In a March morning in 2019, I was preparing to attend the Montreal leg of Greta Thunberg’s first global march for the climate. I had just come from the dentist, and despite my frozen bottom lip — and the drool I suspected was dribbling down my chin — I felt the same electric sense of purpose and community that I have always felt in the lead-up to a demonstration.
Then I heard about the terrorist attack in New Zealand that targeted Muslims at Friday prayer, killing 51 and injuring 49. Two of the bleakest crises collided for me then — a planet careening towards climate catastrophe and an ever-growing sea of hate, Islamophobia, and intolerance.