The Liberatory Reconnection Collective

In this culture, thriving is so often framed as the goal. But rarely do we pause to ask: how? And at what cost? Too often, "thriving" gets framed as something shiny, impressive, and aspirational. It’s measured by productivity, status, or output. But what if that thriving is built on exhaustion? On invisibilized labor? On someone else’s suffering? This is especially true in: In nonprofits and social justice orgs, where burnout is normalized in the name of "impact." In education, where “high...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear Reader, How often do you find yourself measuring your worth against someone else? Noticing who has more power, status, or approval? It’s subtle, like a passing thought or a quiet judgment as we glance around the room. We all do it, but have you ever wondered where that instinct comes from, and who it really serves? I used to think supremacy was about race. But the more I examined it, the more I saw it show up everywhere—in body size, appearance,...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear [FORMATTED_FIRST_NAME GOES HERE], It can be hard to write about ancestral reconnection when the thread feels frayed, or even missing. As the daughter of Korean immigrants, I don’t know what my ancestors were like before they were culturally colonized by Confucianism. I don’t know what rituals they used to speak to their ancestors or the land. I wonder how much was lost when my ancestors were brutally colonized by Japan. I’ve inherited gaps: blank...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear Reader, Human relationships are messy. We will disappoint one another. Miscommunications, missed signals, overwhelm, silence, and hurt—they are all part of being in relationship. Conflict isn’t a sign that something is broken. It’s a sign that we are human, that we are in connection, that we care. What determines the strength and sustainability of a relationship isn’t whether rupture happens—it’s whether we are willing to move toward repair. And...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear [FORMATTED_FIRST_NAME GOES HERE], Capitalism teaches us that land is a commodity. Colonialism insists that it must be owned. Supremacy justifies the destruction of the Earth and her creatures for the gain of a few. But Indigenous wisdom reminds us of something much older: the Earth is alive. She is not a backdrop to our lives, but a web of relationships—of kinship—that includes animals, plants, rivers, mountains, winds, and stars. We are not above...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear [FORMATTED_FIRST_NAME GOES HERE], Our communities have been shaped by centuries of disconnection. Capitalism thrives when we believe we must go it alone. Supremacy culture tells us some people are more valuable than others. Colonialism teaches us to distrust difference and to abandon the rituals and relationships that tether us to each other. In this world, we are taught to see relationships as transactional, to avoid conflict, to isolate when we...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear [FORMATTED_FIRST_NAME GOES HERE], We live in a world that often rewards us for abandoning ourselves. We’re praised for pushing through exhaustion. For numbing our emotions. For staying busy. For producing at all costs. These messages aren't just cultural—they are systemic. Capitalism needs us to keep producing. Supremacy needs us to disconnect from our inherent worth. Colonization needs us to forget who we are. Over time, we learn to survive by...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Dear [FORMATTED_FIRST_NAME GOES HERE], I recently had a conversation with someone that I wanted to share with you. First, it’s my pleasure introduce Cher Hale, founder and director of Ginkgo PR, an agency that hopes to use public relations to create a more equitable media landscape. I’ve been following her work for a while, and so I was excited when she invited me to have a conversation about the Liberatory Reconnection Framework on her...

The Liberatory Reconnection Collective Hey Reader, In my culture, when we haven’t seen someone in a while, we say 오랜만이예요 (oraen-man-iyeyo), meaning “it’s been a long time.” And it really has. Almost a year, to be exact. To be perfectly honest, I haven’t written because I didn’t know what to say. Anything I wanted to share felt random, disjointed, and lacking purpose. My head was full of "shoulds" from marketing classes, advice, and “best practices,” most of which left me feeling disconnected...