#1: The Three Bones
Hello and welcome to The Activist's Tools! In each edition, we're bringing you one simple idea or concept for healing the world that you can use to navigate the world around you.
The neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett makes it clear that if you want to achieve something, you need a library of concepts. 🧠
Concepts are tools, and, used effectively, are the building blocks of the better world our hearts know is possible. We're here to equip you with the tools you'll need to create a shift, one building block at a time.
All You Need Are the Three Bones
Today I want to talk to you about the three bones. It comes through Nina Turner, a progressive firebrand and hell-raising humanitarian uniting everyday Americans to take on corrupt forces.
Nina Turner is a former Ohio State Senator who served as national co-chair of the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. She is also a prolific speaker and advocate who often tells the story of her grandmother when she speaks to audiences around the US.
"Grandma, what does it take to be successful in life?" she asks.
"All you need are the three bones," her grandmother replies, "the wishbone, the jawbone, and the backbone."
"The wishbone will keep you hoping and praying because hope is the motivator but the dream is the driver. Now, we've got to put sweat equity on that hoping and dreaming, but it works: hope is a motivator.
"The jawbone will give you courage to speak truth to power, that we have an obligation to lift our voice, to make it known, to try to make crooked paths straight in our own way.
"The most important bone of them all is the backbone because the backbone will keep us standing through all of our trials and our tribulations. In this life, sisters and brothers, we gon' go through some stuff, but you can't have a testimony without a test.
"We're all being tested about whether we've got courage enough, hope enough, determination enough—to do what we know is right in our heart. Together we can make the impossible possible. I believe in the indomitable human spirit that when we are all put together moving in our life force, the gates of hell can't stand against us."
Let's keep dreaming, speaking, and standing. And if you're just beginning, we've got plenty of resources to help you start.
This post contains affiliate links. On How Emotions Are Made: This is a great book on the intersection of neuroscience and emotion. If you purchase from Bookshop.org, a certified B Corporation that supports independent bookstores, I make a small 10% commission. If you purchase it, I appreciate it!
