In My Daze

Notes on: They Called me a Lioness

They called me a Lioness— a Palestinian Girl’s fight for freedom

by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri (Just hover and click over the previous words and it’ll take you to a new tab where you can download the word document) easy, simple, and readily accessible for your learning needs.

I took the liberty of digitizing the article links in the back of the book. There’s no reason to keep saying you “dont know enough on the subject” and there’s no reason for not raising your awareness.

its always going to be #FreePalestine till’ all my people are free

thanks for coming to my talk.

-Leeza


They Called me a Lioness by Ahed Tamimi

To read Ahed Tamimi’s words is to feel her bravery, her resilience. The resilience, strength, and livelihood of Palestinians.

This is not a review of a book, this is a gained understanding and a call to action by the Palestinian people, people under occupation. My people. This is a personal account of the way Palestinians have had to live, the way Israel treats people, and the power that the Palestinian people hold within themselves.

This was a hard read, as ive been learning (it’s been more like bombarding myself, as i have not turned a blind eye in 200+ days), like many others are doing, with whats happening to and in Palestine today. The apartheid and genocide of Palestine that the world is opening its eyes to, the actions that are happening now, have happened before, ahed tamimi speaks about the injustices that her people in nabi saleh and in all of Palestine go through.

The history of Nabi Saleh, where Ahed Tamimi is from, is the history of a village doesn’t only symbolize themselves, it is the fight of all Palestinians. It is the fight of people living under occupation, in a land that has been stripped from them since 1917 because of the Zionist agenda.

This is happening in the West Bank, this is happening in Gaza, this is happening to Palestinians living in Palestine under military occupation.

I dont think anyone should need an explanation to read this book, i think it’s important for everyone to have real accounts of what is happening. This happened in 2017, this happened in 1948, in 1967, in 2009, these things have been happening to people for a much longer time than people are coming to realize (or should be), these things are a daily occurrence for Palestinians living in the OCCUPIED West Bank, and in other villages where Israeli settlers have unjustly and violently forced themselves into.

People should know this did not start in October of last year.

It’s senseless to say you just dont know enough on this topic anymore. Google is an option, books are written to tell you their histories, food is made to nurture and sustain a culture that has been around for over a thousand years, songs are made about their resilience There is nothing to justify inaction and inability to understand.

I have learned so much from a young girls experience, from the traumas that her family and her village and Palestine have gone through. A country i am deeply connected to by blood, an ancestry that i didnt know of until a few years ago when i started piecing information together. The timing of my personal life coinciding with the world around me, continues to leave me a bit speechless.

Ahed talks a lot about family, it is what gave her the most strength while under such brutal conditions by Israel, from what i could get a sense of. The people in her village are related and so deeply connected to each other, there was a beautiful understanding that i maybe lacked knowledge of. It gave me strength. And a foresight into what life i am connected to. What beauty my people have, and what beauty has been so wrongfully taken from them. I am the granddaughter of a man from Bethlehem. My mother is half Palestinian. Their blood runs through our veins, their struggle is ours.

My mother fled the Salvadoran civil war, armed and trained by Israel! (83 percent of El Salvador’s military imports came from Israel)…

(ANSESAL the national security agency was trained by Israel, which turned out to be the secret security that created the death squads) the death squads had my mom as a target for being openly for the mf people. She was 15 when she fled, alone.

This is an issue that connects a lot of people, i encourage us all to learn, to see how Israel has played a role in not just the erasure of Palestine but how close these people in power are working, to continue their positions of power while others become martyred, displaced, and oppressed.

Ahed was made a symbol for Palestine when she was 17, they called her a lioness. She didnt choose this but her actions sparked international coverage. International coverage that is once again sparking actions across the world. You cannot turn around and ignore this. Your lack of awareness speaks to the lack of action, maybe even laziness. To pretend that what is happening to the people of Palestine, to the people of congo, to the people of sudan, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, is TOO FAR to understand? Once you start unlearning and teaching yourself, it becomes a lie to yourself to be so unaware of the world.

I am encouraging anyone who has read this far to pick up this book, to read the words of the actions and power that lies within the Palestinian fight.

I took it upon myself to add all of the article links that came with the book into a word doc. You can see for yourself that this has been an ongoing issue, that this has been forced on the Palestinian people, and how closely related everything is. It’s our responsibility as people living to learn from them. There will be a separate post with the link, you can download it, dedicate some time to reading and have these links saved for future learning.

To ensure that Palestine will not be forgotten, it will one day be free, learning from their experiences puts us just a little closer to feeling humanity (No?)

Refugio Seguro: In my Daze

My safe haven: a shelter. Having a home that feels like home is of the upmost importance to me. I always felt it was the foundation of my comforts. My mom created a warm energy at home, as a child, I felt safe. I grew to crave that safety for myself, away from the troubles of the outside. A grounding space where the outside world couldn't reach me.

I spent all of my educational years going to the westside and back. If I can briefly paint a picture in your mind: that means waking up at 5 am in elementary and middle school to take the 405 to Santa Monica, waking up early to go to the family friends house that was between home and school to carpool with the other kids, taking 3 buses to Venice and 3 buses back to Koreatown in high school, taking the early morning bus until I saw the big blue bus. You know you're on the westside if you see the big blue bus. I spent a lot of time away from home and a heck of a lot of hours in buses.

In places where moments flew by, sitting in transitional passings of time. You exhaust yourself commuting to and from places so much that craving a comfortable home becomes easy. Now, im 25 years old and ive only been in transitional homes throughout my adulthood already, never resting long enough to unpack the physical boxes that carry my life in them.

I remember every year, telling myself id be out of my moms house by a certain age. Every year it wasn't happening would add weight and pressure to my livelihood. Without realizing, as I started panicking less about my living situation, things began to move on their own. It’s important to remember not to add that pressure to ourselves, our time for moments are meant to happen naturally. However hard or easy it may be.

And now I'm able to sit and feel safe, in my own home smoking a spliff, drinking a coffee and writing about my space, my safe haven. My boxes are unpacked, the sun is starting to peak through the blinds in the living room, the birds are singing early tunes, and calmness travels through the apartment. My safe haven: My Daze: home. It is strange to be past a feeling that you can so deeply remember. Feeling stuck, feeling like you’re in a cage. As time passes, so do our experiences and circumstances.


In my Daze is a series of introspection.

Makers and creators of things

There are so many people in this life that I admire, I just want to share them. Click through you might find something you’ll enjoy and cherish like I did. I hope the lists never run out..

Reality Check Club — Kayla created this website as a space for women to communicate themselves through their expression and art. In a year like 2020, a blog like this and prompts that get the brain flowing is necessary and healing.

Phlemuns — Handmade beautiful garments by James. Works of art and there are so many pieces that I look forward to owning and treasuring when the time and funds are right. I love Phlemuns, plain and simple. The mind of the creator is a beautiful one.

a Bad year - a portion of the proceeds go to @mentalhealthamerica, JE is someone I met two years ago now and have admired and cared for since. He says “Good and bad things are part of life. Accept it. The bad is a learning process. We will surpass it.” The Laws of the Universe say this in ways. Good and bad are just two extremes of the same thing. I copped his latest hat release, even though hats don’t necessarily fit me. Who knows maybe one day he’ll release a beanie, i know thatll be a good one.

Bueno- It Means Good — I met Alexander, the same time I met JE. We worked together! Easy to say I miss him and his energy. He’s passionate about his brand and his art and his tees have such a special element to them. It reminds me of parts of my childhood and upbringings, like having Chiquita bananas on a tee, brings memories of home and the food my mom always had around. Things we often overlook as we grow older but are so meaningful to us as children. It is comforting. I always look forward to the collections Alexander drops. From having Tito Puentes to having Walter Mercado and his brilliance on a tee, I know ill always see something that reminds me of culture I grew up in.

Zona Baari - I met Ruqayyah at Clay, she told me about the mouth jewelry she makes while she was sculpting a wall planter, she has a beautiful energy and i knew her creations would match that. She makes beautiful ceramic and metal jewelry and creates organically flowing textiles. Her angel bone earrings are my favorite ceramic piece of jewelry i own.

Come Back as a Flower — Cbaaf makes comfort easy. I own a pair of shorts and i can say i didnt take them off for at least a few weeks. Also easy because he sources beautiful vintage tees and i switched them out every day. My favorite shirts this year have been cbaaf tees. The owner is also just great, thanks D.

The Clair Sense— The Clair Sense makes wonderful crystal and stone creations, I bought a beautiful fluorite she wrapped for me. One of a kind necklaces with great insights by Lauren. Being around Lauren before, I felt the healing energy in the crystal I bought.

SSsylverLight Candles— I bought two candle pieces from Audrey earlier this year. The candles smell amazing, I still carry around the amethyst she put on top. They were in these beautiful cement molds with flowers sprinkled through layers of wax. *chefs kiss* you can shop her collections on Etsy!

Vavis Trenzitas— Handwoven necklaces and earrings by Vavi. Vavi not only makes jewelry but is also a great photographer and person and you could find all their work on their website (the link) I bought this incredible orange necklace with a brass center piece, it’s beautifully woven together. Thanks Vavi!

Jalxndra — Jasmin makes beautiful jewelry and I’ve had my eye on her gold hoops for a long time, they’re beautiful and dainty. I bought one of her solo dangly earrings and I wear it with all my mixed necklaces. Some good— lasting daily earring additions!

Hi.stevie — CBD oil that really does the job for me. I was taking a dropper or two at night in the beginning of the pandemic because my teeth grinding was pretty intense. I woke up feeling way less sore and eventually it stopped making my teeth hurt. I also use it in my coffee, I like a warm cup of black coffee, some cinnamon, and a dropper of cbd goddess oil mixed in. Excited for the cbd journey hi.stevie is having. Thanks Court for having me be a part of it!

I will never stop being inspired, we are all conscious creators of our own realities and I admire and love what people bring to their own lives. I will always be inspired by people.