Fighting Fascism With What We've Got

Speaking of Dilley - I recently learned that this (literal) concentration camp for kiddies is owned and operated by CoreCivic who can be contacted at 5501 Virginia Way, Suite 110, Brentwood, TN 37027 (1-800-624-2931). Please let them know exactly what you think about imprisoning children in inhumane conditions.

Moving mountains.

Dear friends,

I was recently having a wee blether with a few friends about, you know, the shit show going on all around us.

Elizabeth. to me: "You're moving mountains!"

Me: "Actually, I feel like I'm just digging into the vast mountain ranges with a teaspoon."

Sherry. to me: "But you're digging!"

Yes, one teaspoon at a time, I am digging away at the mountains of injustice, insanity, and cruelty. And so are you. And so are your friends. And your neighbours. And their neighbours. And people you've met on Facebook. And people all over the map from all walks of life. We're all showing up with our teaspoons of various shapes and sizes and digging away at the mountains of patriarchal shite that has been building for far too long. And that is how we shift the landscape - all of us digging together.

When the load feels too heavy, a teaspoon is a manageable tool.

I'm not gonna lie, this week felt impossible. Impossible to make even the slightest dent in the mountains of heartbreak, corruption, incompetence and cruelty that filled this week's news cycle. A couple times I hit the Wall of Overwhelm hard and felt completely paralyzed. At times like this, I try to step away to ground myself and catch my breath again. I step outside to listen to the birds sing. I touch moss. I cuddle my cats. I crochet granny squares. And it works. When I hit that Wall of Overwhelm, I know that I can take some time to rest and recover, and the digging keeps happening all around me. I know that I MUST take some time to rest and recover so that I can return to the digging with renewed strength and allow other exhausted activists to take a break. That's how we win.

What does the Wall of Overwhelm look like for you? For me, it is the big picture of ALL THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED NOW, which, obviously, is not in my skillset, and generally speaking, not possible. What is in my skillset is the ability to relentlessly email politicians, to build community, to commit acts of loving kindness. I view these skills as small teaspoons which I am employing to transform the landscape from mountains of ick, to something more beautiful and more equitable. I think what keeps me going is when I finally recognized and accepted that my skills and actions alone won't result in the changes I want to see, but, together with all the other people showing up with their unique skills, we have the potential to make a huge difference. Sometimes (often) the difference we are making is hard to see from where we stand, but I guarantee that the mountain is crumbling and that is thanks to all of us doing our bit.

Teaspoon vs Bulldozer

It seems to me that we humans tend to lean towards the "What can I do, I'm just one person" line of thought, and that stops us from doing anything. In our minds, we believe we need powerful people with powerful machines to get shit done. Yeah, if we're trying to move mountains, I suppose a bulldozer would get 'er done faster, but I firmly believe the teaspoon is the best tool for the job, for not only are we bringing down the mountain of toxic waste, but we are also building community. A bulldozer is big and powerful, but it makes a deafening racket, spews noxious fumes, and, more importantly, it is operated by a single individual. On the other hand, if we're moving mountains with teaspoons, it's going to take an awful lot of us working collaboratively before we see anything shift. All of us digging together will inevitably lead to conversations. It will lead to cooperation. It will lead to relationships. We're all on the same team, helping each other with the monumental task of removing the mountains of oppression. We find joy working together on this important task to dismantle that which has never actually served us. We find community in our shared vision. And the thing that makes all this come together is the small simplicity of the humble teaspoon.

Torch? Teaspoon? Bring what you've got to this party, just show up with something.

If you listen to Heather Cox Richardson's 'Politics Chats', you'll know that she almost always ends them with ideas of things we can do to rise to this moment. At the end of her talk this past Tuesday, HCR quoted someone who quoted a Tibetan spiritual leader. It's kinda like my teaspoon analogy, but with torches. It went like this: "You and I are doing the same thing, we're just doing it differently. Everybody in the world has one torch to pick up. And, everybody's torch is different. You can't carry somebody else's torch, but you have an obligation to pick up your torch. Whether it's to run for office, or whether it's to help out at the schools, or whether it's to make books available to children whose schools have had to take them off the shelves, or whether it's to feed people, or whether it's to fight back against the concentration camps, or whether it's to write letters (it's as if she was speaking directly to me!)... Each one of us has some kind of a torch to carry, and nobody but us can carry that particular torch. And it's our job to pick that torch up and carry it as long as we can."

So whether we're collectively digging away at the systems of oppression with our teaspoons, or burning down the systems of patriarchy with our torches, or both, let us all show up to this work party armed with our preferred tools and a sense of joy and community. I guarantee we are going to win this fight, and the more of us that show up in whatever capacity we can, the faster we're going to see changes.

Let's do this!

Jessica (she/her)

P.S. On Andy being arrested - Talk about the mountain starting to crumble! I am hoping that this pedo is the first big, fat domino to fall and his arrest will lead to an inevitable tumbling of the rest of the Trump-Epstein pedos. And, while I am celebrating this moment, it has not escaped our attention that his arrest has nothing to do with the fact that he raped children. A day may come when we will start to listen to women and value their safety over money and politics, but we will all have to work hard to bring this about.