"History Activist"
The two words that spilled onto my screen and finally explained my "why."
Sometimes you write a phrase before your brain has even caught up with it. I was working on an article this morning when two words just spilled out onto the screen: History activist. I hadn’t planned them, but once they were there, I knew that was my why.
Immediately after that thought, I read an essay by Jonah Platt where he digs into his own “why” and then asks what’s stopping other people from using their voices.
I’ve asked that before, too. But honestly, I completely get it. I understand the “why” of people who aren’t comfortable picking up a pen, laying their fingers down on a keyboard, or hitting the streets and meeting rooms. It’s heavy. I have nothing but appreciation for the people who amplify our voices by sharing and commenting…they matter just as much and are activists in their own way.
But it took writing those two words for me to realize the truth behind my own “why.”
The wild (and pretty vulnerable) part of all this is that I don’t know our history. Not really, not as deeply as I’d like. But as I’ve mentioned before, I’m learning as I go along. I can carry on a conversation but don’t ask me to recall all the dates or try to pronounce every name! The further into this I get, I’m realizing the extent, the depth and breadth…how much the other side is twisting our truth…every single piece of our history, and it’s lit this even larger fire in me to preserve what has been documented before it’s too late. When I think about the world all of our kids and grandchildren are inheriting, I know we can’t let any of our stories be erased.
I used to wonder where exactly I fit into all of this, which is why I sometimes feel like I’m all over the place. There are so many great voices covering politics and extremism (which I still write about). And even writing about the history. And my imposter syndrome is strong. But I don’t care; I’ll get over it. Now I know my entire why…why I’m here and doing this. This is my lane. Somehow, history and me…we chose each other.
There is this desperate hunger in me to learn everything, and it keeps getting stronger the more I read and write. I want to know every event, every country, every person past and present. All of it. There is just so much. So many voices, so many places, and so many things to uncover. I want to absorb every word, every story, every who, what, where, and why since the very beginning so that I can write about it, share it, and honor it in some way.
And I want to introduce them to you. Even if you already know them, I want us to sit with them together, remember them, talk about them, and make sure their truth lives on.
A quick note on how you can help me keep going:
Stepping into independent writing full-time has been an incredible leap of faith. Between leaving the marketing world behind last fall and navigating the unpredictable reality of social media platforms after my Facebook page was abruptly demonetized and penalized this past spring, my ultimate goal is to dedicate all my time and energy to uncovering and preserving these stories. And…to eventually turn them into books. Starting with this one, which I’ve already started querying literary agents to see if there’s interest or if I’ll need to self-publish. I’m thinking time frame…coming in late 2027 if I can miraculously finish all the pieces and figure out how to organize it into the book it deserves.
To do that, I rely entirely on reader support. If you believe in this work and want to help me keep digging into our history, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. For $75 a year—which breaks down to just 21 cents a day—you make it possible for me to keep writing, researching, and sharing this space with you.
If a yearly subscription isn’t right for you right now, but you still want to support my research, you can also buy me a coffee to fuel my mornings. Every single contribution means the world and keeps the ink flowing and the internet running.
The reason you don't know our history, Melissa, is that conventional Jewish history has been thoroughly obsessed with sages and martyrs. I deeply admire your telling the stories of the rest of us in such an honest and compelling way. Yes, your work needs to be compiled into a book, and such a book, I believe, does not yet exist. I once tried to write a book like that, and have some nice vignettes if you want them. You're a much better writer than I am, and I believe you'll succeed because why Jews have survived is so much more interesting than why they died.
I am so glad you plan to write book or books. Every one of your articles (that I have time to read) is worth it. Your writing and references educate me to be able to inform or discuss with the antizionists, the fence sitters, the apologists etc. Maybe truth / facts will get through their anger.