Sometimes, i think the left loses people by telling them that they shouldn’t be surprised when they find out something horrific has happened. I think it’s okay to be surprised at how violent this world is. Be surprised, then asked why you didn’t know

“Surprise” can be an organizational tactic that we can use to grow our movements for social justice. We can say, oh you didn’t know, why is that, now come learn

There are things that surprise me all the time, it’s an important human emotion. I didn’t even know many of the things I started caring about until I was surprised about something. Surprise was/is a deep part of my political transformation

I understand the impulse. It’s a way to say, the United States has a long track record of being violent. We can just say that by acknowledging that lots of people don’t know or don’t even care to know, without pushing away others who might care or seek to change the violence

also - this isn’t a rule. i struggle with this. im just thinking out loud about a tactic that could be more inviting to people who are curious or open to joining our freedom struggle. There are people who feign surprise to avoid being implicated in violence. This isn’t that