Dear Meg, how do I progress?
Is there ever a way of pushing aside this capitalist mindset of comparing to others? Can academics be a vessel for change and a causative form of activism?
Dear Meg
A letter to a young activist
May dahilan kung bakit kilusang mapagpalaya ang tawag sa atin. Hangad natin ang pagpapalaya ng bayan at ng uri, na isang matagal, malalim, at masalimuot na gawain.
How do I prepare my boyfriend for a married life with an activist?
I’m planning to ask my boyfriend to marry me. He's been my rock throughout all the years we've been together. But I know doing what I do—community organizing and political work—will put us at risk of attacks by state forces and by those who wish to oppress the communities I serve. I know this because I’ve already experienced it myself. I'm afraid that I'll be dragging my boyfriend into that if we spend our lives together. He's not an activist but he knows and understands the work that I do. How do I prepare him for it?
Can I still be a good person even if I’ve hurt a lot of people in the past?
One of the great privileges of my vocation is being able to see, beneath that complexity, people at their barest. In their most honest, most vulnerable moments, my counselees taught me that everybody, almost always, simply wants to do the right thing.
How do you have so much energy for other comrades’ concerns?
When comrades come to us, our role, I have learned, is not so much to give advice, but to listen. They’ve already analyzed all sides of their predicament, being the proper activists that they are.
Dear Meg, how do I become a good activist despite being socially anxious?
Step by step, person by person. It’s true that practice makes progress; for every nine nos you utter, say yes to something. Don't be afraid to go into uncharted territories, anchored in your belief that you know what this is for.
Dear Meg, does unconditional love exist?
Is it transactional love when I expect to receive something? Or is it inevitable that in love, there is an expectation of giving and taking?
Dear Meg, kailangan bang mawalan ng pag-asa?
Hindi natin maunawaan kung bakit pipiliin ng taumbayan ang mga umaastang pinuno ngunit walang pakialam sa kanilang kalagayan. Bakit iboboto ang walang-puso, mandarambong, at mamamatay-taong rehimen na kahit kailan ay di nagpahayag ng pag-ako at pagsisisi sa kanilang mga kasalanan?
Dear Meg, paano hindi mawalan ng pag-asa?
Nalulungkot tayo, nagagalit, nagulat, nag-aalala, at pinapanawan ng pag-asa. Ang magandang balita: hindi tayo nagsisimula sa wala.
Dear Meg, paano kung si BBM?
Kung paanong pinasigla ng eleksyong ito ang diwang makabayan ng maraming Pilipino, inaasahan kong lalo pang titindi ang ating hangarin para sa tunay na pagbabago sa mga darating na buwan.