Full disclosure: Normally, I am a sponge for daily news content. In the morning, I turn to CNN and the BBC. I reserve NPR for my commute. I read the Seattle Times and the New York Times during the day. For the dinner hour and just before midnight, I watch the local and national newscasts and scan online for news alerts from the regions where my sons and daughter live.

With that, I’m assured of a balanced, thorough account of news and information. Yet since late October and into November, I’ve been practicing moderation in the daily news cycle—and I do so out of a need for self-care. To do otherwise would overwhelm me with news that is rooted in and driven by negativity, speculation, fearmongering, and cruel rhetoric.

But moderation doesn’t mean aversion or abdication. I still absorb a good share of the news cycle—even if it means navigating the negativity to get to the truth—because I recognize the importance of staying informed of the actions of people with the power and means to change the course of our lives. And at United Way, we must understand how those actions impact the communities we are honored to serve and support.

We won’t absorb the news with a sense of trepidation, nor will we respond to reports out of fear. But when behavior is in opposition to our values or harmful to the communities that we prioritize and serve, we must take issue with it. For example, we’re concerned that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can continue using Boeing Field to transport deportees.

We join with our other organizations and elected leaders in expressing our concern for the impact this has on immigrant, refugee, and asylee communities here in King County. Based upon pre-election rhetoric, we are concerned that this is an area that we are going to need to remain informed about in the event we need to provide support and advocacy for those communities.

We often do our work during times of great uncertainty in our region and country. Yet, we stay fiercely committed to our community. We stand with and advocate for our neighbors, particularly those who have been victims of systemic oppression and institutional racism. We must always let them know—in our service, our advocacy, and our partnerships—that we see them, we support them, and we stand with them.

As we near the moment of transition at the federal level and the uncertainty that comes with it, United Way is still about raising the bar for social justice. In the words of John Lewis:

“We have a right to protest for what is right. That’s all we can do. There are people hurting, there are people suffering, so we have an obligation, a mandate, to do something.”

We will stay focused on our mission and our communities, and we will embrace the longstanding challenge of addressing—through our words and our work—hundreds of years of oppression based on a person or community’s identities. We believe we exist to persist (in standing up for what is right) and resist (all forms of identity-based oppressions).

That is why I continue to absorb the news, albeit in smaller portions nowadays. This better prepares us for those moments when we may feel obligated to be part of the story through editorials in the Seattle Times, blogs like this one, Lobby Days at the State House, and public hearings at City Hall.

We believe that this moment demands clarity, conviction, and action. To that end, we are preparing new avenues to address the urgent challenges our communities face—solutions that will allow us to meet emergent needs swiftly and effectively while ensuring long-term impact. This approach reflects our steadfast commitment to the values of equity and justice.

No matter what lies ahead, we will not allow the cycle of rhetoric to deter or detract us from our mission to ensure that all people have enough to eat, quality education, a safe place to call home, and financial security. We stand by and stand with oppressed communities who, perhaps now more than ever, need to know that they are seen, heard, and cared for. That is our obligation.