this is such a thoughtful essay and incredibly relatable on all fronts!!! i’m palestinian myself but have lived in america most of my life and definitely relate to growing up while trying to assimilate and feeding into the consumerist culture pushed in this place. it’s only been as i’ve gotten older (and really enforced by this past year) that i’ve begun to feel the importance of connecting to my culture, learning my native language, dishes, traditions, etc. which often comes with rejecting the western ideologies i’ve been taught in place of them - especially when so many of them are antithetical and blatantly anti-palestinian, arab, etc.

and not only connecting to my own culture but with those around the world, people with similar plights and struggles, and overall a deep decolonization and de-westernization of my mind, habits, lifestyle, etc. of course i believe intersectionality to be essential in all aspects of activism but also in building and celebrating community!! it’s so nice to hear this all from you as an iranian-american as i know a lot of us first generation americans have such similar experiences but there’s still some unique differences that i think are really important to hear!! thanks for writing this <3