Rehumanize

a self-recollecting process for public figures

              I was around seven years old, standing in line in Nob Hill Grocery Store in California. Splayed across the display racks near the register, were those garish tabloids, saying all kinds of outlandish, egregious things about high-profile people: impossible undisclosed pregnancies, non-existent feuds, and the pervasive, “secretly battling illness” cover stories. It made me uncomfortable, this deep, unsettling feeling of, “I don’t think we should be talking about other human beings like that.” I paid attention to these patterns, this commerce of people. It seemed it was harming everyone, making dehumanization go viral. Not just in a media kind of way, in a viral sickness kind of way. Then, shortly before I officially became an adult, Princess Diana died. Horror and sorrow flooded me. It wasn’t that she was someone I followed or felt particularly attached to. It was that it seemed her death was a vile tax that came from the consumption of people as objects. Something in me was incensed and resolute about the injustice of it all. I felt like there was a human responsibility we were missing – to care for each other. I wanted to do something about that.

              Eventually, I got a master’s in religion, a master’s in counseling, a master’s in Middle Eastern cultures and religions, and a PhD in transformative studies. All those journeys carried a sense of burden to un-work the dehumanization that has become so pervasive in our world, to support individuals and groups back to their core humanity, for themselves, their families, the people they lead.

              Over the years this noticing has sharpened as I’ve had aligned connections with prominent people, those carrying a lot and those who report feeling dehumanized a lot. Being visible shouldn't mean being treated as a commodity instead of a soul — but for so many, that's exactly what it becomes. One of the patterns I see is how when many step into their own full bloom, they are increasingly objectified by those beyond their intimate circles. The story of Princess Diana returns to me: being seen by millions is not the same as truly being seen. That insight has become a conviction I can’t set down: people who live in public are as worthy of being treated as human as anyone else. They deserve a space to unpack their experiences, discuss what they are carrying, make sense of it, and chart a path forward. This is that space. I call it Rehumanize.