all roads lead to radical humanity
What radicalized you? What made you an empathetic, caring, rebellious person reading this today? In this first season of Radicals for Good I asked each guest these same questions, seeking to learn about the moments that made them who they are and encourage them to do the radical work they do. But I haven’t shared my own answer yet.
I was raised in a poor white family. I spent most of my childhood with my grandparents who lived at 8 mile and Gratiot, on the edge of Eastpointe and Detroit. My grandpa and dad were both part of trade unions, often going on strike and experiencing layoffs. My grandpa worked for Chrysler his entire life. My dad is a corporate painter. They gave me the foundation to care about worker rights.
At 10 years old, my dad and I went grocery shopping. This was the time stores started to introduce self checkout as an option but it wasn’t widely used yet. But my dad insisted we always go to a cashier. He said something like “yeah those checkouts are convenient but it takes away someone’s job, they need that job to eat and live” I still don’t use self checkout unless the store has absolutely no cashiers working. My family taught me young that humans and workers should be valued more than convenience, more than profit, more than automation.
I started volunteering and organizing as a teenager. Being with my parents was challenging around the time of their divorce. I spent as much time as possible outside of the house and mostly couch hopped at friends’ houses. I was an athlete but also cared about the environment and injustice. I did beach clean ups, read to sick kids at DMC Children’s Hospital, and was involved in several clubs. But what really radicalized me was a high school internship that took students from Detroit and suburban high schools for meaningful discussions and trainings around community organizing. In this program, I experienced more of Detroit, worked closely with Detroit organizers, and made lifelong friends (a few friends I still see every couple weeks 15 years later).
At 16 years old, I remember learning about food sovereignty and volunteered at Earthworks, an urban farm on the east side.1 They used the produce at a soup kitchen nearby. I had a chance to work with the bees too. I told my mentor how I wanted a world where we were paid equally for the work we do rather than the type so that farmers made the same amount as doctors. She taught me that something like that exists in other parts of the world. I left this internship having met activist icons like Mama Grace Lee Boggs and declaring myself a communist (even if I couldn’t tell me grandpa yet).
I went through some traumatic stuff in my early 20s. It took me a bit longer than other students to graduate undergrad but I did it. My first job out of college was with a Detroit-based nonprofit doing gang violence intervention. I was one of the few women and being the youngest, I lovingly felt surrounded by older brothers. I admired them and felt encouraged by them daily.
At 25 years old, I watched Ahmaud Arbrey, a Black man from Georgia get shot in the back by two white men while jogging on a country road.2 Even though I witnessed shootings frequently in my job, this murder hit home for me. The juxtaposition felt jarring, I thought “these white men who look like my uncles, just murdered a man who look like my brothers.” The two men claimed they were doing a ‘citizens arrest’ but we all knew what that meant. Even if that was true, who says they could take justice into their hands by taking someone’s life? They were racist, who claimed Ahmaud looked like a man who did a series of break ins. This taught me a lot about whiteness and it shifted something in me, I could no longer look at my white friends and family the same. Whiteness cares more about property than human life. Whiteness emboldens and encourages racist actions and beliefs. Whiteness claims fabricated superiority. I became a ‘race traitor’, I no longer wanted anything to do with white people, disowned my whiteness, and began protesting during the George Floyd uprisings. I ended up losing this job since it worked alongside police and I was actively protesting the policing system. I continue to challenge my whiteness to this day.
I moved to the North End neighborhood with my best friend as my roommate. Eventually I started living on my own in North Village, where I stayed put for a bit and had the best neighbors I could’ve asked for. We all looked out for one another, I needed that. I lived in a concrete building though and began having nightmares about being crushed under the rubble. I soon understood why when Israel began a wave of genocide in October 2023.3
At 28 years old, I watched Khaled Nabhan hold his lifeless granddaughter, his ‘soul of my soul’ who was just killed in her sleep in Gaze by Israeli forces.4 My heartbroke and ached while witnessing the mass murders of Palestinians, especially Palestinian children, it still aches for them. Seeing the photos of Khaled and Neem together reminded me of me and my grandpa when I was kid. He doesn’t appreciate the comparison nowadays but it’s clear as ever to me, who deserves the right to see their grandchildren grow into adults? Should where you live, your religion, or color of your skin be the one to determine that? Not a chance. My brain chemistry has been altered by witnessing the genocide of Palestinians. You can’t convince me that those children don’t deserve to grow up. I still boycott and protest to this day for them.
I graduated from a public health graduate program and received the emerging social work award in the same month. I got my dream job that was quickly stolen by Elon Musk himself, as if colonizers don’t have enough.5 To this day I grapple with my own ancestors being colonizers and continue to decolonize myself and my life.
At 30/31, I started this podcast and went to Cuba, a sovereign land that has strengthened my journey that deserved an entire episode. These moments remind me of what I’m working towards when I feel drained. There is not one single moment that makes you a radical. When we think of a radical we admire, they are not one moment, frozen in time, they are the make up of several small moments and decisions. Thank you for taking a moment to read mine. <3
Peace be upon James and Grace Lee Boggs, Ahmaud Arbery, Khaled Nabhan, Reem Nabhan, and all others who lost their lives to racism, white supremacy, and colonization.
https://www.cskdetroit.org/services-offerings/earthworks-urban-farm/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52623151
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/un-report-gaza-children-genocide-9.7246490
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/29/middleeast/gaza-truce-israel-grandfather-returns-home-intl-hnk
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/doge-staffer-advised-cuts-justice-dept-grants-document-source-say-2025-04-29/
