Footnotes
Have we won yet?
This week's newsletter is for all the change agents who are living in cities occupied by ICE, Border Control, or any other violent police forces. This is for those who are standing up, fighting back, getting involved, staying informed- and consequently are being pulled in a million directions... This is for those who celebrate wins and mourn losses and feel like you are shouting into the void... This is for those who are wondering, what the hell does it even mean to "win".
After all, we convinced congressional members not to give more money to ICE. But ICE already has a budget beyond any police force in history. Minnesota ousted Greg Bovino. But the raids have not stopped. Liam and his father have been released. But so many more families are still being disappeared. You are doing the work. And you know the work matters. But as you live within the urgent now, under an administration that loses but doesnt stop, how does one process living in this tension?
When I think about this idea of "winning" there is a quote from Audre Lorde that immediately comes to mind. In her book A Burst of Light and Other Essays, Audre gives us a look into her mental (and physical and spiritual) processing of fighting -isms and fighting cancer. Her mind and her pen weave between the political and the physical, pulling and tugging at the threads between the two. She writes, "Racism. Cancer. In both cases, to win the aggressor must conquer, but the resisters need only survive. How do I define that survival and on whose terms?"
In order to have a discussion about "winning" (or achieving or overcoming) we must first release ourselves from the paradigm set for us by white supremacy. Our desire is not to dominate as they do. Our desire is not lord power over. Our desire is not to oppress as we have been oppressed. We don't need to conquer in order to win. We must only survive. Outlast them. Determine to live anyhow, regardless of their heartlessness and inhumanity.
And that radical way of winning- of simply being in the way, of causing trouble, of refusing to acquiesce, of staying loud, of keeping up the fight, of being here- opens the possibilities for how you understand survival and *your terms. How do you win?
By refusing to let the cold keep you from watching over your neighbor?
By blowing a whistle with all the breath inside you?
By staying up late to prepare the briefs to file in court?
By dismantling lies and speaking truth to this administration?
By passing local legislation that limits dehumanizing federal policies?
By running for city council and supporting your library and making art and educating yourself and participating in mutual aid and lending your most creative ideas to build a beloved community?
I cant tell you what winning is for you. But I know it doesn't have to be limited to Election Day. It doesnt have to be limited to utopia. It doesnt have to wait until everything has returned to "normal".
It could be that you are still here. And so am I. And so are we. And we arent going anywhere.
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