Qualified Perceptions

 
Image: A loon made of many eyes stabbing a fish labled ICE with the words: Gone ICE Fishing (by Fayrn Hughes)

No laser eyes, but, yes, loons STAB fish with their insanely sharp beaks. There is video. It is wild.

So, I know there is some concern about whether or not I should keep these posts public, but I would like to. I am very careful not to name names (especially after the whole Capclave misadventure), and, I guess, I would be surprised if ICE infiltrated Dreamwidth to track me (or any of the rest of you) down. Obviously, we would be vulnerable to a Google Alert, but I can't imagine what the Feds would search on. ICE in Minnesota is going to get a tremendous number of Google Alerts at the moment. I'm sorry if that cools anyone's enthusiasm to join the conversation. However, I do think it is worth keeping things open so that folks who might not otherwise see this news, will. And my Food Communists have actively been asking people to push out calls for monetary assistance on social media. So, like, going public is one of the ways we are fighting in this resistance. 

Without further ado, here's what's been happening in my life.

Let's see. So, last Friday I was chatting with neighbors, as you do, when we were standing outside of our local mosque. A woman there asked if anyone would be willing to join a group that is trying to keep eyes on school pick-ups and drop-offs. I thought I might be able to help out, so I exchanged the proper Signal information, got on the right groups, and then attended an in-person meeting last Sunday.  This group is not in my immediate neighborhood, so I travelled to a DIFFERENT Lutheran Church to sit with a bunch of folks and talk about what's going on. This was their usual neighborhood gathering and I was only there to get connected into the Rapid Response team. But, it was generally very fascinating.

Without going into technical details (and I really couldn't even if I wanted to because I am no one's idea of a tech head), I can say that there are neighborhoods in Saint Paul that are already planning for what happens if/when the government shuts down Signal or the Internet in order to stop our efforts to track them. Friends? We are living in the solar punk future and it gives me such hope, I can not even. 

As it happens, however, the Rapid Response team did not meet until the very end when I needed to run off, but I happened to sit in a pew next to one of the "guys in the chair," (a volunteer dispatcher), who showed me all the how-tos before I had to run.

Monday was my first patrol and... it was a bit of a technical nightmare at first, but I got connected to the live call eventually... and, I am happy to report, all my students got off their buses safely. There was a tense moment when Saint Paul police happened to be doing parking enforcement at the same time. They aren't SUPPOSED to be aiding ICE, but I did let dispatch know of their presence and that everything seemed legit (and, in fact, was.)  That was, as others have probably talked about when they go "commuting," both an extremely tense half hour of my life, and also an extremely boring half hour of my life.

My patrol does cut into the amount time I'm able to spend vounteering with the Food Communists, but Mason has been going with me and picking up my slack. I'm also not planning to do the patrol every day of school. I could? And they absolutely do need people at my particular corner, but, I don't think it would be good for my ability to endure.

I am trying to strike a balance to make sure I stay committed to the things that I started with, like the Food Communists. There are a lot of us in this fight? But there are still plenty of roles to be filled! When I filled out my volunteer shifts for the bus patrol, there were more blank spaces than filled.

I worry that people are getting exhausted. I worry that Americans have already moved on to the next thing.

I do believe many of us will keep up this fight no matter what. We were here before Renee Good was murdered and we'll be here long after the last of the news cameras moves on to the next horror.