Ms. Rachel, Lady Zaynab and the power of empathy to fight injustice

(RNS) — Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Ms. Rachel and resonating with the messages she has been sharing with my 2-year-old son. “It’s OK to be mad … You can say it, ‘I’m so mad!'” she shares in her children’s YouTube series, “Songs for Littles.”

Mad is an understatement for many who are downright outraged at the state of injustice in the world and mass inaction by its leaders. While anger has provoked many to speak out in the wake of the genocide in Gaza, the unprovoked war on Iran and the flattening of Lebanon, Ms. Rachel has channeled her anger and raised her voice through an incredibly powerful skill: empathy.

Rachel Accurso is an American educator, entertainer and YouTube sensation who teaches young kids language skills and emotional development through musical videos. She has attributed her activism and ethical beliefs to her Christian faith. With an audience of over 20 million subscribers, she is also a staunch advocate for children’s rights and has been unapologetically vocal on social media, whether in speaking out against Israel’s violence and the starvation of the children of Gaza or condemning violence perpetrated by immigration enforcement agents against immigrant families and children.

While I watch her with pride as a fellow woman and mother, I can’t help but remember another powerful woman in history: Lady Zaynab, the granddaughter of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and how she used both empathy and her voice to spark a revolution remembered to this day.

The tragedy of Karbala in 680 CE Iraq saw the brutal murder of Zaynab bint Ali’s brother, Husayn, and 72 other friends and family of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) — the youngest of whom was Husayn’s son, a 6-month-old baby, in their stand against the oppressive Umayyad leader, Yazid. The atrocities sanctioned by Yazid in Karbala included depriving children of water, murdering children and youth, mutilating bodies and imprisoning the surviving women and children under harsh conditions.

Zaynab oversaw the well-being of the survivors, taking on a role that required both strong leadership and empathy. She cared for the orphan children, provided emotional support to the widows and ensured everyone’s needs were taken care of as they moved forward without their loved ones — all while bearing the trauma of losing her own children.

Palestinian children receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, in central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Ms. Rachel’s consistent support for global humanitarian rights and the rights of children worldwide, particularly in Palestine — the world’s most dangerous place to be a child, according to aid groups — has drawn immense support from her fans. Her posts show her lovingly singing songs of comfort to children like Rahaf, a double-amputee as a result of violence in Gaza, and others detail the tragic stories of babies and young children being detained in U.S. immigration detention centers.

But despite receiving international praise, Ms. Rachel has also drawn her share of negative attention, and her intentions have been questioned, to the extent that she has been accused, without evidence, of being funded for spreading “Hamas-aligned propaganda” or acting as a foreign agent. She has faced these accusations despite also speaking out in support of Israeli children and the hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

Accusations like these are an age-old tactic attempting to malign and discredit women’s efforts toward social justice. Take Viola Desmond, whom some referred to as a Canadian Rosa Parks, a Black woman who was convicted of a tax violation for sitting in the “whites only” section of a movie theater in 1940s Canada. After losing her legal case, she also lost her hair salon business and her marriage. She was pardoned only after her death, but is now celebrated as a visionary with her image on the Canadian $10 bill.

While feminist movements have helped create a path for women to take up space and use their voice and talents across the global stage, there has been much discussion on the ways that the feminism millennials grew up with has failed us. Millennial women particularly saw an era of “girlbossing (their) way out of oppression,” in the words of Buzzfeed News writer Shannon Keating, as if they needed to prove themselves in a patriarchal society.

Women were still left battling the dichotomy of soft versus strong within male-oriented systems. Often unappreciated for strengths like collaboration, flexibility and emotional intelligence, some have tried to push the scales in their favor by adopting the leadership skills found in their successful male counterparts. But those women were criticized for being overbearing and unlikeable.

But soft skills are now making a comeback with the changing dynamics of post-pandemic work-life balance, the upsurge in remote work opportunities and the rise in artificial intelligence shedding light on the need for real-world human interaction. These changing dynamics call on us to re-conceptualize what a successful human, regardless of gender, looks like.

Jacinda Ardern, former New Zealand prime minister, is another prime example of someone who has skillfully combined decisive action with empathic leadership. In the wake of the Christchurch mosque shooting in 2019, she demonstrated what it looks like to be a “soft and strong” leader. She passed strict gun control laws while appropriately comforting the nation’s — and the world’s — Muslim communities.

The attention and praise that women like Ms. Rachel and Ardern garner have little to do with their financial success — although they’ve achieved that as well — and a lot to do with their reserves of compassion and humanity. Last year, in a viral social media post, Ms. Rachel condemned the world’s leaders for their silence and for putting their greed for money and career success ahead of human life.

Lady Zaynab hailed from a milieu of feminism when Arabian women were, just years prior, granted the right to vote under Islam. She was the granddaughter of Lady Khadijah, an immensely wealthy and independent businesswoman who used her resources to feed and protect the Muslim community during Islam’s early years of political and social strife.

Zaynab was famously known for speaking out publicly against Yazid and addressing him directly within his court. Despite her vulnerability, she felt neither ashamed nor intimidated when challenging the tyrant in an audience of his supporters, among whom the propaganda against herself and her family prevailed.

Like Ms. Rachel, Viola Desmond and so many other strong female leaders, Zaynab was criticized. Her reputation and that of her family was questioned. She was dismissed as a mere grief-stricken, emotional woman who was no longer afforded the same rights and dignity that her grandfather Muhammad (pbuh) previously established. And yet her words struck a chord, stirring the empathy of others as they listened to the horrific narrations of injustices perpetrated by Yazid, planting the seeds of a revolution that ultimately saw Yazid’s demise.

Ms. Rachel is a modern reminder of the example that Zaynab presented to us centuries ago — the power of a woman’s empathy together with her voice.

As a former music teacher who began creating music and making videos to help teach her son with speech delays, the origins of Ms. Rachel’s fame stem from compassion and love for children. Her mission from the outset has been to help children thrive, no matter their geographical, cultural or social background. While she teaches through her songs that “it’s OK to be mad” and “big feelings are OK,” she also demonstrates, like Zaynab did, that women are the strongest leaders when they mobilize their big feelings — their grief and outrage, and love and compassion — toward meaningful action.

Ms. Rachel’s voice singing songs of joy and hope, complete with her iconic pink hairband and overalls, are perhaps the modern-day image of an empowered woman— one that Lady Zaynab embodied in her own era — one who is proud to draw upon her empathy while utilizing the platform, resources and influence she has worked hard to acquire to address what truly matters.

(Zehra Kamani is a Toronto-based freelance writer with a background in research. Her website is zehrakamani.com. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)