what are we even celebrating?

alligator alcatraz.

Absolute rage and heartbreak is all I can feel inside my chest. Alligator alcatraz. The newest american concentration camp is opening today in the everglades. Our government will be putting thousands of people in tents, on an asphalt airstrip, with no air conditioning, in the suffocating heat of south florida in july. Surrounded by alligators, crocodiles, pythons, and panthers, and bragging about how there is one way in and one way out. People who have been ripped off the street, ambushed, have had no trials, no due process, placed there based not on conduct but their identity, their skin color, their religion, their names. Nightmarishly fitting to be opening this hellhole as people tune out to go off and celebrate the 4th of july. 

What is there to even celebrate? Are we supposed to show pride for what our country has become? Because this is not a country to be proud of right now. We are literally sending people to concentration camps. death sentences. There’s even fucking merch for it. Because of course there is. It wouldn’t be wholly american without a catchy name, branding, marketing, and something to hawk to make a quick buck. People can go buy a tshirt or a beer koozie with the name of the torture compound happily printed on it directly from the elected politicians cheering this american concentration camp into existence. Seriously.

This all may be uncomfortable or alarming for people to hear and think about, and it should be. Do not tune it out. It should be infuriating. It should make us sad, and disappointed, and it should shatter our pride in this country. What is happening and why it’s happening is a truth that must be acknowledged and shouted from the rooftops. 

But do not confuse lack of pride for lack of love or for lack of hope in this country. I believe we demonstrate our love for this country by calling out and naming this depraved behavior, and physically fighting back against the fascist forces that are taking it over. The only way to fix any problem is to name it first. The current regime is sending people to concentration camps, and destroying the rights and freedoms we are supposed to be celebrating this week. 

And they are not stopping here. It is not a one and done deal. This is just the next step. This is the $450 million dollar prototype. These will continue to show up around the country. We can no longer wait around, shutting out the news, hoping that someone will step up and save us. No one is coming to save us. We must save ourselves. It can’t be and won’t be a single person. It must be a wave of people that truly believe this is a country of opportunity, a country of freedom, no matter where you’re from or how you choose to live. That everyone deserves food, shelter, education, and healthcare. That no one should be torn from their lives and their communities because of their skin color or their religion. 

We can no longer hold on to any anger or resentment towards people because of how they may have voted in 2024. That does not matter anymore. We are all under attack, and all at risk now. It is a waste of time and energy to dwell there. 

Fighting back looks like accepting this reality, it looks like standing up and intervening if you see ICE in your community, taking pictures, shaming them into oblivion, grabbing strangers by the hand and not letting go. Being present in real life, and taking our activism off of social media and into the streets. It looks like stepping up and running for any and all elected positions available. It does not matter the level. Local, state, or federal. We need to flood the system, even if they are actively tearing the system down. We can build something new in its place. But using the platforms elections provide creates visibility. It shows people they are not alone in feeling uncomfortable or scared or sad about what is happening. The more people speaking up the harder it is for them to silence us. But we can’t wait for someone else to do it. We, as Americans, have to be the ones that stand up and say enough is enough.

I miss celebrating the 4th of July, and I miss having real pride and joy in my country. But I do believe there is a future beyond this, we just have to be brave enough to imagine it, to fight for it, and build it.