ßüs

Nearly everyone with influence in this country, regardless of political affiliation, is incredibly insulated from how miserable and dehumanizing the daily experience of work has gotten over the past decade or two. Many never had a service job. If I were to give my “in the weeds” poll to everyone with political clout — I’d bet everything I own that only a few would know the waitress definition.

(…) To people with education and influence, “in the weeds” is something academic, about small, unimportant details. It’s the footnotes. It’s something you observe from the outside. To everybody else, “in the weeds” is something you experience. It’s something you feel. It’s your life.”

If you’re new to actions with an arrest risk and you don’t have experienced protestors with you, there’s stuff you can find online about having a legal team, writing the name of a lawyer on your body, saying NOTHING to the cops except the name of your lawyer, etc. That’s all good advice.

But let me give you a bit of advice that is just as essential as all that:

If one of your comrades gets arrested, and you know they can be held for 6, 9, 12 hours, depending on where you are, you get a group of people together and you wait outside the police station.

You may be tired, you may be stressed, it may be freezing, you may need to take turns, but you take whoever can still physically and mentally bear it and you go to that police station and you wait for your comrade. You can spend the time taking care of each other, drinking hot drinks, doing whatever gets you through, but you wait.

And when your comrade gets out, you make sure they do not walk home alone in the dark thinking about the fucked up experience they just had, you make sure there’s a big fucking crowd of their comrades there to greet them with hugs and hot drinks and a cigarette if they smoke.

And whether the arrested comrade that just got out is happy or sad or pissed off, you take that for what it is and give that space and you support that. And you get them a hot meal and you hang out with them and you offer to let them stay at your place or you stay with them so they don’t have to spend that night alone with their thoughts.

You do this every damn time, regardless of whether you really like that comrade and regardless of how you feel about the thing your comrade got arrested for, regardless of how often they’ve been arrested. Because you never know how shitty their experience is going to be in there this time. 

They had gotten a klezmer band to stand along the hill you have to go up to leave the jail, and as I walked to where the volunteer lawyers were waiting (they were there to make sure all 200+ people who were arrested that night would be represented at their later hearings. They also were surrounded by volunteers who had food, phone chargers, directions to all the nearby subway stops, and one of them let me borrow her phone to call my mom when I got frustrated with how slowly my phone was charging) the band played music, cheered and applauded. 

Honestly? That band playing klezmer for me as I left jail, cheering me on and making me laugh… it’s a memory I really treasure. 

It’s also one of my mother’s favorite stories. Before I told her about that band, she got so upset and agitated whenever anything reminded her of my arrest. She’d freak out, cry, start fussing over me, and so forth. After I told her about the klezmer band though? It became something she’d tell her friends about, over and over again, laughing each time. She stopped calling me to beg me not to go and protest every time she knew a big one was happening, and instead would call to make a joke about how if I want to listen to klezmer she has some CDs I can borrow.

When I think about that night, rather than any of the many many terrible things that happened from the moment the cops grabbed me onward, the first thing I remember is the klezmer, and how it made me laugh, and the popcorn someone gave me as I gave the lawyers my name and info, and the kindness of strangers.

After the dehumanization of even a few hours in police custody, those volunteers made me smile, and gave the night a new fun and funny angle to be remembered from. I actually laugh when I think about that night, thanks to them.

i was among the first in the van, and we were held at the first precinct from about 1am to 4am. none of us inside the cell had any idea how long we’d be there, but we joked about getting breakfast together if we got out. we were all sitting side by side in a holding cell for hours, hundreds of us, overwhelming the jail. so…they let us out. in the dead of night, pre-dawn. and on the other side of that door? hugs. and cookies. and coffee. and celebration that we were getting out. and the national lawyer’s guild. i will never forget the hug from a stranger that night.

years later in my home town i have attempted jail support two times for political actions. the first time, folks were pretty green to experiencing this, and they listened to an old head who was single-handedly handling the situation. the one guy with a lawyer connection, said they’d go to court at 11am and we should go home. i, on the other hand, knew they’d be let out in the dead of night when no one was around. cell phones dead, no coats, no buses running. but no, this guy was the authority, he said they’d have to go to court at 11am and we should go home. we shouldn’t have listened to him because the police did exactly as i predicted.

people put a lot of emphasis on having a lawyer’s info on your body if you get arrested for political action, but sometimes they don’t even hold you long enough. just let you out at the dead of night to make you feel alone and scared. it’s like they want you to feel traumatized for taking action.

Lack of access to sleep, warmth, rest, medical help. If your body can’t heal, it’s hard to find the energy for your mental health

Lack of a safety from the violent event itself. If the person who hurt you is still around, if the cops show up on your doorstep unannounced after a violent arrest, etc. That harms your ability to heal.

Lack of support. A violent event isolates and disconnects us. Healing from trauma can feel like experiencing every conversation as if you are stuck behind frosted glass. Experiencing connection and support is vital to healing.

Guilt. If you didn’t make the best choices prior to the violent event. If someone else also got hurt as a result. If people criticize your choices. Guilt can block you from allowing yourself to heal.

Having your trauma belittled, not being allowed to have symptoms of trauma. If you’re told you’re overreacting, if you’re told to just get over it, if you’re told that others have had it worse, that can block you from allowing yourself to heal.

Secondary trauma. If, already shattered, you hear the stories of others who have had an even more violent experience, their stories can deepen your trauma while simultaneously motivating you to ignore your own healing and care for theirs.

This is part of why activist groups with a good mental health plan will focus on your basic needs first (warmth, food, etc), will create positive reconnecting experiences in the days after the event, and will put off critical action evaluations until participants have had time to rest and recover.

What the FUCK is going on?

The bill is stating ANYONE convicted of a protest-related charge (even if it is not related to actual lawbreaking like vandalism, looting or violence) will not only NOT get federal financial aid such as unemployment benefits but also will have to pay restitution to the law agency that arrested them on top of standard conviction/court fees

Indiana please vote, call, and write your local representatives to stop this from going through because the next step is a law agency attacking a peaceful protest for no reason other than anyone who defends themselves will have to pay them money

I know everybody’s overloaded, I get it. 2020 has been a shitshow of a ride. But Indiana’s falling to fascists under everybody’s noses. I’ve been emailing reps and senators at the federal, state, and local level and every one of them has dismissed me. I’ve got people to now call and shout at personally because of this, and yet even then I know it’ll do no good. It’s so bad that my roommate and I have plans to be out by next June at the latest, in an entirely different state.

:/ Black and diasabled lives really don't matter in the USA or any other countries.

http://chng.it/5Nd5TDgFKD Here's is a petition you can sign to get some justice for AJ and his family.

EDIT: GUYS WE'RE ALMOST THERE. KEEP SIGNING

EDIT2: IF YOU WANT TO DONATE HERE'S THE GOFUNDME ORGANIZED BY HIS MOM. I was worried Autism Speaks had a hand in it but the money is going directly to AJ's mom. DON'T FORGET TO KEEP SIGNING WE'RE SUPER CLOSE.

https://gf.me/u/yca9fg

ALSO HERE IS MALIK WILLIAMS'S PETITION ANOTHER DISABLED BLACK MAN MURDERDD BY THE POLICE. SIGN IT TOO

http://chng.it/5KZRQrpxdd

Son: there’s always a librarian. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. And it’s a garden, there has to be someone taking care of it or it isn’t really a garden.

Me:

Son: any librarian who hoards a library to themselves is hiding something.

Daughter: /nods seriously/

Son: wouldn’t be a secret library. I have nothing to hide.

Daughter: so not a secret librarian. A good librarian.

I left after a couple months, I stayed just long enough to see that they explicitly believe women are inferior to men, and of course, that homosexuality is a sin on par with murder.

The whole missionary door to door thing is NOT how Jehovah's Witnesses recruit. That is how they convince their members that the world is out to get them. One of the first things they teach is that Jesus requires you to try to convert non Christians to the faith. (They say non Christian but mean non JW.)

Then they say, "look how people treat us, just for the crime of wanting to save their soul"

They have long time church members tutor the incoming members to smooth the process over. They're trained to smooth away any doubts you may have about the church.

if you're really interested in having a social connection to a mormon, you should do your best not to poke at them or take shots at their religion

The American Bar Association is staunchly in opposition to this discriminatory practice being used by legal defense teams. They published this helpful article last July that explains the legal ins and outs of it, its legal history, and some action steps to take if you want to get involved in making sure ALL STATES get laws on the books that prohibit the gay/trans panic defense.

twitter user with display name “cole (he/him)” @ semispeaking:

“#Actually Autistic people and others who need #Adaptive PPE: I recently discovered mask brackets, an insert for face masks that prevents the mask from touching your face as much and provides a bit more breathing room”

image description:

My name is Juna and I started transitioning nearly a decade ago. That photo on the left was taken 4 years ago, shortly after I had to stop taking E. Can you tell how happy I was? That same happiness isn’t there in the picture on the right.. from this afternoon. I can’t tell you how horrible it is to be in the wrong body, and watch things finallty start to change for the better… …and then to have it snatched out of your fingertips by capitalism and a thoughtless pharmaceutical industry. 

I’ve set up a GOFUNDME though I’ve got very little hopes that it’ll go anywhere..so I also have paypal and cashapp (below) also set up to recieve donations.

The goal on gofundme is a very lofty 5000$ which would pay for hormones for 2-3 years and would help me meet rent which I am regularly 2-300$ short on. But in reality, about 900$ would be enough to replace my almost-totally-gone wardrobe, get back on hormones for a few months, and replace my makeup (that my mom used almost all of while I was living stealth, but i forgive her)

If you have clothing or makeup youd like to donate, just inbox me! I really appreciate that too!

Gofundme

paypal.me/justjuna cash.me/$junabugs

(If possible, use paypal or cashapp simply because I dont 100% trust gofundme ive heard bad things about them!)