We can’t lead ourselves and one another to liberation if we’re still operating from the logic of oppression.
In this episode, we unpack the shadow side of activism—exploring how moral absolutism and purity politics lead to fear-based fawning and dynamics that silence and suppress.
I talk about how these dynamics show up in our activism and advocacy work, reproducing the same rigid, hierarchical, and fundamentalist structures and ideologies we claim to resist. We examine how fear, shame, and ego can transform activism into a kind of authoritarianism—turning courage into fear, curiosity into compliance, and authenticity into performance.
When activism becomes about being seen or proving our goodness, our need to be “right” eclipses our capacity to be real while the fear of moral imperfection cuts us off from curiosity, connection, and growth.
Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field (Rumi)—a field we cannot reach until we’ve humbly faced the shadows within us that reflect the systems around us.
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