Hi friends, Liz here.
If you’re overwhelmed by the news, you’re not alone.
Right-wing extremism seems to be expanding its membership under the second Trump administration, and not only in the U.S. of A. (Did you hear about the attack on a synagogue in Manchester, UK? Or the mosque fire in Sussex, UK? We are not okay.)
But of course, we have plenty to be getting on with in my nation—from ICE assaults (including ZIP TYING CHILDREN as if CHILDREN can be CRIMINALS, WTAF1) to DOD’s Hegseth fat-shaming generals to a Chicago takeover to a government shutdown that has led Trump’s admins to slash as much of the federal government as possible in Congress’s absence.
And if you’re like me, reading stories like these makes me feel so powerless.
I can’t re-open the government, fire top political officials for incompetence or corruption, or restore justice to the justice system. I can’t even lead an organization in protest… because I don’t lead an organization.
But that doesn’t mean my protest—or anyone else’s—is ineffectual.
My next book (for which I just signed a contract!!!) is a project that tells stories of American women’s protests alongside the stories of women protestors in the first testament of the Bible.
As I’ve researched these stories, I’ve begun to pay more and more attention to contemporary protest in the news. Often those who protest don’t make the front page, yet when a story of protest comes across my feed, their courage emboldens me.
Suddenly, witnessing other examples of protest, I am reminded of the power that I possess. These protestors make me want to resist, to make good trouble, and to be loud about speaking the truth.
This moment is teaching me the power of ordinary voices to stand as allies, friends, and prophets reiterating God’s unequivocal love for all people.
As a white woman, in particular, I’m beginning to see my job as a simple one: speaking up, standing up, and protecting others with my body.
I will use the power and privilege of my white body and my American citizenship to pay attention to others who are more vulnerable than myself, my own safety be damned.
In the rest of this email I want to tell you a few of those stories that have lent me courage. These protestors are doing exactly that.
I’m also starting a new section to my newsletter: the protest of the week.
A few times per month, I’ll send you a short description and link to a story of someone standing up for what’s right. I hope these stories inspire each of us to take courage and enact love in our neighborhoods in tangible ways—as tangible as standing between an ICE agent and a person they’re trying to reach, as tangible as wasting the time of authoritarian politicians, as tangible as offering some of the extra zucchini from your garden to your local food pantry.
Seriously, let’s get as practical and hands-on as we can. That’s how we fight the Big Authoritarian Lie that politicials-turned-theologians have been preaching: they seem to be saying, we are not all created equal.
But the truth is more powerful: God made and loves each one of us. And we are EQUAL before God. No person is better than or deserves more than another. Whether citizen or non-citizen, whether light-skinned or dark, God has created us in God’s own image.
That’s a truth we can stand up for.
BTW, when you take your stand, will you tell me about it?
I want to celebrate this community of Empathy List readers for your courage and tangible love within your own real-life communities—because our good actions matter. And we are not alone.
Thanks for reading, my friends.
Warmly, Liz Charlotte Grant
Here’s one practical thing you can do to protest and/or stand up for vulnerable people this week:
Sign up for a local immigration rapid response team’s newsletter and texts, add their phone number to your contacts, or join their facebook groups. These teams offer a variety of ways to be involved in caring for your immigrant neighbors—you can call to report an ICE sighting nearby, or you can volunteer to watch ICE in the street. You can donate, or you can write your senator to make sure this kind of group is protected. By your actions, you can tell your immigrant neighbors that their presence in our nation is needed and wanted—or, at least, that they deserve American law enforcement to follow our nation’s judicial processes for them, too, whether they’re citizens or not.
To find a group like this in your area, search “your state + rapid response immigration.”
A list of current protests and protestors that have inspired me:
The crowd in Chicago that helped this guy escape from ICE as they tried to arrest him (seriously, you’ll want to watch it, it’s WILD. Cars stopping, honking, people throwing away zipties…)
This comic artist!!!
The Portland frog standing up to ICE agents with hip thrusts. He came back to this protest line even after agents released pepper spray into this suit’s vent hole!
Washington D.C.’s “Sandwich Guy” who threw his sandwich at the National Guard in D.C., the first instance of Pres. Trump’s new liberal city takeover plan.
June 14th’s “No Kings” protests across the U.S., in photos:
Greta Thunberg and her activist flotilla that sailed toward the Israeli blockade, in hopes of breaking through and providing aid to Gaza (she and her fellow activists were arrested)
The historical “Bread and Puppet” theater, whose show, this year, centers the genocide against Palestine. One of the actors told NPR, “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”
The pastors and priests who are protesting at ICE facilities while wearing their collars, including this man whom ICE officers assaulted:
This priest who plans to walk for 50 days from Chicago to New York, in order to “pray in motion” in support of immigrants
The person who plays Darth Vader’s theme song to alert neighbors when ICE arrives
Photographers with a backbone, like Pete Souza. (Guess what’s happening at the bottom of the escalator lol!)
All the white women who have put Mexican/Latin American flag bumper stickers on their cars just to waste the time of ICE officers who racially profile your neighbors.
Antifa’s “urban farming division,” who planted kale in the wheel well of a police car…
San Diego Catholic bishops and priests who have attended immigration hearings alongside immigrants in their communities and congregations.
…AND MORE TO COME! Tell me about the protests that have inspired you, both from history and especially in this present political moment. Let’s keep adding to this list, shall we?
No, I’m not joking about the kids being zip tied. From
:“Eyewitness Eboni Watson told Cate Cauguiran, Craig Wall, Tre Ward, and Lissette Nuñez of ABC News 7 that the people “was terrified. The kids was crying. People was screaming. They looked very distraught. I was out there crying when I seen the little girl come around the corner, because they was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other. That’s all I kept asking. What is the morality? Where’s the human? One of them literally laughed. He was standing right here. He said, ‘f*ck them kids.’””
Read more here or at Time Magazine.
Congratulations on the next book! I look forward to reading it.
I have a few names to suggest for consideration or further information:
1) Dorothy Day, the founder of The Catholic Worker movement was deeply involved in protests during her life. She understood protests as part of an expression of her faith and participated in protests until she was no longer physically able to protest. In many ways, The Catholic Worker movement is a daily-lived protest against capitalism, war, and American injustices.
2) Mennonite Action, mennoniteaction.org is a recent movement protesting the war in Gaza. And while there has been a peace-settlement between Israel and Gaza there remains much to do for Palestinians to recover. Joanna Lawrence Shenk is one of the organizers of Mennonite Action and would be a helpful woman to interview.
3) Mennonites have a different view of "peace and justice" that involves creative nonviolence, education, medical help, etc. Working for peace and justice is integral to Mennonite theology and praxis. This may not have anything to do with your vision for your book but I'm mentioning it in case you do a side quest in your research.
Blessings on your research, interviewing, writing, and editing!
June Mears Driedger
Liz, YAY!!!!! for this next book!!! It sounds incredible!!!