Art and the Resistance

Wow, here's a free downloadable poster that tells it like it is from my favorite body positive artist PhoebeWahl. Now my favorite sister/resister/social activist artist as well.  Click here to get  the download

The poster doesn't just argue for reuniting families but breaks the struggle down into clear, achievable goals.  1) No more detention - let's return to Obama era policies of having asylum seekers and people awaiting deportation be monitored in the community. Asylum seekers, many of whom have presumably traveled hundreds of miles under harrowing circumstances, are actually very motivated to show up for their hearings.  The no show rate for these hearings is low.  Plus we don't want  hard earned tax dollars used for private prisons. Current plans call for doubling the number of detention beds from 40 to 80 thousand. Are you with me? There are plans in this country to hold 80,000 people in prison, many of whom have committed no crime.  Even though I don't want to espouse the politics of outrage, I still want to know, where is the freak out emoji? Here in the Northwest there are detention centers in Tacoma and the Dalles and about 120 asylum seekers (again, not criminals)being held in federal prison in Sheridan Or. as well as an unknown number of unaccompanied minors living in teen shelters in Portland.    2) No more deportations - we desperately need some kind of amnesty for the 11 million plus, mostly Latinx, people who have been living and working and raising families in the United States for years.  It's time for employers and all of us who benefit from Latinx labor in this country (that's basically anyone who eats plus a whole lot of other people)to stop turning a blind eye to this injustice which allows an entire class of people to be subject to tremendous fear, exploitation and trafficking simply because of the uncertainties of their immigration status.The last time we had amnesty was in the mid 1980's under Ronald Regan (just sayin). It doesn't even necessarily have to be a pathway to citizenship. Here I am hoping to placate the Republicans who fear all Latinx voters going Democrat. I even think a carefully crafted kind of guest worker or green card program is doable. Let's bring some humanity to our country. 3) Abolish ICE -  I fear ICE.  What they do now is horrible, but I fear more for what they could become. They've only been around 15 years and it hasn't been pretty and it's getting worse. We need to nip this problem in the bud. CNN said , "Unfortunately, the agency appears to have become the President's personal security force, carrying out his relentless anti-immigrant campaign."  Currently there is proposed legislation to abolish ICE. You can find out more here and here. Write your reps and let them know we want an end to ICE.

And thank you Ms Wahl for this beautiful poster. And thanks everyone for reading.  I know there are so many people out there who want to do something. Start by educating yourself and reaching out to others doing the kind of work you want to do.