No One Is Illegal On Stolen Land

If you’ve been reading my blog the last few months, you already know that I am strongly opposed to the prison system in Canada and The United States of America. Because of that, it should come as absolutely no shock to you that I find what ICE is doing to be completely inhumane and disgusting. Nazi’s are parading the streets of The United States, masquerading as “do-gooders” who just want to “clean up the crime in America”, detaining children, men and women simply for the colour of their skin. 

No, it has nothing to do with immigration status. If it did, ICE officers wouldn’t be detaining Indigenous folks.

People in detention centres are currently being denied life saving medical care and adequate living conditions. There is no good reason for this kind of violence.

There is absolutely no good reason that the little boy you are looking at in that photo (Liam, 5 years old) should ever have been in ICE detention. There is no reason that he should have been used as bait to help ICE detain an adult. There is no reason he should have been traumatized.

Keep in mind that we are currently situated on stolen land. The United States of America does not belong to Donald Trump, or any ICE officer. 

I don’t really know if there is any one right way to protest what is happening right now. I know that it’ll take a strong community banding together. 

One of the best ways to band together as a community is through the creation and sharing of visual art. Letting our government know that we will not stand for blatant racism and injustice by creating art like @ Phil_perry on Instagram can not only bring like minded people together from across the globe, but can also let our government know where we stand.

Another great way to bring people together and create a strong community is through music. Historically, music has been used as part of protests in every major historical event. It has also been used by oppressed groups of people to communicate and rally together. Some good examples of musicians who are using their platform for good include Macklemore (see my last post for more info), Billie Eilish, and Finneas, who have repeatedly stood up against injustice around the world.

Another musician who has done an incredible job of creating protest music is folk-musician Willowbrook. Her song, Revolution Drinking Song, does a great job of calling out the injustice happening in America. The song has a catchy hook, and can be easily taught to anyone who wants to sing along.

On top of the reasons listed above, art can be a great way to improve mental health. We are living through what will eventually be a major historical event, and it’s understandable that collectively, we are having trouble coping with what has happened. Using art as an outlet can be helpful in so many different ways.

Another good way to rally together is to educate the next generation of adults. Teaching our children the importance of things like empathy and social services (like libraries and community centres) can help them grow into mature, well rounded adults, who understand the importance of community. As you might have guessed, this paragraph is about Ms. Rachel. She has done a lot of work over the last few months to show us that all children deserve empathy and to be taught how important it is for them to show empathy.

Right now, us banding together is more important than ever. We will not let ICE win. We cannot let our leaders get away with bigotry, hatred, and racism.

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