I live in St. Paul, sister city to Minneapolis. Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed just across the Mississippi River from where I live, close to neighborhoods where many friends live.
The ICE and Border Patrol agents responsible for these killings have been swarming our Twin Cities for months, in astonishing numbers, in vigilante mode. They’ve been compared to the Nazi Gestapo, with good reason.
The good people of Minnesota have mobilized to meet the moment. Thousands have been protesting in freezing temperatures and continue to do so. Neighbors have formed watches to alert vulnerable people when ICE and CBP are in the area. Their whistles have become a national symbol of defiance. Minnesotans are bringing groceries to people who are forced to stay home for fear of abduction, and standing guard outside schools as parents drop off and pick up their kids. Some people are gathering for vigils, some are gathering to sing, some are gathering boxes of diapers and formula to leave at drop-off sites.
But what can I do, nearly housebound as I’ve become? What can the chronically ill do in the face of tyranny?
This is not a question I ever thought I’d have to consider.
Any time tyranny has tried to take root in the world, there must have been people like me who for physical reasons could not do all they wanted to do to fight it. In such times, how did those disabled by chronic illness contribute?
I write letters, I call my representatives, my husband and I donate money. But the need is so much greater. The fight is out there and I’m in here.
The irony of post-viral illnesses is that you do the most by doing nothing. That is, you accomplish the most healing by completely resting.
But doing nothing seems a poor choice in these times.
I think of the character of Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously, a film set in Indonesia during the political unrest of 1965. When his friend, the journalist Guy Hamilton, says there’s no point in helping just one oppressed individual because the need is too great, Billy responds with Tolstoy’s query: What then must we do? Tolstoy considered giving all his money to the poor but decided it wouldn’t make a difference because it wouldn’t change the structure of poverty.
In the film, Billy proposes his own answer to the question:
“You just don’t think about the major issues. You do whatever you can about the misery that’s in front of you; add your light with the sum of light.”
That solution, of course, requires believing in a sum to be added to. And I do believe. Reports of my friends, neighbors, and fellow Minnesotans shining lights in this dark occupation are everywhere.
When they’re shooting at us, we light a match, and even I can do that.
Julie, thank you for your contribution. You inspired me to call my governor, representatives and senators here in Seattle and today requested of them their continued vocal support for the complete withdrawal of ICE from Minnesota and the Twin Cities. I also made the request to our congressional reps that Joint Resolution 140 be voted against and that they do all they can to ensure the Boundary Waters are afforded protection against mining interests and geothermal exploration.
Easy to do using the “5 Calls” app which provides connection to each person’s governmental reps who presently have voice in any particular legislation such as those mentioned above, no matter the state you live in. Thanks again Julie!