Two reasons to cancel me

Owning the gap between words and deeds

B. Lorraine Smith
9 min readMay 31, 2024
“Humble Man” by Montreal artist Gary Bray, black eye provided by wood knot (used with permission).

WARNING: Below I mention sensitive topics including violence in Gaza and genocide.

OTHER WARNING: This is long and uncomfortable. I share in the spirit of transparency, and in case you prefer to unfollow, block, or otherwise cancel knowing more about what I’m up to.

The short version is, last week I did a crummy job of standing with Israel and an equally crap job of supporting a free Palestine. I learned a lot the hard way, and I broke a few things including the trust and confidence of important people in my life.

It’s been painful in ways I’ve never experienced before and wouldn’t wish on anyone. But this isn’t about wound-licking or self-blame. Rather, my intention here is to clarify my actions and offer real-time learning as I figure out what industrial healing actually takes, because there is much bigger pain afoot that we need to stop and heal from.

If you want to at least witness and learn from my mistakes before you unfollow, buckle in and thanks for reading. And as ever I welcome your feedback.

Why am I talking about geopolitical conflict now?

If this seems like an uncharacteristic segue into geopolitics, please take a moment to reflect on how…

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B. Lorraine Smith

Former sustainability consultant replacing ESG with reality-based insights about corporate purpose and impact. https://www.blorrainesmith.com/