How to Mourn AND Organize
Healing Wisdom for Times of Shattering
“Don’t mourn, organize!” abbreviates a famous message of immigrant labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill before his execution in 1915—but his final words actually expressed concern about what would happen to his body.
At times when an entire community, city or nation feels like a vast collective house of mourning, some public actions may inadvertently increase the trauma—and disempower the grief of those most directly impacted. When we understand the real differences between mourning and organizing, we can empower both toward transformation, healing and justice.
Emerging from the 9/11/01 disaster relief—and gathering momentum since the 2016 elections—"How to Mourn AND Organize" brings together timeless wisdom of prophets, sages, activists and artists in dialogue with contemporary best practices for responding to hatred and violence.
Building upon Sacred Undertaking and Generous Justice, the established core initiatives of WAYS OF PEACE, "How to Mourn AND Organize" seeks to foster empathy as an essential component of progress toward social transformation.
More information on this evolving program is available in the following links. Please contact us for further details.
Small, Bright, Lifesaving Connections
Let's Save Lives — Not Semantics
Singing in a Strange Land of Trauma
Share the Vigil 2025: Bearing Witness to Honor the Living and the Dead
How To Move Our Money: From Charity to Clarity and Solidarity
Every Day Election Day
Bodies On the Line: Bear Witness. Then Keep Making Choices
July 13, 1863-2023: Mourning AND Organizing
Seamless Monument: A Year of Vigil for the COVID-19 Dead — and Beyond
DIY Tax Justice: An Idea Whose Time Keeps Coming!
Vision. Lamentation. HOW?
Listening for Guidance: 2020 Update
From Hatred to Awakening: Now More Than Ever
Witness. Listen. Care. Give. Heal. Repeat.
After the Shattering: Bearing Witness
All Through the Night: Keeping the Vigil in Times of Trauma
Honoring Our Dead: Mourning AND Organizing