Why are you still silent? (Issue #14)

And how can I support you in speaking up?

Author

Chris Musei-Sequeira
May 09, 2025

This black-and-white photograph shows seven people in the foreground facing the camera. They appear to be lieing down on sand. In the midground are a series of buildings aligned diagonally. In the background is a daytime sky with a small cloud at the upper middle. CAPTION FROM SOURCE: When this picture was taken at Khan Younis in 1955, the tented refugee camp in the Gaza Strip had just been replaced by cement block houses. CREDIT FROM SOURCE: Jack Madvo. SOURCE: Madvo, J. (1955). File:Khan Yunis refugee camp 1955.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. Last accessed: May 9, 2025 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khan_Yunis_refugee_camp_1955.jpg

FREE, ONLINE professional networking events: subscribe here to receive email announcements!

Add [email protected] to your address book so you don’t miss newsletter issues from us!

Why are you still silent?

Why have you not spoken up?

What is keeping you quiet about the genocide in Palestine… exactly?

Perhaps you feel judged, but I don’t intend to judge you. I'm not the director of your life; I’m not the arbiter of your truth. I am not your soothsayer—I cannot predict your future.

There are people who will tell you that if you have not said anything yet, you're basically a bad person—but I’m not one of those people. I’ve spoken at length on my new video channel (available on YouTube and TikTok) about how not everybody has the privilege of speaking their minds.

So my first question is: do you want to speak up? If you do, what are the obstacles in your way?

Is it fear of losing your job?

Is it the judgment of other people—particularly friends and family?

Is it fear of losing business—clients, customers, or potential clients and customers?

Is it fear of being called performative or hypocritical?

Is it fear of physical violence being done to you or your loved ones?

Because yeah: all of these things have indeed happened to folks.

What are the obstacles standing in your way, and what support do you need to overcome them? Or… might you prefer to just keep your mouth shut and avoid trouble by not saying anything? Maybe that will work out fine for you… or maybe it won’t. There may come a time when you’re asked without warning about “that stuff in the Middle East.” There’s risk in not having an answer ready; there’s risk in saying “oh, I don’t think about that kinda thing…” There’s risk regardless of what you say or don’t say—just different risks.

I am certain that doors in my professional career have been shut because of my speaking up for Palestine in various forums. And yet, I also know for a fact that many other doors have been opened because of what I have said, even though my professional background may appear to have no relevance to “that stuff.” I'm trained as an aeronautical engineer and environmental policy analyst; I may have been able to get away with keeping my head down, my nose in a book, and my mouth shut. May. But even if I had kept my mouth shut, there’s still the fact that as a USA taxpayer, my money is going toward what is happening in the region.

There will come a day where all of us will be held accountable for our speech and our actions… or lack thereof. History is being made right now.

In the year 2050, what do you think the history books will say?

In the year 2100, what do you think your descendants will say… about you, specifically?

People will be talking about what you said in this time and what role you played… or didn’t, as the case may be.

So I'll ask you again:

Why are you still silent?

Why have you not spoken up?

What is keeping you quiet about the genocide in Palestine… exactly?

And: if you want to speak up, how can I support you?

(This post adapted from my video channel, available on YouTube and TikTok.)

Where to find the perspectives you’ve been missing

FIRST: Subscribe to the Morning Tinto podcast, where my friend Heather Luna and I use the lenses of oppression and resistance to talk about events that happen right before recording.

SECOND: Subscribe to our professional offers-and-needs networking events announcement list. Heather and I regularly host FREE online events where professionals can offer help (free or paid) and ask other professionals to meet their needs.

THIRD: Follow these awesome folks on LinkedIn:

FOURTH: Forward this issue to people you know who are doing decolonial and anti-oppression work.

Got something to say to me?

I’m Chris, the Principal of CJSC, LLC, and I’m (un)learning along with all of you — so hit the “reply” button and give me a piece of your mind!

Did someone send you this issue? Subscribe now to receive future newsletters like this.

Know someone who needs to see this issue? Hit the “Forward” button in your email app and send this to them.

My name is Chris Musei-Sequeira, and I use he/him pronouns. My mother was born in Trinidad and Tobago as a descendant of African slaves brought to the islands during the time of European colonization. She came to the United States of America (USA) at the age of 10. My father is Goan and was born in India, in Mumbai, and raised Catholic and English-speaking. He came to the USA for his graduate studies, where he met my mother.

My sister and I were born in the USA and lived a middle-class life in the suburbs of multiple American cities. I studied aeronautical engineering and technology policy in university, then worked at the Federal Aviation Administration and as an aviation consultant. I've lived in cities up and down the USA East Coast since the age of 18; I now reside in Queens, New York with my wife.

I thank Heather Luna and Lavinia Muth for showing me the importance of publicly expressing our positions. Because of our positions, all of us are very familiar with some aspects of the world while having no idea of other aspects. Positionality expresses how our individual positions affect our relationships with other people and with the world as a whole.

Introductory image: Madvo, J. (1955). File:Khan Yunis refugee camp 1955.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. Last accessed: May 9, 2025 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khan_Yunis_refugee_camp_1955.jpg