ref(e)lection

I spent last election day in the village of Mali on the rugged hillsides near the southeast border of Guinea Conakry and Senegal. I remember laying in bed all layered up, trying to trust my gut feeling of faith in voters of the US to be sensible and elect the first woman president, albeit not perfect it felt like a big move. a move that never happened. Heartbroken, friends and myself heard the news and like many folks sobbed throughout the day, mourning the love left so lacking, much less common respect and care for those not like us. We had listened to Michelle Obama in the endless hours riding in the sept-places across the high plains and wild hillsides and forests. it was strange feeling so alienated from my country at that time and in that moment, but ever since I don’t think i’ve ever returned to a feeling of trust and dependability of our national government.

The last four years i’ve put everything i could into movement building, organizing, and learning, and i’ve continued to be disillusioned with the systems made to extract value from dead things, killing and policing people and bodies for profit. I’ve become more politicized than I ever thought possible, and tried to cultivate anti-racist anti-capitalist ways of being, living, and working. I’ve felt stripped of my autonomy and at the whim of people older, richer, and more entitled than I. I’ve felt powerless amidst my efforts and I’ve felt invincible at the sides of those I get to fight with.