Not So Sweet 16

Defender la alegria y organizar de la rabia. [We must defend our joy and organize around our rage.] - Organizing Principle from Mexican activists shared by Costa Rican artist and activist Natalia Astuácas 

[This is a long one. So I am going to start with stuff I often put at the end.

Need some help resisting the overwhelm. Here’s a great short video on sphere of concern v. sphere of influence. We all have a role to play - they’re mostly small; they get their strength and power from many people doing their thing,  https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFp5yCgp3p5/?igsh=MXdqeWl2ZWx0bm9vcA%3D%3D

Need to get hyped up, channel some rage:  https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=sn9EKC9nqU4

Also, if you use meds to help you stabilize your mood, maybe try to stock up and work your non-pharmaceutical interventions. They just signed an EO to “Make America Healthy Again” to “assess the prevalence and threat posed by the prescription of [SSRIs], antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.” Prepare.

Some awesome examples of resistance from unexpected people.:

• Top officials in the Dept of Justice resigned yesterday rather than obey a DOJ order to drop correction orders against.
  • To be clear these people are not bastions of liberal thinking. Sassoon was a member of the Federalist Society and clerked for Antonin Scalia. They were “Acting” meaning they were put in their by the current administration.
  • We have to stand firm to our values. We have to be willing to give things up that feel like security and stability. If they require us to sacrifice our values. They are not.   
• NY Gov Hochul (not exactly a revolutionary) is resisting an extradition order from Louisiana for the NY doctor who prescribed abortion pills. "I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana, not now, not ever.”
  • Now we just need to get her to remove NYC Mayor Eric Adams. Hopefully she waits a few days so that there isn’t a special election, which would give Cuomo an advantage. And seriously, we do not need that fucker back.

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Earlier this week, I was reminded of something as rage coursed through my body.

It was when a few things happened at once - I heard that RFK, Jr was confirmed amidst outbreaks of measles, TB, bird flu, and I got notice from NJ Dept. of Health about their findings on a lengthy, detailed resident rights complaint we had helped residents prepare. We shared evidence of violations, and inspectors met for hours with residents who shared their stories. And then 6 weeks later, DOH told us they found no evidence of anything besides low staffing, which honestly was the least of the issues. And then the Eric Adams-Trump alliance. And Ukraine. And…you get it. Yesterday was a lot. 

It reminded me that what we are seeing around us is fundamentally not new. Yes, of course, this is the first time there has been a coup and the scope and speed is breathtaking. What is not new is that leaders of our government and institutions disregard the dignity and worth of many (actually most) human beings.  That has been a foundational element from this country's bloody inception. 

It's not as if I had forgotten, but the confluence of events (both nationally and close to home) brought it into stark relief. And that confluence resulted in rage. Rage is necessary and powerful force in our resistance to violation. It is our body sending out a massive alert - something is f*cked up right now, do something!!!

Our society has turned a rage into something negative. Because they know harnessed rage can topple regimes. They have made it so that those who are resisting f*cked up, inhumane policies and actions can be disregarded. If, at some point, you have looked at people’s resistance that is disrupting business as usual and thought they really shouldn’t do that, that is disruptive, they should try to work with people, this is just making people upset - you have been duped. And most of us, especially those with privilege, have thought this. 

A note on privilege: Many of us have been protected from experiencing the most brutal elements of the truth that our government and institutions have and continue to disregard the humany of hundreds of millions of people. We have been protected because we happen to hold an identity that serves as a protective shield (white, male, straight, Christian-adjacent, higher income, cisgender, non-disabled, among others). That protective shield is also called privilege. It’s not so much what we get but what we get to avoid. 

What is happening and will happen, will be destructive towards virtually everyone. And, many of those shields will continue to protect us from the worst of what is to come. There is little we can do about that except to choose how to use those shields. Do we keep them tight around us and those closest to us? Or do we spread out and join together, potentially exposing ourselves and those we love to more risk but providing protection to those who do not have those shields.

This is no different than it has always been. We do not know exactly what the impacts will be. The question is - what will we do? Will we make our world smaller or will we expand it?

Back to rage and how important it is. I’ll start with the caveat - uncontrolled rage that inflicted upon those who have little power is not ok. Cops against protestors, people they are harassing, partners against partners, adults against children, humans against animals. Not ok. But that is not all or most of what rage looks like. It’s just what we’ve been conditioned to think. And, as a result, we avoid anger and rage, don’t learn how to work with it. Like a superhero or witch with newly discovered powers, we need to figure out how to work with rage and anger so they can support what we want to do.

Our rage is a powerful and necessary alert system and a source of fuel. Unharnessed or suppressed rage is like any powerful energy source; it can burn fast and mighty, burning us and those around us. We have to notice and acknowledge our anger and rage. Practice with it. 

Rage and anger is really well suited for resisting the tyranny we are facing. 

It’s less helpful for building something new, celebrating beauty. Hence the saying “Defender la alegria y organizar de la rabia.” 

We must defend our joy and organize around our rage. In the course of resisting, we must also be building communities that can serve as models for the world we want to see. For me, those are communities of belonging, love, and liberation for all. Supporting ourselves and each other as we resist and grieve and act and rest and experience joy is how we do that. We will take care of us, we will love us. Together.

We must continue to celebrate. Birthdays, milestones. Last night, I went to my kid’s school dance recital. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! What is happening should never stop us from stopping and celebrating and loving and being joyous. They want that to happen. They want to suck our joy. We are much easier to control when we lose our joy. 

Embrace the joy and beauty around you. There is so much. To do so is not denial, it is essential to resistance and building a new world. 

LOVE+RAGE+JOY=RESISTANCE & CREATION

(Or something like that. Math is not my strong point)

One awesome example of that was Kendrick Lamar’s half-time performance. Watch it if you haven't. Watch it again if you need a pick me up. https://youtu.be/KDorKy-13ak?si=JQAUmpdiS_7M8CS6

I love you all,

(Real love not the bullshit peddled by this holiday)

e

I, Too, Sing America, Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLOugJzGg1o

[originally written 2.15.2025]