Steps for Navigating this Lost Moment

Collectively, we may have 'lost' this political moment in time. How do we start and continue to care for each other as we face the reality of this current moment in US politics?

Last week, I realized that I hadn’t written in a while. I’ve found myself feeling over-inundated with topics and issues that need to be discussed, analyzed, and navigated. And, while I don’t believe my experience to be unique in this moment (we’re all navigating a lot at any given moment in time), something about the ‘right now’ feels different to me.

I, recently, had one of my best friends come and visit me in Thailand. As you can imagine, while she was here, we talked a lot about the current state of the United States, what it means to be American citizens, and how we’re navigating being Americans of color right now. She talked about the fear of not being born in the US - though she was adopted by a white family in her infancy - recognizing that this administration is clearly targeting people who were not born in the United States, and how that feels as an adoptee. I talked about the ‘survivor’s guilt’ I feel for leaving. How the guilt I hold for walking away, is coupled with my frustration with those closest to me (family and close friends) for not taking me seriously when I made the decision to leave the country. I didn’t expect everyone to have the privileges I have to be able to leave; I did expect people to take more drastic actions in their own ways to resist what is happening. But, by and large, people are just going to work and lamenting, at home and socials, about how bad things are.

“All too often, when we see injustices, both great and small, we think, That's terrible, but we do nothing. We say nothing. We let other people fight their own battles. We remain silent because silence is easier... When we say nothing, when we do nothing, we are consenting to these trespasses against us.” - Roxanne Gay, Bad Feminist

And I’ve found myself getting frustrated at, what I see as, lack of action. For someone like me, who is action oriented, and who has allowed some of my intrusive and impulsive thoughts to get the best of me when it come to politics, it’s hard to watch people I love (and those whom I’m supposed to trust in times of crisis) do, what amounts to, nothing. Since then, I’ve been wrestling with how to help people navigate this moment, that we’ve lost; Because, fussing and cussing and finger pointing and guilt tripping just aren’t great motivators for most people (though reasonable reactions to the current socio-political climate of the United States).

Below, are a few tips for those of you who may just now be getting serious about building eco-systems of care and community (or those of you who don’t know where to begin). I’ve developed these through lots of reading and studying of Black Queer Feminist philosophies. I seek to couple the wisdom of our ancestor (past and contemporary) with the realities of today’s technology and hope that some of these ideas can help many of you better prepare for what is happening to and around you. Because, make no mistakes - whatever *gesters vaguely* THIS is - it’s happening. And it’s happening NOW (I believe that our current collective existential crisis is accepting that we’ve lost this moment and instead of focusing on what we ‘could have’ done/what ‘used to’ be, we now have to focus on survival in a new socio-political world that none of us have seen in our lifetimes.).

I’m, also, encouraging each of you to subscribe to my ‘After Stack’ where I will go in to more logistical details regarding the implementation of some of these tips. And PLEASE tune in to upcoming posts, where I will continue to post ideas for how you can practice liberatory resistance in the face of the racist, misogynistic, ableist, xenophobic, trans and queer exclusionary violence that this current administration has committed to enacting on our bodies and collective psyche.

“Nobody in the world, nobody in history, has ever gotten their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the people who were oppressing them.” - Assata Shakur, Assata

Tips for our Collective Survival

• Teach/share skills for personal survival. Maybe you know how to sew and can teach a small group at your home how to do simple patches for clothes. Or, you have a medical background and can host a few people in your village to learn about how to care for different wounds and what would be the best medicines and supplies to have on hand. Build up your communal/collective knowledge on some of these simple survival skills as we prepare for various infrastructure to be logistically and socially impacted by the current administration.

• Create informal childcare networks. Childcare is one of the most important part of any society. As we are trying to navigate and survive through an increasing hostile government and social climate, it is important to create safe spaces of care, love, and accountability for those who embody our future to be held. This can be something as simple as 3-5 families rotating who is caring for all the kids, while the other parents/guardians attend city council meetings, grocery shop, or find moments of quiet to process the world. Having the help of a village for child-rearing allows the adults to pause and think more critically about how to best be involved in resistance.

• Develop a digital security and privacy protection plan. All of the devices and platforms that we use have access to ALL of our personal information. Right now, we are seeing the same people in charge of our social media, email, and comms platforms capitulate to the current administration. Our personal data is always compromised in today’s current tech climate, but now that data is being used to target us and our fellow citizens for violence and further oppression. It’s time to think about moving from socials, setting up untraceable email addresses, using VPNs for daily online activity, and/or changing the apps you choose to communicate with loved ones on. You don’t have to change everything, but I’d encourage you to think critically about what feels most at risk and/or important for you to consider with extra security measures.

• Learn how to identify manipulation and propaganda. Currently, all of the US media outlets have ties to some billionaire who has cozied up to the current administration/president. That means that, no matter what, all of our mainstream news outlets will continue to present political and social information to you with a bias. That bias isn’t always easy to catch - and may include completely withholding things happening around you (like the lack of coverage of on-going global & domestic protests to the new US administration). Learning how to identify and navigate that type of manipulation and the onslaught of propaganda is imperative in moments like this one. Gathering with trusted community to share and discuss what you’re digesting and allowing space for critical conversation around media and content, will continue to build our muscles of discernment. And please take time to teach your young people about this. In the era of AI, our younger generations are having a much harder time deciphering what’s real and what’s not and that lack of critical discernment is having a negative impact on our collective social health.

We must continue to act - resistance is ACTION - everyday. Action doesn’t have to be leaving the country, but I’m here to remind you, it can’t look like business as usual.

If you have any other ideas, please leave a comment or send me a message. I’ll return next week with more tips, and I will continue to stay rooted in liberatory practices learned from Black and Indigenous ancestors and leaders!- EAF

"Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat." - Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man