In Righteous Rage, I Stand for Love

Creating art is one of my favorite acts of resistance these days. While making some art yesterday, I got word of an emergency protest happening in my neighborhood in an hour in response to the murder of Alex Pretti by federal agents. I grabbed some paint and an old cereal box that I’d already painted yellow for some future art project. Using my fingers rather than a paint brush, I wrote out a message in brown paint: ICE OUT NOW. Yes. And, that wasn’t strong enough for the raw truth of this most recent loss, and after all the ones that came before. So I flipped my hastily made sign over and used black and red paint to come closer to the painful truth. (Pictured here is a neater AI generated version of a photo I took of that sign.)

Paint still wet on both sides of my sign now, I placed it in a shopping bag and took it with me to where a group of about 20 neighbors stood with their signs. Not caring about the wet paint transferring onto my clothing, hands, and face, I joined my neighbors and held my sign, chanting and waving at cars that drove down the busy street.

In the hour or so I stood there, a good amount of the passing cars honked in support while waving or giving a thumbs up. Many cars passed us like we weren’t even there. Some drivers stared at us hard as they flipped us off. That kind of crap used to piss me off, and I’d reflexively get all mouthy and attitudinal about it. But after living in this (🎶sing it with me 🎶) “hostile government takeover” now for a full year, my anger can’t be bothered by such pitiful displays of ignorance. With every bird that got flipped our way, I responded in a way that is not only aligned with my firm belief that only love can drive out hate, but also paid homage to one of my favorite gags from Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America. I genuinely and broadly smiled back at them, blowing joyful kisses, and said, “Oh yes! I love you too!” I don’t care what they think of me. I know who I am and what I stand for.

I stand for love. I stand for peace. I stand for truth. I stand for liberation. And the righteous rage I feel right now over the injustice, oppression, and all of the atrocities and inhumane acts this government has committed — that rage comes from love. Love for humanity. Love for my country and all of its people, no matter their faith, nationality, or their political or immigration status. I wish for us all to be well and do well. And as a nation, we are far from well. But allowing our rage at these abuses, obvious lies, and abject cruelty to harden us into vengeance will not take us where we want to be. We KNOW this. We know “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” And still it is challenging to embody peace at a time like this.

In service of love, of being love, there’s always a balance to be struck between turning the other cheek and flipping tables. We each need to decide, and then act on, what we are to do with our painful feelings in the face of these horrors. Alex did what he was called to do — to be true to who he was, a helper who spread kindness and looked out for others. We all have different roles to play during these tumultuous times. Alex’s final role was that of protector. He recorded and stood up to federal agents as they terrorized neighbors.

Alex stood up to state sponsored terror, and lost his life to it. We all lost a beautiful light who took such good care of others, that his kindnesses surely rippled out from those in his care and out to many others. For those of us who carry on in the resistance to this tyranny, we will ensure his life was not lost in vain, but in sacred service to our liberation against tyranny and the terrorism our own government is using against us.

No matter what role(s) you play during these tumultuous times, I wish you well. May your actions lead from love and not hate. May you be well and do well.