This is a moving and remarkable essay. The deep research you performed is clear. We know an incident experienced by Montero and her 12 year old daughter is based in cruelty and with this regime, cruelty is the point. Keep us frightened and quiet. I have lost friends to the shadows. The feud between the two psychopaths is not cause for celebration. It is fuel for their hatred and more innocents will suffer in retaliation. Media is now almost completely owned by wealth and can no longer be considered the Fourth Estate. We're on our own. Next Saturday, June 14th, is No Kings Rally and March. Google the name and your city for times and locations. Get involved. Take a stand. Be brave.
"These are the people who grow and harvest the food Americans eat, who wash dishes in restaurants and stock store shelves, who build the buildings where people work and clean them after everyone goes home. They are woven into the fabric of American life, yet they are being hunted like prey."
Your work here, this essay, is vitally important. I worry about the American people. There are many who have compassion and care for others and prove it. There are many who have become numb and prefer to shake their head and mutter something like, "that's horrible" and feel they've done their duty. I am curious as to how this unfolds.
thank you for this article. I have been living the silence around me here in the USA. sometimes wondering why it feels like I am the paranoid crazy one when walking around buildings that will soon be vacant of workers, streets where crime will rise, a sense of grief of what is being torn down the months and years ahead and huge fear of loss of freedom of voice. it is those who among me (including me) who have been recent immigrants/refugees who see it more easily. im learning as I wait and wait for larger numbers to act that it is not the degree of terribleness that is happening that neccessarily pushes people to act—- it is their own ability and choice to overcome their individual sense of fear. fear is at the root of it— of silence and the behaviors that are on full diverse display of our irrational selves reacting in delusion of safety /self preservation- of jobs, families, institutions, and our own mental capability to cope. such an eye opening understanding for me now to get a sense each person’s sense of their own powerlessness/power. it takes bravery and hope to speak- and importantly wisdom which means choosing how and when.
Hugs. Know there are many of us looking after our neighbors. We watch and get involved. We pass out flyers with agency names and phone numbers to call. We remind our neighbors not to answer the door when those knocking claim to be ICE. Be safe.
As I sat in an iconic Sonoran Mexican Family Restaurant, La Paloma, in a mostly migrant town on the border in Arizona, my thoughts were not of ICE Raids, deportations or masked agents. I was proudly watching their small boy handling two huge glasses of iced tea for our table trying not to spill them. This community has chosen to support and congregate in this cultural atmosphere of food and family. I hope this never changes. We must make this choice to sit at tables with those who have been and continue to be part of our American Family.
I am proud to be part of communities standing against the forces of fear. From our Federal Judges, Attorneys General to our local School Boards, and Little Leagues, I am seeing great strength in Americans standing up for what is right; standing against hatred and division, against illegal and cruel actions taken by those who are hired to protect.
From Mayor Bass in Los Angeles to the protestors all across this nation, Democracy is rising. When all is bleak, when our children are crying and families are living in fear, I remember La Paloma, "The Dove" a microcosm of my great state. I remember the small Latino boy with his big welcoming smile. There is so much more than food being served here. There is hope. There is family. And there is love. We will not go down. We will reach across the table and join hands.
Thank you, Alex, for once again reminding us that silence is not an option. Your amazing work and words speak for us all.
I will never be silent, about this regime, about the plight of the Palestinians, about Sudan and the Congo. There’s so so much pain in the world right now, and it’s absolutely maddening because it does NOT have to be this way. The greed of a few and the fear and hatred of many are destroying so much beauty and so many lives.
Excellent essay to move us forward whatever the cost. Your memories of observations made over years of diplomacy and travel are priceless. I am encouraged at the protests ongoing and continue to comment on line as I am limited severely in mobility; I continue to embrace freedom and hope. Sometimes I wonder if my observations have value as they are virtual. I am homebound but remain active in every way I can given my limitations. Thank you for these personal messages! They are most effective! Must go! Trees swinging to and fro, severe weather, potential tornados, again. But I have my flashlight in my pocket. And portable phone charger. Losing power here is something I am accustomed to but I don’t like it. Bless you dear friend! 😘
This is a moving and remarkable essay. The deep research you performed is clear. We know an incident experienced by Montero and her 12 year old daughter is based in cruelty and with this regime, cruelty is the point. Keep us frightened and quiet. I have lost friends to the shadows. The feud between the two psychopaths is not cause for celebration. It is fuel for their hatred and more innocents will suffer in retaliation. Media is now almost completely owned by wealth and can no longer be considered the Fourth Estate. We're on our own. Next Saturday, June 14th, is No Kings Rally and March. Google the name and your city for times and locations. Get involved. Take a stand. Be brave.
"These are the people who grow and harvest the food Americans eat, who wash dishes in restaurants and stock store shelves, who build the buildings where people work and clean them after everyone goes home. They are woven into the fabric of American life, yet they are being hunted like prey."
Your work here, this essay, is vitally important. I worry about the American people. There are many who have compassion and care for others and prove it. There are many who have become numb and prefer to shake their head and mutter something like, "that's horrible" and feel they've done their duty. I am curious as to how this unfolds.
thank you for this article. I have been living the silence around me here in the USA. sometimes wondering why it feels like I am the paranoid crazy one when walking around buildings that will soon be vacant of workers, streets where crime will rise, a sense of grief of what is being torn down the months and years ahead and huge fear of loss of freedom of voice. it is those who among me (including me) who have been recent immigrants/refugees who see it more easily. im learning as I wait and wait for larger numbers to act that it is not the degree of terribleness that is happening that neccessarily pushes people to act—- it is their own ability and choice to overcome their individual sense of fear. fear is at the root of it— of silence and the behaviors that are on full diverse display of our irrational selves reacting in delusion of safety /self preservation- of jobs, families, institutions, and our own mental capability to cope. such an eye opening understanding for me now to get a sense each person’s sense of their own powerlessness/power. it takes bravery and hope to speak- and importantly wisdom which means choosing how and when.
Hugs. Know there are many of us looking after our neighbors. We watch and get involved. We pass out flyers with agency names and phone numbers to call. We remind our neighbors not to answer the door when those knocking claim to be ICE. Be safe.
As I sat in an iconic Sonoran Mexican Family Restaurant, La Paloma, in a mostly migrant town on the border in Arizona, my thoughts were not of ICE Raids, deportations or masked agents. I was proudly watching their small boy handling two huge glasses of iced tea for our table trying not to spill them. This community has chosen to support and congregate in this cultural atmosphere of food and family. I hope this never changes. We must make this choice to sit at tables with those who have been and continue to be part of our American Family.
I am proud to be part of communities standing against the forces of fear. From our Federal Judges, Attorneys General to our local School Boards, and Little Leagues, I am seeing great strength in Americans standing up for what is right; standing against hatred and division, against illegal and cruel actions taken by those who are hired to protect.
From Mayor Bass in Los Angeles to the protestors all across this nation, Democracy is rising. When all is bleak, when our children are crying and families are living in fear, I remember La Paloma, "The Dove" a microcosm of my great state. I remember the small Latino boy with his big welcoming smile. There is so much more than food being served here. There is hope. There is family. And there is love. We will not go down. We will reach across the table and join hands.
Thank you, Alex, for once again reminding us that silence is not an option. Your amazing work and words speak for us all.
"I was proudly watching their small boy handling two huge glasses of iced tea for our table trying not to spill them."
What a sweet story. Reminds us all of why we do what we do. Compassion for people. Especially the children.
Aww...muchas gracias, Rena! It has always been about the children for me.❤️
This reminds us to look after our neighbors, thank you
I will never be silent, about this regime, about the plight of the Palestinians, about Sudan and the Congo. There’s so so much pain in the world right now, and it’s absolutely maddening because it does NOT have to be this way. The greed of a few and the fear and hatred of many are destroying so much beauty and so many lives.
Excellent essay to move us forward whatever the cost. Your memories of observations made over years of diplomacy and travel are priceless. I am encouraged at the protests ongoing and continue to comment on line as I am limited severely in mobility; I continue to embrace freedom and hope. Sometimes I wonder if my observations have value as they are virtual. I am homebound but remain active in every way I can given my limitations. Thank you for these personal messages! They are most effective! Must go! Trees swinging to and fro, severe weather, potential tornados, again. But I have my flashlight in my pocket. And portable phone charger. Losing power here is something I am accustomed to but I don’t like it. Bless you dear friend! 😘
Powerful! That's all I got as an initial reaction. Thank you.