Grief as a Force for Change

Grief cracks us open. It can paralyze us, yes, but it can also push us forward. Grief has been a quiet yet powerful force behind some of the most transformative social movements, throughout history. It helps us fight for something better.

In my own journey as an activist, advocate, facilitator, grief has been a constant companion. It’s shaped the way I work, the way I connect with others, and the way I’ve built movements and spaces for healing. It has shown me that grief is not just something we endure and suffer through, it’s something we can honor and use to inspire change.

Grief as a Catalyst for Collective Action

Grief is connection, not just sadness, and when people grieve together, it can ignite movements.

Take the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina. Their grief over their “disappeared” children during the military dictatorship turned into a decades-long demand for justice. By publicly mourning and marching in Buenos Aires, they became a global symbol of resistance and accountability.

Similarly, grief fueled the creation of the AIDS Memorial Quilt during the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. Each panel of the quilt represented someone lost to AIDS, transforming private mourning into a public demand for action. The quilt honored lives lost and also challenged the stigma surrounding the disease. It pushed society toward awareness which in turn, made possible medical advancements, and compassion.

In Indigenous communities across North America, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movements turn mourning into a fight for justice. Vigils, marches, and memorials for missing and murdered Indigenous women draw attention to systemic violence and the inaction of governments and law enforcement. These acts of collective grief challenge historical and ongoing erasure while amplifying the voices of those who have been silenced.

The Black Lives Matter movement incorporates grief into its very foundation. Public mourning for victims of police violence, like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many others, takes the form of vigils, funerals, and street memorials. These acts of grief are remembrance and they are a refusal to let these lives and stories fade away. Grief here becomes resistance, a demand for accountability, and a call to dismantle systemic racism.

Grief for climate destruction has also sparked collective action. In the Fridays for Future movement, led by Greta Thunberg, climate grief was transformed into global protests. Mourning lost glaciers, forests, and species motivates people to demand urgent action against climate change. This grief is not passive; it galvanizes individuals and communities to act before more is lost. As a working group member of the Good Grief Network, I’ve seen firsthand how processing eco-grief together can lead to meaningful action.

In June 2018, Puerto Ricans placed hundreds of shoes outside the Capitol in San Juan to honor the thousands who died in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. This poignant display highlighted the government's underreporting of the death toll and fueled public outrage. The collective grief and demand for transparency intensified, leading to mass protests in 2019 that ultimately resulted in the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló.

Even in situations of forced displacement and genocide, grief becomes a powerful tool for resilience and justice. Among the Rohingya people, who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar, mourning rituals became acts of defiance. By memorializing their lost homes, families, and communities, the Rohingya keep their stories alive and demand international accountability.

These examples remind us that grief doesn’t have to stay private. When shared, it becomes a call to action. Whether it’s the grief of a mother, an activist, or an entire community, mourning can transform loss into purpose.

Rows of shoes outside the Capitol in San Juan, Puerto Rico, honoring the thousands who died due to the impacts of colonialism after Hurricane Maria.

How Grief Shaped My Activism

When we think of activism, we often think of anger-fueled protests. But what is anger hiding? Pain and sadness are usually the undercurrent behind anger.

For me, grief, deep sadness for people’s injustices and oppressions, has been my greatest motivator for social justice.

Grief for unhoused people’s lack of a warm meal drove me and my son, in 2014, to cook 15 vegan meals and distribute them in NYC. Grief led those 15 meals to turn into hundreds of thousands of meals as we formed Chilis on Wheels, a vegan food relief organization that continues to operate in NYC and NJ today.

Grief and profound sadness for my people in Puerto Rico led me and my son to do food relief after Hurricane Maria and to stay behind afterwards too. The grief of seeing corporate nonprofits leave after three months while people still needed help with basic services, pushed us to officially move to the island and rent a house so it could become a vegan and sustainability community center, still existing and now its own entity, Casa Vegana de la Comunidad.

Grief leads us to walk in service of others. Grief transforms personal pain into communal action.

Grief as a Political Act

Mourning is powerful because it resists forgetting.

When we mourn publicly, whether at a vigil for police violence victims, at a symbolic funeral for the thousands of Palestinians victims of genocide, or through sit-ins for climate protests, it’s a refusal to “move on.” Grief demands that we confront what’s been lost and fight for accountability.

But grief is often dismissed or rushed, which is not surprising since our culture is built on colonial ideas of resilience and productivity. Public mourning challenges these systems. It says: stop. Look at what’s been taken. Feel it. Deep inside you. And then have no choice but to act.

Mourning publicly also shifts narratives. It brings invisible grief to light and connects personal loss to broader systems of oppression.

Tulips strewn on the steps of NYC Capitol Building to Mourn Palestinians killed in genocide.

Grief and Liberation Are Intertwined

Grief and liberation share the same roots. To be free, we must first face what’s been lost: lives, ecosystems, futures we once imagined.

But grief isn’t just about endings or things we’ve lost. It’s also about empathy. It’s also about connection. Grief reminds us how deeply we’re tied to others, to our communities, to our ecosystems and planet.

As I’ve worked with grief and bereavement in others, grief has deepened my understanding of interconnectedness. Whether our mourning is individual or collective, it’s a powerful vortex that transforms us and takes us to new insights about ourselves, our roles in our communities, in movements, in what is possible when we start the work.

When we embrace grief, we allow it to transform us. That transformation is where liberation begins.

How to Turn Grief into Action

Grief can feel overwhelming, but there are ways to channel it into something meaningful:

Mourning Circles: Gather with others to grieve openly, whether in community spaces or online.
Reflective Writing: Ask yourself how grief connects to your values. How does it fuel your desire for change? Who else is feeling this grief? How can I join them?
Restorative Practices: Take time to rest and recharge, especially if you’re an activist or caregiver. Grief needs space to breathe.

One practice I often recommend is The Grief Compass Exercise:

Find a quiet space where you can reflect without distractions. Bring a journal, a candle, or something meaningful that connects you to your grief.
Begin by writing down these four prompts:

What is my grief telling me about what I care most about?
What do I wish I could say to the person or thing I’ve lost?
How has this loss changed me?
What small step can I take to honor this grief and transform it into purpose?

Set a timer for 15–20 minutes and free-write on each prompt. Don’t worry about grammar or structure, just let your thoughts flow.
When you’re done, read through your responses. Underline or highlight anything that stands out. Use this as a starting point to explore how your grief can inform your values and guide your actions.

Reflective tools like journaling or creating personal rituals can help transform grief into action by connecting it to your values and purpose. For more ideas and practical exercises, A Saddie and a Baddie Radical Self-Care Guide for Activists Workbook and Guide offers gentle guidance and inspiration. You can find it in our Etsy store.

Grief isn’t something to move past, it’s something to move through.

Grief is the Beginning of Liberation

Grief is a force that connects us, reminds us what matters, and pushes us toward something better.

In mourning together, we plant the seeds of change. Grief is not the end of the story, it’s the beginning of liberation.

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Michelle Carrera is a grief facilitator, death doula, and animal chaplain dedicated to helping individuals and communities navigate loss with intention and compassion. Through her work at Grief and Liberation, Michelle creates spaces for mourning, reflection, and transformation, offering one-on-one grief support, workshops, and resources for activists and caregivers.

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How Grief Fuels Social Movements