garrett bucks

An ICE-capped mountain of horribleness and the people who refuse to give in

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

Last week’s passage and signing of the they want us dead bill is horrifying on every level so it’s hard to point to one “worst” element, but there’s a case to be made that giving Immigration and Custom Enforcements (ICE) $170 billion is at the top of the list. As a PIC abolitionist (prison industrial complex), I’m horrified by the $45 billion to nearly double the current immigrant detention capacity. Also horrifying is the fact we already have masked people (many of whom, I’m quite certain, railed against masking for public health but are quite happy to don a mask in order to inflict terror) showing up in neighborhoods with their guns, eager to fulfill their white supremacist dreams.

Here’s a video thread from independent L.A. journalist Mel Buer in Los Angeles today: UPDATED INFO BELOW**

from Mel Buer on Bluesky

From Mel Buer thread on Bluesky

These highly militarized and faceless people descended upon a community to inflict terror. Apparently, after Mayor Bass spoke to someone at Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the terror goons packed up and left as people from the community chased them out, shouting their disdain. One participant in the video thread said the goons released mace on their way out. Again, the thread can be found here.

** UPDATE from Ken Klippenstein: Operation Excalibur in Los Angeles Is “Show of Presence” (I don’t know whether to laugh or cry)

This morning I also happened upon Garrett M. Graff’s article Four Fears About ICE, Trump’s New Masked Monster. Reading Graff’s take opened my eyes to issues I hadn’t considered. For instance, he draws parallels with what happened when war criminal G.W. Bush played on post 9/11 fears to double the size of Border Patrol. Spoiler alert: an escalation in violence and corruption. Graff raises four major issues:

1) THE HOW — ICE can’t grow that fast.
2) THE WHO — We should fear specifically who the next 10,000 ICE officers will be.
3) THE WHAT — Funding ICE and CBP at this level marks a fundamental and dangerous shift in the balance of the rule of law and federal law enforcement.
4) THE WHY — Trump’s vast spending increase will coincide with an increasingly lawless administration.

I recommend reading the entire article, not a fun or uplifting read, but vital to our understanding of where we’re at in this country.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking “Thanks for the doom and gloom, Tracy. What can we possibly do about all this?” Well, it’s true that we don’t have representation that listens to the will of the people (say, for instance, those sounding the alarm that “people will die if kicked off Medicaid so PLEASE DO NOT CUT MEDICAID!”), but we do have each other! And, as Mariame Kaba says, “People are in motion, everywhere.” All around this country, people are organizing for their communities and pushing back against the authoritarians. We are not helpless and the situation is not hopeless. This horrific moment provides room for people to come together to effect change. I guarantee there’s a mutual aid group in your community. (Note: our local group wasn’t on that map so we had to ask around and check bulletin boards.) Yesterday, Zippy and I met with a group here, and I not only left with joy in my heart to have connected with those folks but also a renewed commitment to building community.

I’ve shared this document from Mariame Kaba before–Some Actions That Are Not Protesting or Voting— and encourage you again to check it out for ideas on how you can take action in a way that works for you. I will also reshare this from Garrett Bucks: Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now.

The authoritarians are trying their hardest to inflict the most damage they can in the shortest amount of time, and they’re counting on us being overwhelmed and demoralized and passive. Instead, let’s keep our hearts soft and squishy, filled with compassion and empathy, and fight together for people and planet.

Please don’t hesitate to send a private message if you have questions, ideas, thoughts, or experiences you’d rather not share publicly. I’m here for you. Solidarity.

In which Garrett Bucks lists “Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now”

/ Tracy Abell / 12 Comments

Hello, friends. I’m just popping in to share this awesome list from Garrett Bucks, the founder of The Barnraisers Project which I attended two years ago. I can vouch that Garrett is ALL about our shared humanity, plus he’s funny and an incredible writer.

Garrett published his list on February 12th and the entire, very long title is actually:

Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now which probably won’t magically catalyze a mass movement against Trump but that are still wildly important
Why? Because others will see you do them, and it will make it easier for them to take their own (slightly less lonely but equally beautiful) action by your side

Sandhill Cranes, Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. March 12, 2024

Garrett prefaces his list with this:

I wrote this for people who, like me, have spent much of the past few weeks hoping that somebody else would do something bolder in this political movement. We are downtrodden because we’re full of rage and heartbreak, but the polls tell us that our neighbors don’t share those feelings. We realize we’re seeing something that so many aren’t, but we’re not sure how to bridge the gap. We have wished (appropriately) for bravery from our media, from elected Democrats, from public officials in general. However fair those wishes are, they come with a risk: that we miss the opportunity to be the lonely voice for justice in our own community, the person who makes it a little easier for a second and third and fourth lonely voice to start perking up by our side.

I don’t pretend that all it takes for a social movement to succeed is a bunch of individuals throwing the activist equivalent of spaghetti at so many isolated walls. Nothing I offer here will be enough. And yet, so many of us are waiting for something we can join, which presents a true opportunity to be the first person in your circle welcoming fellow travelers into halting, shaky, earnest action.

Finally, I’m certain that not all of these ideas are applicable to your situation. You’re tired. You’re busy. You’re sick. You don’t have a robust social network. You have anxiety about putting yourself out there. Those are all real. And also, my hope isn’t that every one of these is for you, but that a few might be. And if none fit the bill, what an opportunity: I’d love to hear your idea for what you and others could do.

Enough scene-setting. Here are some ideas. In list form, but there’s a narrative if you’re looking for it. They’re all offered with love:

I’m confident if you read his full list, you’ll find something there that speaks to you. It’s very accessible and guaranteed to spark other ideas in your head. It’s a list worth bookmarking so you can return to it again.

Before I sign off, I want to share a promising development from my own neighborhood: one of the most pro-Trump households on my street had a small Trump sign in their front window (they took down their huge flag several weeks after the election), but today that window sign is gone. Each time we walked past, I’d check their window, wondering when the level of cruelty would exceed their tolerance levels. Well, apparently something in these past days of Trump and Musk’s smash-and-grab actions went too far for my neighbors. The sign is gone. While I wish they’d seen the light sooner, I welcome them to the revolution!

Remember to breathe. Find moments of joy in every single day. Stay hydrated.

Solidarity! ✊🏾