If empathy is not an end in itself, it is nevertheless a skill and a tool that can move people toward other positive ends. In situations of unequal power, empathy may help people with more power rethink and rework the imbalance. In situations of polarization, it may reduce tensions -- a potential start for collective problem solving. And victims of hateful and violent acts may find that it allows them to extend grace and forgiveness and in so doing reclaim agency and find some measure of freedom. With this collection, I don't want to suggest that people who have been wronged or who find themselves on the underside of a power imbalance need to cultivate empathy for their oppressors nor imply that empathy necessarily restores justice and creates structural change. Yet exploring the range of empathy's uses means considering how it has been mobilized to disrupt systems that seemed impervious and to disarm powerful people in situations where anger and the desire for retribution were more likely responses.