Identity is complex, simultaneously shared and personal. It can be hard to talk about Palestine, Israel, and the Middle East, even with people who share our identities, because identity is so integral to the genocide, context, escalations, and our feelings and positions.
One of the most challenging aspects of taking action on Gaza is how hard it can be to talk about, even with folks who share our ethnic and cultural identities. This kind of conflict – especially when it’s between family members or close friends – can be confusing and difficult to work through.
This family collage activity, inspired by our explorations of identity with Beyond the Wall, is designed to ground your family in your shared values, open space for conversation with your child about why you feel the way you do, and consider how to speak with compassion to people who feel differently.
This activity can be done physically or digitally, with whatever materials you have around the house. With young kids, you might make one collage together as a family. With older kids and teens, each person can make their own collage. As you make your collage, we encourage you to use the following guiding questions to open up conversation with each other.
A family identity and values collage by Flying Leap Collaborating Artist Meghan Grover. The collage includes family photos, printed text, and two pieces of art, one of which says “Jews for Ceasefire” and “Radical Diasporism”.
FAMILY IDENTITY AND COLLAGE INSTRUCTIONS
Materials:
Paper (for making a list)
Pen or pencil
There are many ways to make a collage! You can gather photos, draw pictures, work digitally… use what you have!
Note: If your children are older, you may wish to do these steps separately, then come together for step 5, discussing the similarities and differences in your perspectives.
Steps:
First, work together to make a list of the parts of your family’s identity. What cultures does your family identify with? You can think about nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender, or identities from your family’s history. Are you descended from immigrants? Tailors? Union members? Activists?
Next, talk about the values your family shares that come from these identities. For example, perhaps your religion inspires your family to practice tolerance, or your ethnic culture emphasizes joy and celebration, or your family history of immigration means you value social justice. Add these values to your list.
Gather your materials: how could you represent each of these values and identities in a collage? You can draw, write, print out family photos, search for images online, or even gather objects from around your house. Perhaps there’s a color or shape that represents part of your family’s identity. Perhaps different family members want to choose images for certain words on your list, or perhaps you choose together. The sky's the limit!
Assemble your collage:
Option 1: on a piece of large paper or cardboard, glue or tape your images together.
Option 2: You can also assemble a digital collage, bringing images together on a powerpoint, document, even a Pinterest board!
Step back and admire your work. What do you notice about the collage? What are you proud of? Does anything surprise you?
GET THE CONVERSATION GOING
Here are some questions to talk about while you are making and looking at your collages:
What values does our family have? Which parts of our family’s identity do they come from?
How do we show our family identities and values to others?
What is one value we can practice more as a family this week? What would that look like?
When someone disagrees with us, especially someone who shares one of our identities, it can bring up angry feelings, or make us feel frustrated or confused.
What’s a time someone disagreed with you?
What questions can you ask to learn more about their opinion and where it comes from?
What would you want to tell them about your values and where your opinions come from?
KEEP THE LIGHT SHINING
The next time you find yourself in a disagreement or talking about a challenging issue, pause to think about where you got your opinions from. How are they connected to your identities and values? Do you think the person you’re disagreeing with shares any of those identities or values? Consider sharing where your opinions are rooted, and invite them to share, too.