Social Justice Resources
Looking for a reading to share at a rally, or a piece of fiction, poetry, or non-fiction focused on issues of social justice to read yourself? Here’s where you’ll find (a lot of) David’s justice-focused writing, organized by theme.
Activism
“The Task,” a modern-day fairy tale meant to inspire justice work
“Use Your Words: The Political Power of Literature,” an essay published in AGNI (tl; dr: the broken world needs your writing)
“You Will Not Replace Us,” a poem published in the Mid-Atlantic Review
Antisemitism
“It Has Been [one] Day Since the Last Synagogue Shooting,” a poem published in Minyan Magazine
“Judaism in the Window,” an essay published on the AGNI blog
“The Poem About Anti-Semitism,” a poem published in Minyan Magazine
“You Will Not Replace Us,” a poem published in the Mid-Atlantic Review
Class/Wealth Inequality
“Inside of a Dog, It’s Too Hard to Read,” a story published in the Heavy Feather Review (tl; dr: A billionaire sends his own dog to the uninhabitable surface of Venus)
“Panegyric,” a poem published in 2River View
“Private School,” a poem published in Stirring
Cross-cultural Encounter
“Person of Interest,” a short story in Ascent (tl; dr: a Jewish woman discovers that she and her baby may be staying next door to a person of interest to Homeland Security)
“Private School,” a poem published in Stirring
“While They Choose a New Pope, I Eat a Bagel,” a poem published in the DMQ Review
Fascism/White Supremacy
“You Will Not Replace Us,” a poem published in the Mid-Atlantic Review
Mental Health
“Find Your Own Words,” an essay published in To Write Love on Her Arms (tl; dr: how to write about your own mental health experiences)
“The Person Principle: Writing Mental Illness,” an essay published in AGNI
Also, two of David’s novels, Possible Happiness and Miss Portland (scroll down to the third book on the linked page), are focused primarily on mental health and mental illness.
Resilience
“Holding It All: The Power of Poetry in a Beautiful, Broken World,” an essay published on the Jewish Book Council site
“Saturday Morning,” a poem published in Movable Type (scroll down to third poem)
“The Moon Rabbi,” a story published in Clarkesworld (tl; dr: a rabbi in despair about the state of the world leaves it)
In addition, David’s poetry collection What’s Left to Us by Evening is focused on finding ways to hold the beauty and the brokenness of the world at the same time. And here’s a reading he did in the Bad Mouth poetry series, focused on resilience: