Weekly Token of Wisdom

“It has taken years to continue to live into the truth that if I believe we are from God and for God, then we are from Goodness and for Goodness. To greet sorrow today does not mean that sorrow will be there tomorrow. Happiness comes too, and grief, and tiredness, disappointment, surprise and energy. Chaos and fulfilment will be named as well as delight and despair. This is the truth of being here, wherever here is today. It may not be permanent but it is here. I will probably leave here, and I will probably return. To deny here is to harrow the heart. Hello to here.”

― Pádraig Ó Tuama

Here are links to projects, platforms, lectures, texts, and podcasts that I find impactful and worthwhile to share. I return to them often. I do not claim credit for or affiliation with any of them.

Books I Have Loved and/or Would Recommend (in alphabetical order)
  • Azadi Arundhati Roy – 2020 (colonialism, nationalism, facism, democracy, resistance, state violence, freedom, essays, India, Kashmir)
  • Behind the Beautiful ForeversKatherine Boo – 2012 (poverty, inequality, Mumbai, slums, caste, resilience, family, social justice, non-fiction)
  • Being PeaceThich Nhat Hanh – 1987 (mindfulness, meditation, ethics, personal and social transformation)
  • The Body Is Not an Apology Sonya Renee Taylor – 2018 (radical self-love, body empowerment, social justice, shame, intersectionality, anti-racism, white supremacy, trans rights, healing)
  • Braiding SweetgrassRobin Wall Kimmerer – 2013 (ecology, Indigenous knowledge, nature, reciprocity, environmental ethics, love of earth, storytelling)
  • The Bridge of San Luis ReyThornton Wilder – 1927 (love, obsession, isolation, divine intervention, human connection, short stories)
  • CirceMadeline Miller – 2018 (modern interpretation of Greek mythology, transformation, power, isolation, love)
  • Crazy Brave: A MemoirJoy Harjo – 2012 (Native American identity, trauma & recovery, artists, creativity, family, cultural roots, poetry)
  • The Doctor and the SaintArundhati Roy – 2017 (caste, race, social justice, Ambedkar, Gandhi, Indian politics, heroes)
  • Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at GuantánamoMansoor Adayfi – 2021 (Guantánamo, torture, imprisonment, U.S. empire & imperialism, survival, resilience, human rights, memoir)
  • The Emperor of Gladness Ocean Vuong – 2025 (multigenerational friendships, chosen family, survival, suicide, blue-collar work, LGBTQ+ narratives, opioid epidemic, American midwest)
  • Interpreter of MaladiesJhumpa Lahiri – 1999 (short stories, diaspora, cultural displacement, family, assimilation, Indian-American experience)
  • In Other WordsJhumpa Lahiri – 2016 (language, self-expression, memoir, Italian, commitment, creativity, writing)
  • Martyr! Kaveh Akbar – 2024 (grief, identity, art, mental health, Iranian-American experience, queerness, substance abuse and recovery, existential reflection)
  • The Message Ta-Nehisi Coates – 2025 (race, Zionism, Palestine, politics, African-American experience, social critique, justice & injustice, U.S. imperialism, personal reflection, narrative & nonfiction)
  • The Moon and Other FruitsFrederick Livingston – 2023 (poetry collection, nature, rhythms, growth, place & emotion, Earthly cycles, travel, farming)
  • The Next American RevolutionGrace Lee Boggs – 2011 (social change, activism, community, civil rights, Civil Rights Movement, climate change, Obama era, grassroots movements)
  • Notes of a Native Son – James Baldwin – 1995 (essays, nonfiction, Black experience, identity, civil rights, U.S. imperialism, racism, white supremacy, the artist, Harlem)
  • Nine Lives William Dalrymple – 2009 (diversity, India, biography, history, spirituality, cultural encounters, modernism, short stories, nonfiction narrative)
  • On Earth We’re Briefly GorgeousOcean Vuong – 2019 (trauma, love, race, family, Vietnamese-American experience, coming-of-age, memory, queerness, poetry)
  • The One-Straw Revolution Masanobu Fukuoka – 1975 (natural farming, sustainability, Zen philosophy, simplicity, ecology, agricultural revolution)
  • Perfect Victims: And the Politics of AppealMohammed El-Kurd– 2025 (Palestine, Zionism, resistance and dignity, propaganda, Western media, journalistic integrity, narrative, state violence, sovereignty)
  • RifqaMohammed El-Kurd – 2021 (poetry collection, the Palestinian struggle, resistance, occupation, family, love, settler-colonialism, Zionism & violence, hope, injustice)
  • The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World – Robin Wall Kimmerer – 2024 (gift economy, indigenous philosophy, neoliberal economics, capitalism, nature, sharing)
  • She Had Some HorsesJoy Harjo – 1983 (poetry collection, Native American identity, creation myth, nature, creativity, family and ancestry, culture, domestic abuse)
  • Solito: A MemoirJavier Zamora – 2022 (migration, immigration, childhood, family separation, resilience, Salvadoran experience, borders, trauma, memory)
  • The Water Dancer Ta-Nehisi Coates – 2019 (memory, slavery, family, freedom, supernatural abilities, African American experience)
  • What It Takes to HealPrentis Hemphill – 2024 (embodiment, meditation, compassion, anti-racism, BLM, feminism, systems change, advocacy, activism, social movements)
  • Wild Cheryl Strayed – 2012 (memoir, womanhood, loss & grief, mothers & daughters, trails, nature, self-discovery)
  • Vietnam: Lotus in a Sea of FireThich Nhat Hanh – org. 1967 (Vietnam War, mindfulness & meditation, spirituality, compassion, anti-war activism, Vietnamese experience, Zen teachings, militarism, critique of U.S. foreign policy)
  • Zen and the Art of Saving the PlanetThich Nhat Hanh – 2021 (mindfulness, environmentalism, interconnectedness, compassion, activism, Zen teachings, collective trauma, ecology, systems change)
Reflecting on Well-being, Spirituality, & Community

The Five Spiritual Powers (Plus One) by Thich Nhat Hanh. Plum Village, YouTube: https://youtu.be/ZiHEvQZ91A0

Grateful Living Content Library. Grateful.org. https://grateful.org/content-library

Happen Films – Films Collection. Happen Films: https://www.happenfilms.com/films

How to Survive the End of the World podcast series, co-hosted by Autumn Brown and adrienne maree brown. Available at: https://endoftheworldshow.org and https://open.spotify.com/show/2L1l487PAAYFdtiLsTBWbL

Letters from Thich Nhat Hanh. Plum Village. https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh/letters

On Being with Krista Tippett podcast series. On Being Project: https://onbeing.org/series/podcast/ and https://open.spotify.com/show/08F60fHBihlcqWZTr7Thzc

Resources That Ground Us. The Embodiment Institute: https://www.theembodimentinstitute.org/resources

Secular Buddhism podcast series, hosted by Noah Rasheta. SecularBuddhism.com: https://secularbuddhism.com/podcast and https://open.spotify.com/show/3lbH5Ulpvc9hyLmyoj1UUF

The Way Out Is In podcast series, co-hosted by Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino. Plum Village: https://plumvillage.org/podcasts/the-way-out-is-in and https://open.spotify.com/show/5KhMVavoTzH3ssVZTVJNwI

Concerning Food Systems & Farm Justice
Podcasts & Videos

Farming While Black. (n.d.). Farming While Black. https://www.farmingwhileblackfilm.com/

Our Permaculture Life podcast series. Hosted by Morag Gamble. Our Permaculture Life: https://ourpermaculturelife.com/category/podcast/

Sovereign: Reclaiming Black Land podcast series, hosted by Crysta Bloom and Clara AgborTabi. Soul Fire Farm: https://www.soulfirefarm.org/sovereign/ and https://soulfirefarm.podbean.com/

The Westport Library. (2023, January 10). Dinner Disrupted: The Power of Food with Chef Michel Nischan [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/joYNxQ1fQDI

Articles & Key Texts

Beitel, K. U.S. farm subsidies and the farm economy: Myths, realities, alternatives. Food First Institute for Food and Development Policy. (Food First Backgrounder, Vol. 11, No. 3): https://archive.foodfirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/BK11_3-Farm-Subsidies-2005.pdf

J. M. MacDonald, R. A. Hoppe, and D. Newton, “Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture.” USDA Economic Research Service, March 14, 2018: https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details?pubid=88056

Ritchie, M., & Ristau, K. (n.d.). Crisis by design: A brief review of U.S. farm policy. League of Rural Voters Education Project.

Philpott, T. The Butz stops here: A reflection on the lasting legacy of 1970s USDA Secretary Earl Butz. Grist, February 8, 2008: https://grist.org/article/the-butz-stops-here/

Projects, Organizations, & Platforms

Berry Center. Resources and Publications. https://berrycenter.org/resources/

Civil Eats. (n.d.). Food and policy. https://civileats.com/category/food-and-policy/

Disparity to Parity Project: Understanding the Farm Crises and the Need for Fair Prices for Farmers

D. E. Ray and H. D. Schaffer, “Policy Pennings Weekly Agricultural Policy Column.” Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, 2008: https://www.agpolicy.org/articles08.htm

Mongabay. Agroecology. https://news.mongabay.com/series/agroecology/

La Via Campesina. (n.d.). Multimedia. https://viacampesina.org/en/media-and-publications/in-the-media/

Regarding Systems Change, Political Economy, & Planet Earth

Biological Strategies. AskNature. https://asknature.org/biological-strategies/

Bioneers Media. Bioneers. https://bioneers.org/media/?type=Article&query=

Cultural Transformation Circle. Transition Movement. https://inner.transitionmovement.org/ctc/?lng=en

Doughnut Economics. Doughnut Economics Action Lab. https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics

Finding Our Way Podcast. (n.d.). Episodes. Retrieved from https://www.findingourwaypodcast.com/episodes-1

From What If to What Next. Spotify, open.spotify.com/show/4G4v5SP4KTwc71DLMN7fqQ?si=35afb21828684307. Supplement: “Rob Hopkins: From What If to What Next?” A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment, 22 Mar. 2022, SkepticsPath.org, https://www.skepticspath.org/podcast/rob-hopkins-from-what-if-to-what-next/)

Ministry of the Imagination Manifesto. Rob Hopkins, April 2024. https://www.robhopkins.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Ministry-of-the-Imagination-final_compressed-1.pdf

Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth. “About RJOY.” RJOY Oakland, 19 June 2025, https://rjoyoakland.org/home-2/about-us-2/

Schumacher Lectures podcast series. Schumacher Center for a New Economics: https://centerforneweconomics.org/envision/lectures-publications/ and https://open.spotify.com/show/2uO3yIfjXXMmtSKhttOYwe

Sister Hien Nghiem, “Our Actions Are Our True Legacy” (True Dedication). Plum Village, YouTube, October 8, 2023 (recorded August 10, 2023): https://youtu.be/lTV4diwhf3w

Upstream podcast series, hosted by Della Z. Duncan and Robert R. Raymond. Upstream Podcast, featuring the weekly In Conversation series and the more arrhythmic audio Documentary: https://www.upstreampodcast.org/documentaries and https://open.spotify.com/show/4KwWOMp24P9cVVR6d0i7Zq

Concerning the History of Palestine & the Zionist State
Draft Memorandums: The Position of the United States with Respect to Palestine (1947) – Available Via Truman Library
Archives re Zionism, the Partition of Palestine, & the Creation of the State of Israel

Truman Library: (n.d.). Documents concerning the “Recognition of the State of Israel”.

Corrigan, F. P. (n.d.). Memo from Frank P. Corrigan, Summary of Palestine Problem. Collection: Recognition of the State of Israel, Series: General File. Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/node/317114.

Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. (n.d.). Truman and Israel: Document set. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/TrumanIsrael_DocumentSet.pdf

United Kingdom. (1947, August 18). Political History of Palestine under British Administration [Memorandum]. United Nations Archives. https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-185776/

U.S. Department of State. (1948, February 17). Draft memorandum, The position of the United States with respect to Palestine [Textual records]. National Archives Catalog. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/313080832?objectPanel=transcription&objectPage=9

Wright, E. M. (1974, July 26). Oral history interview (R. D. McKinzie, Interviewer). Truman Library Oral History Collection, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/oral-histories/wright 

Regarding the Israel’s Occupation of Palestinian Territory and the Ongoing Genocide in Gaza

“Occupied and Imprisoned: Palestinian Prisoners | The Full Report.” YouTube, uploaded by Al Jazeera English, 22 Mar. 2024, https://youtu.be/dbfiZC-VlPA

Pappé, Ilan. Ilan Pappé: The Myth of Israel. YouTube, uploaded by The Real News Network, 29 Mar. 2017, https://youtu.be/qxQNk81ELbI.

Said, E. (2003, February 19). Memory, inequality, and power: Palestine and the universality of human rights [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Pb2pYStv8x8

Said, E. (2003, November 9). Global empire – A conversation with Edward Said [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/YvR3qeroQ2M

“The Voice of Palestine: When a Journalist Becomes the Story.” YouTube, uploaded by Al Jazeera English, 20 May 2022, https://youtu.be/lbo26GzUk8M

Concerning State-Violence, Occupation, and the Indian Administration of Kashmir
Critical Articles & Reports

Amnesty International. “India: Authorities Must End Repression of Dissent in Jammu and Kashmir.” Amnesty International, 18 Sept. 2024. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/09/india-authorities-must-end-repression-of-dissent-in-jammu-and-kashmir/

Anahita. “Child Detentions in Kashmir and Occupied Palestinian Territories: Another Facet of India-Israel Parallels.” Indian Cultural Forum, 27 Nov. 2019, https://indianculturalforum.in/2019/11/27/child-detentions-in-kashmir-and-occupied-palestinian-territories-another-facet-of-india-israel-parallels/

Connah, Leoni. “Kashmir’s Silenced Solidarity with Palestine.” Identities Journal Blog, 15 July 2024. Identities Journal. https://www.identitiesjournal.com/blog-collection/kashmirs-silenced-solidarity-with-palestine

Gazia, Ifat. “Silencing Kashmir: The Struggle for Voice in the Face of Social Media Censorship.” TechPolicy Press, 7 Mar. 2024. https://www.techpolicy.press/silencing-kashmir-the-struggle-for-voice-in-the-face-of-social-media-censorship/

Human Rights Watch. “India: Repression Persists in Jammu and Kashmir.” Human Rights Watch, 31 July 2024. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/07/31/india-repression-persists-jammu-and-kashmir

If People You Know That Exist Don’t Exist Anymore, Do They Still Exist? Kashmir. Report. Toronto Metropolitan University Library (R-Share). Accessed [date accessed]. https://rshare.library.torontomu.ca/articles/report/Kashmir_If_People_You_Know_That_Exist_Don_t_Exist_Anymore_Do_They_Still_Exist_/27640560?file=50323551

Pandit, Idrisa. “The ‘Israel Model’: The Fragile Paradise of Kashmir Faces an Existential Threat.” Middle East Eye, 3 Dec. 2019. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/india-and-israel-alliance-kashmiris-are-now-facing-existential-threat

Rodman, Karen, and Michaela Lavis. “A Year of Military Lockdown and Israeli-Style Colonization in Kashmir.” Mondoweiss, 5 Aug. 2020. https://mondoweiss.net/2020/08/a-year-of-military-lock-down-and-israeli-style-colonization-in-kashmir/

Rousseff, Vera. “Police Raid Bookshops in Kashmir After India Imposes Book Ban.” Human Rights Research Center, 12 Aug. 2025. https://www.humanrightsresearch.org/post/police-raid-bookshops-in-kashmir-after-india-imposes-book-ban

Vijayan, Suchitra. “Wreckage as Punishment: Demolitions in Pahalgam and the Long History of Erasure in Kashmir.” The Polis Project, 25 Apr. 2025. https://thepolisprojectinc.substack.com/p/wreckage-as-punishment-demolitions

United Nations News. “First-ever UN Human Rights Report on Kashmir Calls for International Inquiry into Multiple Violations.” UN News, 14 June 2018. https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/06/1012172 (Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Countries/IN/DevelopmentsInKashmirJune2016ToApril2018.pdf

Podcasts and Films

Democracy Now! (2017, June 20). Acclaimed Novelist Arundhati Roy on Telling the Truth of the Atrocities in Kashmir Through Fiction [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/C6UvWvFJqkw

Dr. Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur. (2025, January 7). Dr. Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur argues Kashmir’s fight for independence is as justified as India’s was [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/KSjf4qIMrG8

Gazia, Ifat, host. The Kashmir Podcast with Ifat Gazia. Podcast series. First episode published 22 Aug. 2020. Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kashmir-podcast-with-ifat-gazia/id1527930921. Spotify. https://open.spotify.com/show/5Nv6x1N7sezA2RRpp2lpI2.

Shekar, N., & Krishan, M. (2019, October 25). Artists in Kashmir, the World’s Most Militarized Zone [Video]. The Atlantic. https://youtu.be/khLDEJKL1mc

Platforms & Organization

Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). (n.d.). Home. Retrieved September 21, 2025, from https://apdpkashmir.com/

Kashmir Action. (n.d.). Resources. https://www.kashmiraction.org/category/resources/

Stand With Kashmir https://standwithkashmir.org/

On Writing & Literature

Coelho, Paulo. “The Pilgrimage of ‘Who Am I?’” On Being, 25 Mar. 2019, On Being, https://onbeing.org/programs/the-pilgrimage-of-who-am-i-paulo-coelho/

Harjo, Joy. “Joy Harjo on Listening and Writing with Intention.” Literary Hub, 14 Oct. 2022, https://lithub.com/joy-harjo-on-listening-and-writing-with-intention/

Morrison, Toni. “’The Language Must Not Sweat’: A Conversation With Toni Morrison.” The New Republic, 21 Mar. 1981, https://newrepublic.com/article/95923/the-language-must-not-swea

Ocean Vuong, “When I Write, I Feel Larger Than the Limits of My Body”. Louisiana Channel, YouTube, May 31, 2022: https://youtu.be/u5NuCrAkjGw

Oliver, Mary. Listening to the World. YouTube, uploaded by The On Being Project, 23 Sept. 2019, https://youtu.be/DkJTcB27hHI