We Are Not Intimidated: A July 4th Reflection - Letters to the Housed

The Weight of Eight Months

The past 8 months have been tough. The work I have done for the last decade has become more difficult, more treacherous for the people we serve and requires me to dig deep inside myself for resources of spirit and hope that I never knew I had.

Last week I was in Sacramento testifying to a Senate committee asking for more resources to help us end homelessness. It was my first excursion outside of LA since I hurt myself at work in March and I have been sidelined throughout the worst of these past few months.

LA is under siege from National Guards and Marines, sent by a mad king to intimidate us into not caring about people on the margins. And while I know I will outlive him and this madness he has brought into all our lives, I wasn't feeling much like celebrating this year.

Know Your Rights, Know Your Power

I have the privilege of being a board member at the volunteer organization, SELAH (selahnhc.org) and this aggression from the federal forces is a real and present danger to many of the people we serve.

A few weeks ago, we started to get trained up on how to respond when raids happen, what a valid warrant looks like and what our rights are, whether we're citizens or not. It's a lot harder to be intimidated when you know where those lines are, even if the feds routinely violate our rights, the rights still exist and are our best tools to help protect our friends and neighbors.

The Power of One Simple Question

One of the first things I learned in deescalation training many years ago, is the phrase:

"Excuse me, are you supposed to be doing that?"

It's disarming to someone who is raging. It asks for a moment of reflection, of self awareness, and it is a powerful way to engage with someone without being threatening.

The psychology here is much the same. If you're going to violate my rights, I want you to know that I know what my rights are. I'm going to remind you that you're out of line, and hope that you stop raging and consider what you're doing.

The Humanity Behind the Masks

The people behind those masks are human beings, parents, siblings, children of people who love them. There is some decency in them that needs to be engaged if we are ever going to end this madness, once and for all.

When all this is over, we will need a time of healing unlike anything I've encountered before.

These troops, agents, whatever they call themselves, know they are doing harm to others and, when the Trumpists are out of power, we need to be ready for our own 'truth and reconciliation' process to bring them back into society. It's the only course open to us without violence.

A Statement in Red, Green, and White

When our friend Nathan invited a few of us to his house in Boyle Heights, I was excited to spend the day with friends, regardless of the occasion. We arrived around 7PM, and there were already fireworks going off all around us. Nathan's dogs, Prince, Molly, and Henry were running around the yard barking and begging for scraps, and we mused about the neighbors not wasting all their fireworks while the sun was still up, but they had planned well.

Soon after 8 PM, the fireworks exploded tenfold on every side of us. Nathan lives near the top of a hill and his deck has a clear 270º view for miles and I had never seen anything like it.

The Message in the Sky

Every few hundred yards all around us, fireworks displays as big as any I saw in my childhood lighted the sky. Deafening booms, rockets, squibbs, firecrackers were everywhere. Police helicopters circled seemingly too low for their own safety, their white bellies were lighted up red and green, again and again. And it went on, hardly ceasing for over an hour.

Nathan turned to us at one point and commented:

"This is a statement. Notice how the fireworks are mostly red, green and white. It's the Mexican flag. They're not intimidated, they're not afraid."

I realized that I was still proud of my friends, my neighbors, my city, my state. Proud that we have withstood provocation, intimidation, and an assault on our values, our freedoms, our bodies.

Who We Are at Our Best

I love living here. The people make this place magical. We are a threat to authoritarianism because we hold values I cherish. We are kind, we are thoughtful, we care for our neighbors and we will not be stopped.

Our 250th year as a nation will present challenges as daunting as any we have ever faced, but progress has always won out. This is a year that will demand more kindness, caring, and love than many in my lifetime, but I'm never alone.

The Virtue That Ranks Above All Others

We must not be afraid to stand up for ourselves and those we love. I don't know any virtue that ranks above that.

Let's remember who we are at our best, not our worst. How to fight for our rights and forgive the wrongs of others. SecondGrace has always been about community, about sharing the resources to heal ourselves and our neighborhoods.

Let's celebrate each other and prepare for what comes next.

Thanks and have a safe week.

Paul

Paul Asplund is the founder of Second Grace LA and has worked in direct service to unhoused neighbors for over a decade. Learn more at paulasplund.com

For more resources and to connect with others building community defense networks, visit SecondGrace.LA. Together, we're stronger than their hate.