SHATZI, THE PEOPLE'S BUBBIE, was an anti-Zionist Jewish activist, prison abolitionist, AIDS nurse, and death educator who passed away in 2022 at the age of 92. Shatzi was a comrade and a mentor to me and so many others. She was also a global icon who, late in life, became Twitter famous as "The People's Bubbie," connecting virtually with hundreds of thousands of queer, trans, and anti-Zionist organizers around the world who looked to her as a movement grandmother.
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Shatzi was the anti-Zionist Jewish lesbian abolitionist elder so few of us grew up with, but so many needed. I’m grateful to have known her, learned from her, visited her as she was dying, and contributed to amplifying her work and ensuring she has an iconic legacy.
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My work with and about Shatzi included several posts I made about her while running the JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE social media accounts, including her obiturary post (all included below). These posts were instrumental in establishing her as an icon and helping "The People's Bubbie Twitter account get off the ground.
I also drew a 16" x 20" white colored pencil portrait of Shatzi based on a graphic I designed with a quote she said shortly before her death. I loved getting to study the way Shatzi’s well-lived life of 92 years had molded and imprinted her face while watching old interviews with her talking about that very life and the wisdom it had given her.
This drawing was auctioned off at a virtual Hanukkah celebration in memory of Shatzi, benefiting the Adalah Justice Project, a New York-based Palestinian organization with which Shatzi worked closely.
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The piece sold for just over $1,000, a major contribution toward the fundraising goal of $40,000. Its new companion can feel the loving presence of a movement ancestor keeping them company and living vicariously through them while they fight for a Free Palestine.
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The drawing was also featured in Dwell in Revolution: Ancestors for Judaism Beyond Zionism, a sold-out 60-page zine by illustrator Micah Bazant benefiting Palestinian mutual aid organization Operation Olive Branch.
16" x 20" white colored pencil portrait of Shatzi
Time lapse video of me drawing Shatzi
Social media posts about Shatzi made by me for Jewish Voice for Peace and my personal account
DWELL IN REVOLUTION zine by Micah Bazant, featuring my portrait of Shatzi
