Protest

This past weekend I was invited once again to join a handful of customer models for a Liverpool Fashion show. I’m still recovering from surgery, but I would have hated to miss it. Hannah chose comfortable, sensible shoes for me to wear, with the goal of remaining stylishly upright. I’m happy to report all went well. The show raises funds for a local non-profit and unveils the current line of Liverpool clothing designed for comfortable and stylish dressing. I get to hang out with a fun group of women and play dress up.

The show is energizing but tiring, and I would have customarily headed home. However, the Hands Off protests landed on the same day. I’m seven weeks post hip replacement surgery, so Saturday’s rally was the first I could confidently attend.

I drove from Los Gatos to a shopping center in San Jose, rendezvoused with Mike, and took the light rail to the downtown San Jose event together. Over 5,000 protestors attended the San Jose rally.

According to National Public Radio:

“Hands Off! demonstrations were held across the country to protest the actions of President Trump and his billionaire advisor, Elon Musk.

The Hands Off! movement protested a wide range of activities from the Trump administration, from cuts and layoffs to federal departments to mass deportations.

Hands Off! demonstrations were organized for more than 1,200 locations in all 50 states by more than 150 groups, including civil rights organizations, labor unions, LBGTQ+ advocates, veterans, and elections activists, according to the Associated Press.”

As much as I enjoyed the day’s activities, I suddenly struggled to stand without pain. It was time to go home. We walked back to the light rail station, where we could sit while waiting for the train, but when it arrived, it was standing room only through the end of the route. It felt good to get home.

Early this morning, and for the second time in ten days, part of the knot of stitches at the end of my incision “spit out” through the skin’s surface. My body should absorb these stitches as I heal, but they’re moving the absorbable stitches to the skin’s surface, hence the term spit stitch. It’s unnerving.

My surgeon’s office isn’t concerned, asking me to pull the stitch taut and cut it close to the skin. There is nothing like a pair of sharp, sterilized crafting scissors and a willing spouse with a steady hand to get your day going. When an even longer stitch protruded today, first as a loop and then opening out to a 5mm straight stitch, at least we knew what to do.

What a weekend.

Art: Sandie Sonke

#FamiliesBelongTogether

It’s such a clever hashtag, one that if you weren’t in the know might evoke thoughts of summer picnics, trips to the beach or as a way to tag your 4th of July, Independence Day photos.

Instead, Families Belong Together is a response to the current administration’s desire to stop immigrants from crossing our southern border. Instead of compelling Congress to act on a comprehensive immigration bill, the administration has implemented what’s known as a “zero-tolerance policy” of arresting anyone crossing the border without papers. Many of these border crossings are families seeking refuge from violence and political unrest. Some have traveled for up to a month with young children, looking for a better life.

This Administration’s response: Arrest the parents, then immediately separate *families* from their children.

Let that settle in.

Spanish version of Families Belong Together

Authorities place parents in detention centers, immediately separating them from their infants and small children. Traumatized children are placed in a separate detention center, sometimes in another *state* with no understanding of why. Images of children sleeping on the floor covered in mylar blankets have evoked outrage. Footage of crying children, desperate for their mother have all but the hardest-hearts weeping along with them. Comparisons to Japanese interment camps and Nazi Germany abound.

I attended a Families Belong Together rally this past weekend and have found solace in numbers. There were over a thousand people at the San Jose rally on Saturday, a hot, windless, mid-day gathering. Throughout the country thousands of people rallied in over 700 locations. Rallies bring people together, spread the word, and offer resources for ways to help.

I’ve also been finding temporary respite from a steady hum of depression by volunteering at Lifted Spirits, a program for homeless women in San Jose. When I’m busy and engaged helping others, it helps me feel less overwhelmed. Spending time at Lifted Spirits allows me to positively impact someone else’s life without being swallowed whole by a situation I feel powerless to change. I’ll share more about their mission in a future post.

FamiliesBelongTogether.org

If you’re also feeling overwhelmed, here are a few resources…

Colorlines published: How You Can Support Detainees with a number of helpful resources.

…and a few inspiring words from MoveOn.org:

“More than 180 partner organizations came together to pull this off, including MoveOn, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, the ACLU, faith groups such as Sojourners and the Presbyterian Church, Avaaz, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and a range of labor unions, the YWCA, scores more tremendous allies and partners, and countless local groups in cities large and small, united across lines of ethnicity, race, national origin, and language.

When you feel alone, when it’s all too much, remember that what is possible when we come together. That there is power in our numbers.

In the decades to come, people will ask themselves and each other what they did to fight the darkness at this moment in history.

On Saturday, many of us summoned a piece of an answer. We were in the streets. And we won’t stop until we turn the darkness back.”

Here are a few pics from our San Jose Families Belong Together rally.