Hello…world?

I’ve been sitting on this domain for a year, struggling to find inspiration, direction, hope, energy, but it feels like this week a dam has broken, and I need somewhere to talk about it.  So, here, it is: an website.  Ye olde blogge.  Like it’s 1998 again.  

The horrors of the last year are sprawling, incomprehensible, and bone-chilling.  They are straight up Lovecraftian in their scope when perceived from the vantage point of me, one who is but a tiny raccoon-gremlin posted up in their comfortable and to-date quite safe midwestern den.  I should not be surprised that I have personally been so unaffected.  I am white as fuck, like the inside of a (delicious) Costco croissant, and despite my queerness, in a straight-passing relationship, so I’m just not really a direct target at the moment.  However, I have spent much of my life believing that Bad Times Were Coming Even For Me and, one might say, prepping for that eventuality. To that end, I have spent probably too many hours trying to understand the Bad Times, what it’s like to live in them as a regular person, and what one can do to mitigate as much of the bad as they can, both personally and generally.

Anyway, all that to say, I want to be clear that I see how bad things have been, how many people have been fighting the good fight, and at the same time, acknowledge that I have been safe, warm, unthreatened with immediate physical harm, and relatively immune from the short term effects of what’s been happening.  

I also want to say that I have felt like I haven’t done enough.  I won’t dissect what I haven’t and haven’t done because I don’t think that’s a good use of our time, but I will say that what is happening right now in Minnesota – and maybe more importantly, what is happening as a result of what’s happening right now in Minnesota – is spurring me into greater action.  I still wish I could do more, I probably should be doing more, but I pretty much always feel that way about every aspect of my life, which suggests that that’s a me problem, and I will do my best not to waste your time with it.  (I assume you’ve got your own problems for you to worry about.)  

What I want to do here, right now, is yell about the cracks that are forming in the remaining public support for our current fascist administration, and what that means about what we need to do next. 

You’ve seen those cracks, we all have, but something I want to reiterate – because I think it illustrates how important it is for us all to stretch to do juuuuust a little bit more – is how the groundswell of People Giving A Shit is distributed so very widely.  

I follow a lot of fibercraft subreddits, Facebook groups, etc.  A year ago I’d have categorized many of them as being deliberately nonpolitical (at least in the American party politics sense – everything is political, including crafts that are historically gendered).  As the last year has crept on more and more protest art has emerged as quilters, knitters, embroiderers, jewelry makers, and sewists of every stripe have used their craft to express their fears, anger, frustration, and hopes.  There has been a predictable backlash in some communities as the usual “but this isn’t for politics” whinging has started (often by people who have shockingly little objection to art dealing with other inherently political topics, like religion, so long as it reflects their own views/beliefs); it seems to me like the communities that have stayed strong and grown are the ones that have stated outright that politics is an unavoidable facet of our lives, and supported artists and crafters sharing their messages of protest in their chosen media.  It’s inspirational.  I love to see it.  And it’s becoming more and more common; a day after Alex Pretti was shot, there was embroidery of his last words being shared. (And it’s not just fibercraft groups I’m seeing, it’s widespread, like, even some of the cat subreddits are taking clear stands.)

That’s perhaps not all that surprising for a hobby that is historically gendered very female and still dominated by women, with a healthy and growing contingent of queer folks of all genders.  It was much more surprising to me when my partner – who is of the male persuasion and at least occasionally pays attention to sports – said that the football meme group he checks occasionally was plastered with political messages in support of the resistance in Minneapolis.  Living in a purple state, I am very aware that football is one of those subjects that’s relatively safe ground for blue and red to chat about.  A reddit full of dudes sharing football memes is generally going to be a “politically” (in the sense of, who did you vote for) neutral territory.  Those subreddits flipping over to messages making fun of ICE agents and supporting the protestors and observers reflects a change in what is considered a baseline, everyday shared understanding.  Something’s been decided in the court of popular opinion.

I know that the fight never ends, regardless of how many battles we win.  I know that it will never be enough, because the struggle is neverending.  But I also know that I have seen the landscape shift in ways I couldn’t even hope for a month ago.  There is momentum here, and that is wonderful, but it’s been paid for in blood over the last year (and every year before that), and this opportunity demands that we rise to meet it.  

I’m not speaking to the people on the front lines right now, either in MN or anywhere else people have been organizing and resisting – they know what they have to do, and what the stakes are.  They’ve been giving it their all.  I hope they’re taking breaks when they need to.  I’m speaking to those of us who are – due to geography, race, economics, whatever – on the sidelines, who have a choice in how much we want to engage with what’s happening right now.  

We are the ones whose support can make the biggest difference right now.  We are the ones who are best positioned to be able to add our strength at this time, when it’ll have the greatest effect.  I’m not saying everyone needs to get into their car and drive to MN right now, because that’s a terrible idea, but I’m asking that if you have the capacity, then turn the dial up one more notch on whatever you’ve been doing already. If you’ve been donating $25 monthly to the ACLU, can you make it $50? If you’ve been contacting your elected officials, can you make another few phone calls than usual, or make it to an in-person town hall? If you can’t walk out of work for the shutdown on 1/30, can you make sure you don’t make any purchases at least?

Not everyone will do so, not even everyone sympathetic to the cause, and that’s ok, because the fight will be ongoing, and we will need them to join in later, when we’re running low on resources.  I suspect the fight will come to the front door of more and more people who’ve otherwise been able to live comfortably in neutrality.  Once it’s there, those folks will have the choice to capitulate or to resist, and I have the feeling a lot of them will choose to resist.  

However, if you’re relatively comfortable, and would like to ensure that you are able to remain so in the future, I ask that you find a way to lend material support to the folks in MN.  Find a group to donate to.  Spread the word to your friends and family, let them know that you’re donating, suggest that if they want to make a difference, they can do so as well.  People who are facing the terrifying experience of having their neighborhoods occupied by poorly trained, trigger-happy federal agents need groceries and legal support.  The least we can do is help make sure they can be fed, you know? And regardless of whether you’re in a position to offer them material support, watch and study what the people of MN are doing. Understand that it requires face to face communication, trust, and community. If you want to be poised to fight the good fight when or if the place you live turns into the next battleground, get to know your neighbors, reinforce ties you already have, and make sure you have some idea of who you can trust.

Anyway.  That’s the message that finally crystallized sharply enough in my head that I had to commit it to blog form.  This isn’t going to always be what I talk about here, or at least I hope not, but in addition to being The Message I Think Is Important right now, it’s a good illustration of the type of stuff I think about and pay attention to, and thus what I’m likely to write about.  

Whoever you are, all ~3 of you who are likely to read this (hi Mom!), however you’re fighting, please do your best to take care of yourselves.  We’re all important, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.  The fascists want you to believe that we’re all isolated, powerless, and ineffective, but they want us to believe that because we’re in their way, because we are NOT powerless, we are legion, and together, we will make a difference. Don’t let the bastards get you down.

Resources:

• Podcast – It Could Happen Here, episodes Everyone vs ICE: On the Ground In Minnesota part 1, and part 2
• Stand With Minnesota – Directory of groups accepting donations
• Vox – Your friends are still acting like everything is normal in America. What do you do?