I received a question last night from someone who cares deeply about what is happening to the people around them but feels at a loss about what to do. This is such a common sentiment right now. If you're feeling similar thoughts and emotions, you might want to know how I responded. I've reworked my answer slightly to make it more applicable to readers here, but it's essentially the same reply.

I expect I'll have more advice to give as time moves forward as I expect it to be a recurring question that needs to be continually revisited. Here's my reply for now.

Question:

I will be the first to admit as a person with a lot of privilege that there is a lot I don’t understand. My response back is what encouragement what advice do you have for me so that I can support those who don't feel seen or safe in our country as is?

Answer

It's a good question.

I actually put out a newsletter post last night that speaks to this a bit, and I'd first suggest reading that: After Monday: Fear and Action in the Face of Uncertainty

The answer is difficult and it's really hard to swallow.

The thing is, it's not about words anymore. It's not about voting. And while in the long term, education always matters, and please continue to educate yourself, current events, history, theory, but in the short term, it's ultimately about so much more. It's about taking action.

I'm going to put it bluntly. You have to be standing close enough to the people being targeted that you are getting hit with the stones thrown at them. Willing even to suffer collateral damage from those who don't see you as an ally, and pushing through, anyway.

My existence, and that of my family, is about to become illegal. It's already essentially illegal to various extents in half the states, but I'm not going to discuss the nuances of that right now, especially when it's about to increase exponentially. The point is, that makes me a criminal simply for existing. This is true in the vast majority of the world, at least to some extent.

You have to recognize that what is happening to queer and trans people is genocide. And you need to decide for yourself what you are willing to do in response to genocide happening on your doorstep.

You need to understand that removing residency, citizenship, rounding up brown people to put into concentration camps is ethnic cleansing, and likely much more. It's on your doorstep.

What is happening to all women and the terrifying effects the loss of bodily autonomy has... this is all on your doorstep.

We're already doing these horrific things here in the US, and it's about to be exponentially worse. And the entire world is already a geopolitical powder keg. It's not just here, it's everywhere, and things are getting incredibly tense.

It's not just about providing comfort anymore.

You need to decide what you are willing to risk and sacrifice, and you need to decide what that means to you and what you have to offer, and I don't know what that is, because that's a decision that's on you.

But here it is. If you want to help people whose very existence is criminalized, you're likely to have to break laws. Laws that have consequences. It's either that, or yelling so loudly that you become a target. Possibly both.

I don't know what that would mean for you. What did supporters of Jews do during WWII? What did free people do to support Black people during slavery? Don't answer me, but decide, are you willing to house people who the new regime has already announced that they plan to round up and put into concentration camps starting Tuesday in Chicago and quickly more broadly from there? How about others? Are you willing to do other things that could put you at risk?

Look to history, and that will give you a clue as to what might be necessary.

I can't tell you what that would mean for you.

I wish I could tell you exactly what to do, but the answer is, I don't honestly know. I don't know what is going to happen beyond what they have explicitly said and it's nothing short of genocide.

What is needed tomorrow will not necessarily be the same the next day. You need to stay vigilant. You need to assess yourself, your capabilities, your assets, and your network. You need to weigh what this all means to you, your place in history, and what you are willing to risk or sacrifice for family, friends, and strangers.

This is essentially all for you to decide.

And as you assess any decision, be conscious whether it's something that you'll be at peace with when the time comes someday to look back on it all, no matter how it all turns out.

But you need to decide.

And you'll need to decide every single day.

no ends, only means