I work with youth in Western Massachusetts to support peer mediation, youth leadership, and restorative practices/rj/tj and I am so excited to continue following you and your work through this migration from IG. Thank you the invitation and all that you are cultivating here. Looking forward to the connection and the conversations!
Hey, I'm Laura (she/her/hers) - my main interests are abolition, building activism and organizing skills, and developing strategies for teaching/sharing those skills with those who may be currently less open to going out to learn them on their own.
Laura, that sounds great. I'm very interested in generating a space where these skills can move offline and into folks own local contexts so I hope we can work on that together!
Hi! I'm Joy (she/her). I live in the Chicagoland area. I've really appreciated your explorations in the complexities of organizing, justice, and conflict transformation. It's helped me think through it myself. I also appreciate this step you have taken to more intentionally connect and create space for conversations and curiosities, instead of mindlessly scrolling through important and often times heavy content, without pausing to see how it can really impact decisions and reframe our way of being and organizing. Thank you!
Hello! I’m Ashley (she/her/hers) and I truly appreciate your move away from social media/your reasoning and ability to communicate it. The content you provide validates the ways in which I think about cultivating brave classroom spaces for my students, and I want to stay connected. I hope I can also gain inspiration to walk away from social media too!
Hey Ashley! I have so much respect for teachers (I wanted to be one myself, but hate standing in front of rooms of people, as it turns out.......) and can't wait to hear about your experiences in classrooms and beyond. I'm sure you have so much wisdom to share with us.
Hi, I'm Sage- I'm looking forward to gaining more insight, understanding, and resiliency with transformative justice and conflict resolution. And I'm excited to explore this in a space outside of social media and appreciate how you spoke to the complexities of that space. Thanks for creating this opportunity to engage!
Thanks Sage, I've been thinking a lot about resiliency lately. Please keep reminding us of your interest in that and how that shows up for you, so that we can all talk about it.
Hey, I’m Claire! I’ve been on a journey over the past months towards a change in how I think about justice, harm, and accountability. It’s been a mildly forced transformation but a productive one, and the information I’ve gotten from you has been really clarifying and helpful. I want to keep that moving!
Hi Claire! Thanks so much for signing up. I imagine that as you're learning you're also able to provide experience and empathy toward others who have gone through similar processes, so I hope we have a chance to hear more from you in the discussions to come.
I am Betsy (she/her/hers). I have been working in the field of mediation and restorative practices since 1993, as well as being involved in non-violent activism for many years beyond that. I am interested and intrigued by this opportunity to share with others on the topic of conflict transformation: what it means, how we engage and enact it in these times.
Hi, my name is Kathryn (she/her) and I following you here to keep up to date on your work and support your move off of social media. I too have been feeling the need to divest from these platforms, and look forward to once that's possible (right now I'm managing them for work and need my own FB account to do so.) I think the perspective your offer is critical at this moment of incredible reckoning and appreciate your commitment to offering it in through new and more ethical models.
Hello, I'm Adi (she/her), and I've been following your content for a while. I love learning about conflict (and going through it, interestingly). I currently work in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and Psychology as a research assistant, and I give workshops about social justice and anti-oppression. I would love to continue to engage with your content and support your work! I appreciate you making so many considerations in choosing this platform.
Hi, I'm Tracey (she/her). I'm a parent and teach college, so I try to be aware of how I interact with others and where they may be coming from in terms of perspective. I appreciate the work you've shared in the past and I'm continuing to work to improve my approaches to others. The fear of saying the wrong thing, especially in the classroom (virtual these days), is a problem for me so that is my current focus.
Hey Tracey, looking forward to hearing how that fear of saying the wrong thing is showing up for you (if you want to share in future discussions) and if we can develop some strategies around that.
Hi! I’m Raine (they/them). I originally found your work through the “Isn’t that public safety?” series. I’m interested in learning (and imagining) more about possibilities for an abolitionist future, and how to better approach conflict in my own life. The IG content sparks my mind in great ways when it comes to that stuff.
I was particularly driven to subscribe to this newsletter because to me, your choice to leave IG is an inspiring reflection of the kind of mindset I’m working to develop around abolition and social transformation in general! Although I dislike the experience of using IG, there’s plenty of content on there that i really value, and as much as I’d like to leave it’s hard to imagine NOT being part of social media-based organising spaces at this point... That’s why I’m so excited to see an example of someone making that happen for themselves. Just like abolition can be hard to imagine concretely, if there’s something I yearn for deeply and my brain can’t imagine making it a reality, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s impossible. Sometimes it means, “get creative!”
I am happy you are making a positive choice for yourself by shifting to this format, and I really valued your insightful analysis of how social media has affected social movements. It really rang true for me and I already feel myself beginning to make a shift to a healthier way of engaging with social media. Thank you and looking forward to the newsletters!
Hey Raine; as organizers this struggle with social media is so real. Just this morning I missed a really important event because it was only happening on facebook live and I no longer have an account. It does make me sad, but I'm also trying to remember that this is a structural (and frankly accessibility) problem and we have the capacity to change it. Looking forward to connecting with you more.
Hello! My name is Natalie (she/her), and I've followed and (and really cherished!) your content on Instagram. I'm here because over the past few months I've been trying to exercise my mind in how we can all work toward justice based on accountability and transformation rather than harm, and what this can look like in practice - especially in a culture like the U.S., where we aren't actively socialized or taught to engage in conflict resolution. I also would love to find a sense of community, since I often feel that those in my immediate and social media circles do not understand the necessity of PIC abolition as a path forward.
Hey Natalie, so glad you're here. One of my goals for this platform is to give people practical approaches to growing understanding of PIC abolition in community. So, I hope we can develop community here online but also help move that into spaces local to you.
Hi, I am Elsei (she/her). I believe in the work you are doing and always learn from you. Your decision to leave social media has also resonated with me because it is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time but I think am not ready to do yet, precisely because there is real work that I do on there. I am subscribing to continue engaging with your content but also to learn how I can eventually move my own work off social media as well.
Hello all! My name is Devon (she/her) and I want to continue to learn from your insights about communication and conflict as I study Education and Law. I definitely grew up in an environment that avoided conflict except in bursts of anger and abuse, and I am working hard to avoid perpetuating these patterns in my adult life, both personally and professionally. Your posts have given me tools for this in the short time I've been following, so thank you!
Hi y'all, I'm Sarah (she/her). I am on a journey to deepen my understanding of abolition, restorative practices and conflict transformation both for my personal growth and the work that I get to do. I support (mostly) youth-led movement orgs, organizers and nonprofits in integrating healing justice practices and anti-oppression strategies into their lives and work environments. I've followed this account on IG for awhile now and look forward to continuing to learn more.
Oooh, hey Sarah I'm really excited to learn from you and your work experience as well. I hope to hear more about your experience with healing justice in future discussions.
Hey! I’m Alice (she/her), and I just started grad school and got involved with the (currently underground) grad student union. I’m really interested in navigating conflict, power dynamics, and interpersonal relations within organizing through a transformative justice approach, and I’m looking forward to bringing what I learn into the union.
Hi there, I’m Jackie (she/her). I’m from South Africa and new to the concepts related to conflict transformation. I hope to learn new language and tools for change in personal- and movement-organizing. Thank you for this offering!
Hi Luna! I’m Kristy, a migration and racial justice activist and strategist working in the US and Europe. Part of that work includes strategizing to mitigate the effects of coordinated, inorganic disinformation. Human connection is the best tool we have against these threats and it cannot Be scaled or faked. It must be deep and intentional. I’ve gained a lot from your IG and agree that social media mediums can cause harm to how we see impact, how we connect and who/what we uplift. I admire your discernment and choice to do it in a way that is authentic, grounded and human. Excited to be here
Kristy! I have very little experience with misinformation campaigns but have begun to be more interested in the way these impact our conflicts, so I am very excited you're here and I look forward to learning from your experiences.
Hi, I’m Megan (she/her/they/them) and when I came across you IG account a few months ago I found your content really impactful and I connected to it wholeheartedly. I’m here to continue to learn and absorb the wisdom you share. Thank you for providing an alternative for access to this content, creating a space that is more inline with your values, and offering that to all of us AND doing that with such grace.
Hi, I'm Cade (he/him). I followed you on IG and saw your recent post. I hope substack works well for you! I have never used this before, but am interested in it. In light of recent events and the state's behavior, I am more interested in educating myself without being surveiled. (I have major concerns about organizing and cyber security concerns, but know organizing is crucial towards building a better & safer world.)
Hey Cade, I share those concerns and will be thoughtful about them as we grow this space together given that it's still public space. Looking forward to navigating that together.
Hi, I'm Sarah (she/her)- I have found your content on IG so helpful in thinking about how to create a world I want to live in. Thank you. This way of engaging outside of social media feels like it has a lot more potential to practice authentic relationship, which is what I'm wrestling with in my organizing work at the moment.
Hey Sarah, I'm interested to hear more about your struggles with practicing authentic relationship in organizing (I think a lot of people share this struggle!) and there will be an opportunity to connect about this in next Monday's discussion topic.
Hello! I'm Matt (he/him). I'm a budding activist studying social work and social policy after several years being frustrated in the copywriting field...now I'm trying to do something with more connection and impact. I'm learning, but I'm often paralyzed, feeling that self-reflection and reading just aren't enough, but unsure how to work through the prickly, deep-down stuff. Sometimes your page gives a piece of insight that really feels like something I can hold onto. So thanks for that!
Hey Matt, I'm interested to hear more about how that prickly, deep-down stuff is showing up for you day-to-day and how we can help work through it all together. I hope we'll get into that in the discussions to come.
Hi, I’m Miriam (they/them). I’ve learned a lot from your instagram but find it hard to concentrate on that platform. Hoping to continue growing and learning in a slower, more connected way.
Hi, I'm Tani (she/her/they/them)! Have loved your content on IG, it's been very useful to share with friends as they are learning the frameworks of transformative justice processes. I really support your move to get off social media, I agree that these platforms were not meant for productive communication and it's a problem I'm trying to solve with a new project. Our goal is to build tools for content creators to be able to share their content in ways they control, can mediate, and can build authentic community around, so I'm here to both stay in the loop on your amazing work, as well as learn how to best support creators like you! Also very interested in connecting with other community members who may be facing some of these same challenges in their own creator/activism work.
Hello, I’m Farnaz (she/her)- I’ve been involved with abolition organizing for about two years now and have noticed that the groups providing alternatives to social conflict/harm/violence are missing. I know about transformative justice in theory but your content really helped me envision how to make it actionable. I know communities need to be doing that work, if we want to make policing and prisons obsolete.
I’m hoping to learn more from this subscription and share that with other community members who are looking for the same thing. Thank you for creating this space!
Hello, I'm Brittany (she/hers). I've also really gained a lot from your content on Instagram, and want to continue to learn. I am very interested in generative conflict, sustainability of activism, and having more connection & nuance outside of social media.
Hey Brittany, so glad you're here. I think we'll be talking about generative conflict in the first discussion (next week), so look forward to chatting more!
Hi, my name is Khunsa (she/her), tuning in from occupied Lenape land. As others have mentioned, I have learned so much and have opened myself up to so much more reflection due to your Instagram posts. I am very excited to continue to learn and grow, even more so now in the company of others!
Hi, I'm Judy (she/her), and I'm a graduate student in Earth Science at UCSB. I started following because I wanted to learn how to better deal with interpersonal conflict in my life and maybe see there are things I could share with others too who struggle in dealing with conflict. Thanks for providing this!
Peace y'all, my name is Norma and I use she/her pronouns. I've been involved with organizing for about two years now. I was first introduced to it with Poetry for the People and now do organizing work with Dream Defenders, both here in Miami. I currently co-lead a committee focused around transformative justice. I've been finding my passion in TJ and conflict resolution and I love your content around these subjects. I hope to continue learning ways to practice and bring these skills and practices back to my organizing community.
heya it's casey (they/them)! we've spoken a bit here and there since i met you through caws awhile back. i've benefited so much from the ways you model whiteness and deeply doing the work in yourself and in community. happy to still be able to receive your offerings even though you're moving on from instagram (which i fully support btw, it's an odd place to say the least). looking forward to engaging through this platform~
Hi! I’m Mari (they/them). Deeply appreciated the content posted on Instagram—it was always good information to keep in mind while engaging in community organizing and abolition-centered works online. Just hoping to keep getting these words that I should keep in tucked in my mental checks for how to work with others in a meaningful way that adheres to my moral standings.
Hey! I’m Ali (she/her). Looking forward to explore my relationship with my community and learn how others are helping shift the way conflict and inequity are experienced and addressed in theirs.
I'm Ahalya (they/she; although they is preferred). I'm here to learn more about the embeddedness of conflict in each facet of our life. I'm trying to be more intentional in the way I engage with myself, others and social movements. So I hope that this space nudges me to think through conflict transformation models and orient myself accordingly.
Hey Ahalya, ah I love the way you framed that: "the embededness of conflict in each facet of our life." I'll be thinking about that as I write this week's newsletter and prepare for the next discussion. Thank you.
Hi, I’m Emily (she/her). I’ve appreciated your approach to conflict, awareness, social justice and other reflexive practices since I started following you earlier this summer. It’s helped me shape my own journey to better understand myself and my role(s) in my own communities. I’ve also been increasingly uncomfortable with social media and it’s performative and consumption-based infrastructure for many years now so I appreciate the invitation you’ve extended to your followers to join you in another platform.
Hello! I'm Sarah (she/her). I'm trying to learn and hear from others about how to actually practice the values I believe in re: justice, harm and healing with those I'm closest with. I've found your page really helpful and was really excited to see you're moving off social media onto an email platform!
Hi, I'm Bridget (she/her). I really value the content you create and hope to continue learning how to incorporate my values into my daily life/actions. I appreciate you and your work!
Hi! Another Jill here :) (She/her) I am an attorney and mediator in Minneapolis. I've also been an advocate for racial justice for about 20 years. I am hoping to continue learning on my journey to be fully present and compassionate in my humanity in all of my conflict resolution work as well as life!
Hey Jill, first I want to extend gratitude for your work and also acknowledge that you must have experienced some challenging and emotional conflicts this summer with all that happened in Minneapolis. I hope you've been able to take care. Looking forward to your experience being in the space and learning from you.
Thank you Kindly. It is still very raw and the worst is yet to come as we see conflict escalating, and record numbers of homeless as we approach winter. I stay grounded with fabric art and painting.
Hi, I'm Madii (she/her). I find the content you share to be transparent, intentional, detailed and well...transforming. I've really enjoyed learning alongside you and would like to continue to engage in the work that is provoked and supported by what you share. I also honor your decision to step away from social media. Thank you for hosting and holding this space.
Hello! I’m Lou (she/they) and I’ve enjoyed the thought provoking content you’ve shared on Instagram, and appreciate your desire to engage more directly. I’m learning and unlearning a lot of things recently and love the community approach to it. Thank you!
Hi all! KJ (they/them) joining in after following on Instagram. I have appreciated the resources shared via Instagram and have found them incredibly useful and thought provoking for activism and organizing work and for community. I'm interested in learning more about creating systems of transformative and restorative justice now that we can use in our communities to move away from punitive systems of all kinds. I'm excited to continue learning and growing. Thank you for your work, Luna.
Hey there! I’m Abhi (they/them) and like many other folks found my way here from insta! I work as an arts educator and have found the work and knowledge from the conflict transformation instagram super helpful in my work and daily life, especially in the ways I navigate many issues/ conflicts rooted in white supremacy culture at the non-profit institution I work at. It has also been great tool for conversations with the teens I work with. Looking forward to learning and being in community here
hello! I am yasmin (she/her), i create intimate ways for people to unlock their agency and confidence through self-discovery to live a life deeply rooted in their fulfillment. this means i'm consistently curious and discovering, which is why i love your work on Instagram. like many others here, i often feel overloaded by social media so i'm looking forward to digesting/exploring these concepts in a more intentional/ natural rhythm. also inspired and excited to witness a new way of being with others as we create for the world in a non-social media way! so thank you for crafting this new possibility for me!
Hi, I'm Kaitlyn (she/her)! Similar to many others posting here, I loved your content on Instagram and am grateful you've continued sharing that knowledge and space for reflection. I'm a professor at a small liberal arts university in the south and I teach a lot about crime, punishment, and justice, but from a critical perspective where we center our discussions around harm, safety, and transformative justice and abolition--so your content is always very helpful in informing my teaching! I hope I can use what I learn here to help incite some shift of consciousness in my students, even if just for a brief moment!
Yes! Kaitlyn that's so exciting that you're here and I'm looking forward to learning from you as well if you have time to share your teachings in our discussions to come. Thanks for coming.
My name is Lisa and I am unlearning and learning. I saw the damage of algorithms of Fbook before the last election and sadly see similar now happening on IG. Love the idea of having other connections beyond the mainstream social media as I do the work. Working to unlearn my conservative white washed perfectionist evangelical racist misogynistic upbringing, and live in a more loving way for all people and our planet.
Hey Lisa! Similar upbringing! So glad you're putting in the time with us.
Ditto on the white-Jesus upbringing, Lisa! My knee-jerk reaction is to judge, disparage, and punish people--it's been a challenge to unlearn.
I'm Allison, she/her, millennial. Luna, I've learned so much from your IG account. I agree with your rationale for moving off social media (I deleted Facebook two years ago and Twitter will be next). I want to be part of your community-building experiment and continue to grow in understanding and compassion.
Hi, I'm Angélica (she/her). I do want to reduce my time on social media, be part of spaces dedicated to lifting each other up, be there for people to create solidarity, and become a member of a community that takes action rather than remaining passive.
Hello, I'm Michael (he/him). I've enjoyed the content you have created on instagram and I want to continue to explore how to have more meaningful and intentional interactions in my life. I hope to be reminded of the nuances that exist in conversations and to find more ways to advocate for those who need the most support right now.
Welcome, Michael! Thanks for sharing these interests and intentions. Looking forward to hearing more from you in future discussions.
Hi, I'm Saba (she/her) - loved what you've been doing on instagram and shared some of it (with credit!). I work with young people, mental health, wellbeing, hate crime, discrimination and secular democracy. The information you've been sharing has been really helpful in learning and continuously educating myself. I made a conscious decision last year that I would use my voice to speak up and speak out, especially raising awareness for marginalised communities. As a POC I am privileged that I can speak out on any topic without fear of judgement or repercussions, and I do. What you provide is succinct, informative - you don't preach and it isn't full of ego!
Saba, thank you so much for coming to this space and introducing yourself. Conflict skills + hate crime is an area I would like to explore more in the future and will keep in mind that you have experience and hopefully we can touch base more about it in future discussions. Looking forward to talking more and thanks for sharing how this is personal for you.
Absolutely, would love to help if I can, and appreciate your kind words!
I should have added I also suffer from fibromyalgia and CPTSD as a result of childhood trauma so 'conflict' in every form is a very personal subject to me directly.
Hello Luna (and all)! I’m christopher and I work with youth in Western Massachusetts to support peer mediation, youth leadership, and restorative practices/rj/tj and I am so excited to continue following you and your work through this migration from IG. Thank you the invitation and all that you are cultivating here. Looking forward to the connection and the conversations!
Hey Christopher, so glad to have you and your experience here. I can't wait to learn from you.
Hey, I'm Laura (she/her/hers) - my main interests are abolition, building activism and organizing skills, and developing strategies for teaching/sharing those skills with those who may be currently less open to going out to learn them on their own.
Laura, that sounds great. I'm very interested in generating a space where these skills can move offline and into folks own local contexts so I hope we can work on that together!
Hi! I'm Joy (she/her). I live in the Chicagoland area. I've really appreciated your explorations in the complexities of organizing, justice, and conflict transformation. It's helped me think through it myself. I also appreciate this step you have taken to more intentionally connect and create space for conversations and curiosities, instead of mindlessly scrolling through important and often times heavy content, without pausing to see how it can really impact decisions and reframe our way of being and organizing. Thank you!
Woops, deleted my own comment by accident. Looking forward to those intentional pauses with you Joy!
Hello! I’m Ashley (she/her/hers) and I truly appreciate your move away from social media/your reasoning and ability to communicate it. The content you provide validates the ways in which I think about cultivating brave classroom spaces for my students, and I want to stay connected. I hope I can also gain inspiration to walk away from social media too!
Hey Ashley! I have so much respect for teachers (I wanted to be one myself, but hate standing in front of rooms of people, as it turns out.......) and can't wait to hear about your experiences in classrooms and beyond. I'm sure you have so much wisdom to share with us.
Hi, I'm Sage- I'm looking forward to gaining more insight, understanding, and resiliency with transformative justice and conflict resolution. And I'm excited to explore this in a space outside of social media and appreciate how you spoke to the complexities of that space. Thanks for creating this opportunity to engage!
Thanks Sage, I've been thinking a lot about resiliency lately. Please keep reminding us of your interest in that and how that shows up for you, so that we can all talk about it.
Hey, I’m Claire! I’ve been on a journey over the past months towards a change in how I think about justice, harm, and accountability. It’s been a mildly forced transformation but a productive one, and the information I’ve gotten from you has been really clarifying and helpful. I want to keep that moving!
Hi Claire! Thanks so much for signing up. I imagine that as you're learning you're also able to provide experience and empathy toward others who have gone through similar processes, so I hope we have a chance to hear more from you in the discussions to come.
I am Betsy (she/her/hers). I have been working in the field of mediation and restorative practices since 1993, as well as being involved in non-violent activism for many years beyond that. I am interested and intrigued by this opportunity to share with others on the topic of conflict transformation: what it means, how we engage and enact it in these times.
Hi, my name is Kathryn (she/her) and I following you here to keep up to date on your work and support your move off of social media. I too have been feeling the need to divest from these platforms, and look forward to once that's possible (right now I'm managing them for work and need my own FB account to do so.) I think the perspective your offer is critical at this moment of incredible reckoning and appreciate your commitment to offering it in through new and more ethical models.
Hello, I'm Adi (she/her), and I've been following your content for a while. I love learning about conflict (and going through it, interestingly). I currently work in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and Psychology as a research assistant, and I give workshops about social justice and anti-oppression. I would love to continue to engage with your content and support your work! I appreciate you making so many considerations in choosing this platform.
Hi, I'm Tracey (she/her). I'm a parent and teach college, so I try to be aware of how I interact with others and where they may be coming from in terms of perspective. I appreciate the work you've shared in the past and I'm continuing to work to improve my approaches to others. The fear of saying the wrong thing, especially in the classroom (virtual these days), is a problem for me so that is my current focus.
Hey Tracey, looking forward to hearing how that fear of saying the wrong thing is showing up for you (if you want to share in future discussions) and if we can develop some strategies around that.
Hi! I’m Raine (they/them). I originally found your work through the “Isn’t that public safety?” series. I’m interested in learning (and imagining) more about possibilities for an abolitionist future, and how to better approach conflict in my own life. The IG content sparks my mind in great ways when it comes to that stuff.
I was particularly driven to subscribe to this newsletter because to me, your choice to leave IG is an inspiring reflection of the kind of mindset I’m working to develop around abolition and social transformation in general! Although I dislike the experience of using IG, there’s plenty of content on there that i really value, and as much as I’d like to leave it’s hard to imagine NOT being part of social media-based organising spaces at this point... That’s why I’m so excited to see an example of someone making that happen for themselves. Just like abolition can be hard to imagine concretely, if there’s something I yearn for deeply and my brain can’t imagine making it a reality, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s impossible. Sometimes it means, “get creative!”
I am happy you are making a positive choice for yourself by shifting to this format, and I really valued your insightful analysis of how social media has affected social movements. It really rang true for me and I already feel myself beginning to make a shift to a healthier way of engaging with social media. Thank you and looking forward to the newsletters!
Hey Raine; as organizers this struggle with social media is so real. Just this morning I missed a really important event because it was only happening on facebook live and I no longer have an account. It does make me sad, but I'm also trying to remember that this is a structural (and frankly accessibility) problem and we have the capacity to change it. Looking forward to connecting with you more.
Hello! My name is Natalie (she/her), and I've followed and (and really cherished!) your content on Instagram. I'm here because over the past few months I've been trying to exercise my mind in how we can all work toward justice based on accountability and transformation rather than harm, and what this can look like in practice - especially in a culture like the U.S., where we aren't actively socialized or taught to engage in conflict resolution. I also would love to find a sense of community, since I often feel that those in my immediate and social media circles do not understand the necessity of PIC abolition as a path forward.
Hey Natalie, so glad you're here. One of my goals for this platform is to give people practical approaches to growing understanding of PIC abolition in community. So, I hope we can develop community here online but also help move that into spaces local to you.
Hi, I am Elsei (she/her). I believe in the work you are doing and always learn from you. Your decision to leave social media has also resonated with me because it is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time but I think am not ready to do yet, precisely because there is real work that I do on there. I am subscribing to continue engaging with your content but also to learn how I can eventually move my own work off social media as well.
Hey Elsei, thanks for sharing. Glad you're here.
Hello all! My name is Devon (she/her) and I want to continue to learn from your insights about communication and conflict as I study Education and Law. I definitely grew up in an environment that avoided conflict except in bursts of anger and abuse, and I am working hard to avoid perpetuating these patterns in my adult life, both personally and professionally. Your posts have given me tools for this in the short time I've been following, so thank you!
Hey Devon, this experience resonates with my own and I'm really glad you're here.
Hi y'all, I'm Sarah (she/her). I am on a journey to deepen my understanding of abolition, restorative practices and conflict transformation both for my personal growth and the work that I get to do. I support (mostly) youth-led movement orgs, organizers and nonprofits in integrating healing justice practices and anti-oppression strategies into their lives and work environments. I've followed this account on IG for awhile now and look forward to continuing to learn more.
Oooh, hey Sarah I'm really excited to learn from you and your work experience as well. I hope to hear more about your experience with healing justice in future discussions.
Hey! I’m Alice (she/her), and I just started grad school and got involved with the (currently underground) grad student union. I’m really interested in navigating conflict, power dynamics, and interpersonal relations within organizing through a transformative justice approach, and I’m looking forward to bringing what I learn into the union.
Awesome Alice! Solidarity forever :)
Hi there, I’m Jackie (she/her). I’m from South Africa and new to the concepts related to conflict transformation. I hope to learn new language and tools for change in personal- and movement-organizing. Thank you for this offering!
Hey Jackie, looking forward to getting to know more about your experiences.
Hi Luna! I’m Kristy, a migration and racial justice activist and strategist working in the US and Europe. Part of that work includes strategizing to mitigate the effects of coordinated, inorganic disinformation. Human connection is the best tool we have against these threats and it cannot Be scaled or faked. It must be deep and intentional. I’ve gained a lot from your IG and agree that social media mediums can cause harm to how we see impact, how we connect and who/what we uplift. I admire your discernment and choice to do it in a way that is authentic, grounded and human. Excited to be here
Kristy! I have very little experience with misinformation campaigns but have begun to be more interested in the way these impact our conflicts, so I am very excited you're here and I look forward to learning from your experiences.
Hi, I’m Megan (she/her/they/them) and when I came across you IG account a few months ago I found your content really impactful and I connected to it wholeheartedly. I’m here to continue to learn and absorb the wisdom you share. Thank you for providing an alternative for access to this content, creating a space that is more inline with your values, and offering that to all of us AND doing that with such grace.
Thanks Megan, looking forward to hearing your wisdom as well.
Hi, I'm Cade (he/him). I followed you on IG and saw your recent post. I hope substack works well for you! I have never used this before, but am interested in it. In light of recent events and the state's behavior, I am more interested in educating myself without being surveiled. (I have major concerns about organizing and cyber security concerns, but know organizing is crucial towards building a better & safer world.)
Hey Cade, I share those concerns and will be thoughtful about them as we grow this space together given that it's still public space. Looking forward to navigating that together.
Hi, I'm Sarah (she/her)- I have found your content on IG so helpful in thinking about how to create a world I want to live in. Thank you. This way of engaging outside of social media feels like it has a lot more potential to practice authentic relationship, which is what I'm wrestling with in my organizing work at the moment.
Hey Sarah, I'm interested to hear more about your struggles with practicing authentic relationship in organizing (I think a lot of people share this struggle!) and there will be an opportunity to connect about this in next Monday's discussion topic.
Hello! I'm Matt (he/him). I'm a budding activist studying social work and social policy after several years being frustrated in the copywriting field...now I'm trying to do something with more connection and impact. I'm learning, but I'm often paralyzed, feeling that self-reflection and reading just aren't enough, but unsure how to work through the prickly, deep-down stuff. Sometimes your page gives a piece of insight that really feels like something I can hold onto. So thanks for that!
Hey Matt, I'm interested to hear more about how that prickly, deep-down stuff is showing up for you day-to-day and how we can help work through it all together. I hope we'll get into that in the discussions to come.
Hi, I’m Miriam (they/them). I’ve learned a lot from your instagram but find it hard to concentrate on that platform. Hoping to continue growing and learning in a slower, more connected way.
I hope for that too Miriam, thanks for checking in!
Hi, I'm Tani (she/her/they/them)! Have loved your content on IG, it's been very useful to share with friends as they are learning the frameworks of transformative justice processes. I really support your move to get off social media, I agree that these platforms were not meant for productive communication and it's a problem I'm trying to solve with a new project. Our goal is to build tools for content creators to be able to share their content in ways they control, can mediate, and can build authentic community around, so I'm here to both stay in the loop on your amazing work, as well as learn how to best support creators like you! Also very interested in connecting with other community members who may be facing some of these same challenges in their own creator/activism work.
Oooo Tani, that work sounds very valuable and exciting and if I can help support that please let me know.
Hello, I’m Farnaz (she/her)- I’ve been involved with abolition organizing for about two years now and have noticed that the groups providing alternatives to social conflict/harm/violence are missing. I know about transformative justice in theory but your content really helped me envision how to make it actionable. I know communities need to be doing that work, if we want to make policing and prisons obsolete.
I’m hoping to learn more from this subscription and share that with other community members who are looking for the same thing. Thank you for creating this space!
Farnaz, thank you for the work you do and I hope to integrate ways of bringing the content out into folks' own communities as much as possible.
Hello, I'm Brittany (she/hers). I've also really gained a lot from your content on Instagram, and want to continue to learn. I am very interested in generative conflict, sustainability of activism, and having more connection & nuance outside of social media.
Hey Brittany, so glad you're here. I think we'll be talking about generative conflict in the first discussion (next week), so look forward to chatting more!
Hi, my name is Khunsa (she/her), tuning in from occupied Lenape land. As others have mentioned, I have learned so much and have opened myself up to so much more reflection due to your Instagram posts. I am very excited to continue to learn and grow, even more so now in the company of others!
Hi, I'm Judy (she/her), and I'm a graduate student in Earth Science at UCSB. I started following because I wanted to learn how to better deal with interpersonal conflict in my life and maybe see there are things I could share with others too who struggle in dealing with conflict. Thanks for providing this!
Peace y'all, my name is Norma and I use she/her pronouns. I've been involved with organizing for about two years now. I was first introduced to it with Poetry for the People and now do organizing work with Dream Defenders, both here in Miami. I currently co-lead a committee focused around transformative justice. I've been finding my passion in TJ and conflict resolution and I love your content around these subjects. I hope to continue learning ways to practice and bring these skills and practices back to my organizing community.
heya it's casey (they/them)! we've spoken a bit here and there since i met you through caws awhile back. i've benefited so much from the ways you model whiteness and deeply doing the work in yourself and in community. happy to still be able to receive your offerings even though you're moving on from instagram (which i fully support btw, it's an odd place to say the least). looking forward to engaging through this platform~
Hey Casey!!! I'm so glad you're here and to continue our conversations. :)
Hi! I’m Mari (they/them). Deeply appreciated the content posted on Instagram—it was always good information to keep in mind while engaging in community organizing and abolition-centered works online. Just hoping to keep getting these words that I should keep in tucked in my mental checks for how to work with others in a meaningful way that adheres to my moral standings.
Thanks Mari, so happy to have you here.
Hey! I’m Ali (she/her). Looking forward to explore my relationship with my community and learn how others are helping shift the way conflict and inequity are experienced and addressed in theirs.
Hey Ali, thanks for sharing and being here.
Hi!
I'm Ahalya (they/she; although they is preferred). I'm here to learn more about the embeddedness of conflict in each facet of our life. I'm trying to be more intentional in the way I engage with myself, others and social movements. So I hope that this space nudges me to think through conflict transformation models and orient myself accordingly.
Hey Ahalya, ah I love the way you framed that: "the embededness of conflict in each facet of our life." I'll be thinking about that as I write this week's newsletter and prepare for the next discussion. Thank you.
Hi, I’m Emily (she/her). I’ve appreciated your approach to conflict, awareness, social justice and other reflexive practices since I started following you earlier this summer. It’s helped me shape my own journey to better understand myself and my role(s) in my own communities. I’ve also been increasingly uncomfortable with social media and it’s performative and consumption-based infrastructure for many years now so I appreciate the invitation you’ve extended to your followers to join you in another platform.
Sounds good, Emily! Looking forward to growing together.
Hey everyone, warm wishes to you
I'm Dob, 37, Canadian, for what it's worth. I'm here for:
- a different style of community
- people who give a ship
- discussion about the 'cultural civil war' that's permeated online spaces
- not saying that 'both sides' are equivalent, just that I want to transform conflicts
Hey Dob, there are a lot of conflicts to transform, that's for sure. :)
Hello! I'm Sarah (she/her). I'm trying to learn and hear from others about how to actually practice the values I believe in re: justice, harm and healing with those I'm closest with. I've found your page really helpful and was really excited to see you're moving off social media onto an email platform!
Hey Sarah, sounds like we're in the right place :)
Hi, I'm Bridget (she/her). I really value the content you create and hope to continue learning how to incorporate my values into my daily life/actions. I appreciate you and your work!
Thanks Bridget!
Hi! Another Jill here :) (She/her) I am an attorney and mediator in Minneapolis. I've also been an advocate for racial justice for about 20 years. I am hoping to continue learning on my journey to be fully present and compassionate in my humanity in all of my conflict resolution work as well as life!
Hey Jill, first I want to extend gratitude for your work and also acknowledge that you must have experienced some challenging and emotional conflicts this summer with all that happened in Minneapolis. I hope you've been able to take care. Looking forward to your experience being in the space and learning from you.
Thank you Kindly. It is still very raw and the worst is yet to come as we see conflict escalating, and record numbers of homeless as we approach winter. I stay grounded with fabric art and painting.
Hi, I’m Jill (she/they). Love the content on Conflict Transformation. Want to keep learning. Thanks for this.
Thanks Jill!
Hi, I'm Madii (she/her). I find the content you share to be transparent, intentional, detailed and well...transforming. I've really enjoyed learning alongside you and would like to continue to engage in the work that is provoked and supported by what you share. I also honor your decision to step away from social media. Thank you for hosting and holding this space.
Thanks for being here Madii!
Hello! I’m Lou (she/they) and I’ve enjoyed the thought provoking content you’ve shared on Instagram, and appreciate your desire to engage more directly. I’m learning and unlearning a lot of things recently and love the community approach to it. Thank you!
Hey Lou, thanks for sharing and look forward to connecting more.
Hi all! KJ (they/them) joining in after following on Instagram. I have appreciated the resources shared via Instagram and have found them incredibly useful and thought provoking for activism and organizing work and for community. I'm interested in learning more about creating systems of transformative and restorative justice now that we can use in our communities to move away from punitive systems of all kinds. I'm excited to continue learning and growing. Thank you for your work, Luna.
Awesome, thanks KJ - I'm looking forward to the discussions we'll have about those creative strategies.
Hey there! I’m Abhi (they/them) and like many other folks found my way here from insta! I work as an arts educator and have found the work and knowledge from the conflict transformation instagram super helpful in my work and daily life, especially in the ways I navigate many issues/ conflicts rooted in white supremacy culture at the non-profit institution I work at. It has also been great tool for conversations with the teens I work with. Looking forward to learning and being in community here
hello! I am yasmin (she/her), i create intimate ways for people to unlock their agency and confidence through self-discovery to live a life deeply rooted in their fulfillment. this means i'm consistently curious and discovering, which is why i love your work on Instagram. like many others here, i often feel overloaded by social media so i'm looking forward to digesting/exploring these concepts in a more intentional/ natural rhythm. also inspired and excited to witness a new way of being with others as we create for the world in a non-social media way! so thank you for crafting this new possibility for me!
Hi! I’m Bethanie (she/they) and I want to continue to see your content as I really take a lot from it ❤️