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Tough Mind, Soft Heart: Nurturing Solidarity in the Struggle

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ChristopherBlackwell Post number 26308 Posted: 13th May 2020     Subject: Tough Mind, Soft Heart: Nurturing Solidarity in the Struggle
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Tough Mind, Soft Heart: Nurturing Solidarity in the Struggle Against Fascism
With a new wave of antifascist struggles set to pop off at any time, the author of this text, Stinging Nettles, looks back at past waves as well as surveys a broad range of current ideas, to see where we can draw from, in order to prepare for what is to come.

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Antifascism has ebbed and flowed throughout the years depending on the need for it, and it seems the tide will not be going out for some time. The stresses of climate catastrophe and the corresponding global rise in authoritarianism has made fascism a more present and pressing menace than it has been in decades with no clear end in sight. There has also been a corresponding uptick and interest in fighting against fascism and a new wave of antifascists have emerged from all different corners in an inspiring upswell of action and energy alongside growing worldwide unrest and revolt. We’re taking on new challenges, and so new forms and paths are emerging. Antifascism can help people on both the individual and community level become more whole, more healthy, more liberated, and more militant instead of more traumatized, broken, and isolated. Doing so is hard work and not always very straightforward. How are we fortifying ourselves and each other for what is shaping up to be an increasingly turbulent era?

In this piece I hope to highlight the renewal of a healthful, sustainable antifascism along side some of the underlying assumptions and values that help create the environment for it, as well as some of the barriers and some suggestions for how to deal with those difficulties. Even under apocalyptic conditions the human capacity to live fully and well is vast, and I hope I am able to articulate some ideas to help our antifascist movements be spaces of care and joy. The last few years I have spent fighting fascism have been the most terrifying, joyous, difficult, rewarding, lonesome, connected, and intense time of my life. Some of that time I have felt powerful, supported, enveloped in community and able to take on anything, while other times I have been terrified, despairing, and alone. Through remembering my more difficult times, and in working to learn more about healing, I realize that other people may also be grappling with similar experiences. Other folks doing antifascism may also feel isolated and traumatized as thousands of people have taken to the streets, or started small collectives, or tried to fight on their own out of a moral imperative. I wrote this for the survival of those who are just entering the fight now and for those who have been in it for a while and are dealing with cumulative strain.
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Wisdom is what is left after you have done all the dumb stuff
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