CLH Words

This has been the hardest post I have written here. Normally, a post takes a few days to write, with a first pass about something I have been thinking about recently followed up by a polished final draft once my thoughts have been put in order. I started writing this one at the beginning of January. I have several different drafts, none of which I have come close to finishing. My thoughts and emotions refuse to be put in order on this one. It is both because this moment in time feels so big and impactful that writing about anything else feels weird yet there is not much I can say. I am not in the Twin Cities; I am not in a position to provide any new information or share a first hand perspective on this topic. Yet, I find my mind continuing to go back to it. I have finally managed to get my thoughts in order and write something that I hope is helpful. This is not meant to be informative on what is going on right now, but instead to help shape how we, people outside of the directly affected groups, respond to it.

               I think we can all agree that this is not normal. ICE has invaded Minnesota. They have killed two people with broad media coverage, and several more, largely people of color, with less attention this year. They strike terror into the communities of the Twin Cities, seemingly doing nothing of value other than causing chaos to a blue city/state. This is not normal. Yet, it is a continuation of long standing American policy.

               ICE was over a decade old when Trump started his first term. American immigration policy targeting certain groups of people is even older—well over a hundred years older. We did not simply step from everything being okay to what is happening now. Our business as usual is not as far from what is going on as it should be. Yes, this is clearly an escalation, but an escalation of long standing harm. We must see this as a turning point, as an emergency, as a fascist take over. But we must also see that the structures were always there. The same systems that let Trump get elected a second time after an attempted insurrection are the same ones that keep true equity from being reachable.

               Minnesota is resisting. Thousands of people are marching, coming together to support one another, and demanding ICE to leave. This is great! We are seeing grassroots organizing at a scale that I have never seen before. Communities coming together to fight this fascist emergency. Yet, ICE leaving the Twin Cities is not enough. We cannot be satisfied with things going back to how they were, where ICE can harass and destroy lives as much as it wants, so long as they aren’t white and it’s done in silence. We must ask ourselves how we got to this point and examine the systems that enabled it. We cannot simply respond to the emergency, but to all the everyday harm that this country is built on.

               I truly believe we are in a turning point. Every day the news is chaotic, a give and take of power. Yet, I am also hopeful. I see that people are aware of the horrors going on and have begun (or rather, continued at a much greater level) to resist. The world is scary but together we are strong. We have the power to not only return to normal, but to create a normal that is better for all. We can, and must, fight for a world that is kinder and supports everyone, not one where the harm is normalized and quiet. We need to, we will, keep this momentum going past just this moment. I believe that we can truly reimagine what normal looks like.