Hello friends,
Despite these exceptionally heavy days, I hope that you are able to find moments of jollity and peace throughout this holiday.
Since my email last week, thousands of innocent Palestinians have been slaughtered. Their crime? Simply existing.
I know many of you are tired. I get it. But keep sending the emails. Keep making the phone calls. Keep organizing the protests. Keep attending the protests. Don’t shut up. Don’t let up. Keep going, my friends.
And remember, you can reply to this email if you need advice or help or someone to listen to you vent.
Here are a few things I think you should read, watch, listen to, and consider as we approach this new week and the end of this year:
🎧 PODCAST TO LISTEN TO
This week’s podcast is incredibly important! Noor Tagouri (pictured above) is a friend, a fellow damn-giver, and a hero of mine. Noor’s full name literally means “Guiding Light.” And a guiding light she is!
Here’s a clip from our conversation that I shared on Instagram this week. I still can’t get over these words: “At the end of the day, oppressors need us in our fatigue. They need us in our apathy. That’s when the darkest things happen.”
At 29, Noor is an award-winning journalist and producer, a touring speaker for over 15 years, and has told stories in every medium from radio and print, to documentaries and brand campaigns.
In 2019 Noor founded At Your Service Media, a consulting and production company telling representative stories as a form of service.
In 2022 Noor launched her investigative series “REP”, in partnership with iHeartMedia. The series explores the concepts of representation and objectivity in media, and received a Webby Award Nomination: Best Limited Series.
With a finger on the pulse of people’s concerns, Noor’s storytelling is recognized for her innovative approach to fostering relationships across lines of difference.
Visit Noor’s website to learn more about her work.
Listen to the REP investigative series. It’s so good!
Follow Noor on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
You can watch our conversation by clicking below:
Or you can listen to our conversation on Spotify or Apply Podcasts.
P.S. During our conversation, we talked about a panel she sat on at Harvard during which a journalist stood at the mic and stated that she had been in the home the United States bombed in Tripoli which killed 5 of Noor’s relatives. Here is that moment. I cry every single time I watch it.
🗞️ ARTICLE TO READ
My friend, hero, and one of my favorite artists, Brad Montague, wrote an article that I can’t stop thinking about. In case you don’t know Brad, he was the brains and heart behind Kid President and he is the author of Becoming Better Grownups.
Anyway, in this article he writes about The True Story behind What a Wonderful World. Here’s an excerpt:
“We need reminders of the world that is and the even better world that could be. We can tell those kinds of stories. We can sing those kinds of songs. It isn’t easy and I don’t always know how, but I do believe it’s possible.”
Read it and share! We need hope right now. And Brad is one of my favorite people to go to for hope.
🧠 QUOTE TO PONDER
”Give light, and people will find the way.” — Ella Baker
👋🏽 GOODBYE!
Before I go, I’d like to ask you to consider something. We have massive plans for the Let’s Give A Damn Foundation in 2024. But we need some cash so we can set aside more time to build the community and the programming. If you know of any companies or individuals that want or need to make year-end donations for tax purposes (or otherwise), please point them in my direction! I’d be grateful for any connections.
Well, that’s it for this week! Thank you for reading. I'm truly grateful. Consider forward this email to a friend? Or send them this link so they can sign up. And you can always email me about anything. I’ll be back next week with good news and steps we can take together to make our world a much better place. We have a lot of work to do. Love y'all.
Peace and love,
Nick Laparra