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A Palestinian child has been killed, on average, every day since the Gaza ceasefire began.

Not during the height of the war, when relentless bombardment reduced neighborhoods to rubble and drove families from one supposed safe zone to the next.

During the ceasefire.

The October 10 2025 agreement was supposed to mark the beginning of de-escalation. Instead, at least 265 Palestinian children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in the Gaza Strip since the so-called truce framework took effect. Last month, UNICEF described Gaza’s ceasefire as a “deadly illusion.”

That illusion is for us.

Once a conflict is labeled a ceasefire, the conversation begins to change. It reassures people that the moral emergency has passed. It tells the world that mass death has ended, even if peace has not yet begun.

Trump repeatedly calls it a ceasefire and even declared, “The war is over.” That language allows him to portray himself as the leader who brokered peace, even as the war grinds on. It gives governments something to point to besides civilian deaths while the news cycle pushes Gaza further down the homepage. Once the label “ceasefire” takes hold, the reality on the ground becomes easier to overlook.

Trump’s proposal for a “Riviera of the Middle East” foreshadowed what the ceasefire would later reinforce: a public conversation increasingly centered on Gaza’s future redevelopment rather than its present suffering. Before parents had finished burying their children, the conversation had already shifted from mass death to beachfront development.

A ceasefire is supposed to reduce violence. Palestinian civilians, including children, continue to die.

A ceasefire is supposed to make humanitarian access easier. Instead, the United Nations says aid workers continue to face major obstacles reaching communities in southern Gaza, including around Rafah.

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A ceasefire is supposed to create momentum toward a political settlement. Instead, the conflict has shown no meaningful signs of resolution. Hamas has appointed Khalil al-Hayya as its new overall leader, another reminder that the war remains militarily unresolved. Benjamin Netanyahu remains the subject of an outstanding ICC arrest warrant, even as questions over its enforcement continue to fuel international disputes.

These battles remain so bitterly contested because the ceasefire did not make Gaza meaningfully safer. It simply made the crisis feel less urgent, despite scant evidence that conditions on the ground, especially for civilians and children, had improved.

Few words in war carry the promise of peace. But the language of resolution did not protect the children who lived long enough to reach it. At some point, words have to mean something. If Palestinian children continue to die day after day, we should stop pretending the firing has ceased. A ceasefire worthy of the name must first exist on the ground.

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Arkansas Senate candidate Chris Jones…

Florida’s Democratic candidate for governor, David Jolly…

A report on the real losses suffered by Black women due to the racist regime

The latest questions about the Nolan Wells case and an unhelpful interview with one of his friends…

And Rashad Robinson previews his July 28 chat with Joy on his new book: From Presence to Power.

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Robby explores these harrowing themes in his new book, Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy (SHIPS SEPTEMBER 8, 2026.)

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Caribbean cooking was built on intuition, memory, and what most grannies calls “measuring with your ancestors.”

In a Caribbean household, for a girl, the kitchen was the ultimate classroom. And the first lesson you learn is that the best things in life cannot be strictly measured.

What my ma was actually teaching me, between the clouds of sizzling garlic and scotch bonnet peppers, was how to trust myself. She was teaching me that you don’t always need a perfect blueprint to create something beautiful. Sometimes, you have to trust your senses, adjust as you go, and taste the broth along the way.

Making Something Out of Nothing

Perhaps the greatest lesson from her kitchen was resourcefulness. A Caribbean mother can look into a nearly empty fridge and somehow produce a feast that feeds four people and the neighbor who just happened to drop by. A leftover piece of bread becomes bread pudding; the bones from Sunday’s dinner become Tuesday’s rich soup or dog food.

She taught me that abundance isn’t about having a lot of things. It’s about what you can do with what you have. And when I face a problem in life that doesn’t have a clear, step-by-step solution, the way I liked it, I remember her standing at the stove, unbothered by the lack of a recipe, trusting that she knew exactly what to do.

Strength wasn’t something my mother admired.

It was expected.

“You’ll Figure It Out.”

Looking back, I realize something fascinating.

Whenever life became difficult, my mother rarely rushed to rescue me.

Instead she’d say,

“You’ll figure it out.”

At the time it sounded dismissive.

Today I understand it was confidence.

She believed I could solve problems because she’d spent years teaching me how.

Not through lectures but through observation.

“You can’t rush a good pelau.” this was how much patience she had, which forced me to learn, you cannot microwave a legacy. You have to let it simmer.

Survival Is Not the Same as Living

Here’s where adulthood complicated everything.

Many Caribbean daughters inherit survival.

Few are taught rest.

We know how to hustle.

We know how to sacrifice.

We know how to put everyone else’s needs first. SMH.

We know how to keep moving even when our hearts are breaking.

But many of us don’t know how to stop.

Somewhere between immigration, colonial history, economic hardship, and generational trauma, survival became our family tradition. In fact, our mothers couldn’t teach what they themselves never received.

The Lesson I Keep

If I could thank my mother for one thing, it would be this:

She taught me resilience before I even knew the word.

She taught me that setbacks aren’t permanent.

She taught me dignity.

She taught me perseverance.

She taught me to keep my word.

She taught me that family matters.

Those lessons built me.

The Lesson I’m Rewriting

But I am also learning something my mother never had permission to learn.

Strength isn’t measured by how much pain you can hide.

Sometimes strength is asking for help.

Sometimes strength is resting.

Sometimes strength is saying, “I can’t carry this alone.”

Perhaps every generation’s responsibility is not to reject the lessons of those before us. It’s to complete them. Maybe that’s how we honor our mothers. Not by becoming copies of them.But by becoming healthier versions of what they hoped we could be.

Now over to you: What is one “unwritten rule” or recipe your mother taught you? Drop a comment below, I’d love to read them.

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We also did a deep dive into a serious question: is pro-Palestine activism a “white progressive thing?” Pastor Mike, and Pastor Frederick Douglas “Freddie” Haynes weigh in. Plus: ViewerCon founder Chris Witherspoon on the success of the first “cookout for content!”

State Rep. Donavan McKinney FB and X: @donavanmi13 IG and Bsky: Campaign website: donavanforcongress.com/

Support Freddie Haynes for congress: haynesforcongress.com

***

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I love being loved. I love loving deeply. I thrive on meaningful connection, shared experiences, and building a life alongside people who matter to me. For most of my life, I have viewed connection as one of life’s greatest gifts.

But somewhere this summer between countries, multiple airports, unfamiliar streets, and a s…

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Loneliness is one of the most overlooked emotional struggles in modern society.

A person can be surrounded by people, active on social media, employed, married, or socially engaged and still feel alone. Loneliness is not simply the absence of company; it is the absence of meaningful emotional connection. It is the feeling that no one fully sees you, unde…

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