Praise then darkness, and creation unfinished

I just went to a protest & Tisha b'av service/vigil, outside the Boston ICE office. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this, but that doesn't matter. This is my work, in the times we live in.

Never again para nadie. (Never again, for anyone.)

I posted the above from my phone, while drinking tea in a Caffe Nero across the street from the Government Center T station. Adding:

The Boston ICE office is in the JFK Federal Building, in Government Center. Based on past experience, I left early enough to allow a margin for getting lost in Government Center, which I did. (It's a large open space surrounded by mostly unlabeled buildings.) When I got to the rally, adrian_turtle spotted me, so I stood with her and a few of her friends.

The event itself was lower-energy than I had expected, more quiet vigil and less noisy protest than I was expecting. I think louder would have been better, since we weren't just trying to be noticed by the government, or the media--part of the point was to let the prisoners inside know that there are people out here who support them and wish them well.

I should not have had to write that subject line, not in any timeline.However, we have to deal with the world we're in, even as we work to change it.

This was one of a lot of rallies today. The Boston one started at City Hall Plaza around 11 a.m.; there were some speeches, then a bit of a pause, and then we marched (or at least walked) to the Common, to join the crowd there. cattitude, adrian_turtle went took the T to Government Center, talking on the train to a few other people who were heading to the rally and one who hadn't known there was a rally today.

As of yesterday afternoon, none of the three of us was sure we would be up for this, given the heat and that my hip was hurting yesterday. This morning, we decided it was worth a try, so Adrian and I made protest signs (which I keep thinking "I should do" and then not getting around to. My sign says "Daughter of a Refugee" (because it's true, and I don't look like most peoples image of refugees), and hers says "Let My People Go." Then we put cold drinks in my daypack, applied peltny of sunscreen, and headed out.

It was a hot day (somewhere in the upper 80s F/just over 30 C at 11 a.m.) and sunny, and there is very little shade in City Hall Plaza. But we managed the heat, did our best to listen to speeches, and then made our slow way down Tremont and Beacon Streets to the Common. I looked at other people's signs, and a few people photographed mine, and in this case I was glad of how slowly a protest march moves down relatively narrow streets. (My subconscious expectation for both political marches and parades is still Broadway or Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.)

We got to the Common, found a place without too many people, and sat for a bit. Then we decided we needed more food than the pint of blueberries I had brought with me, and Cattitude at least wanted to get out of the crowd, so we took the red line to Davis, talking to more chance-met fellow protestors. We have now had falafel, and are home, and I am drinking tea.

(This is my third protest this month, counting the Dyke March but not Boston Pride.)

P.S. This is a relay race, not a sprint. You are not expendable; do what you can, and try not to blame yourself for having finite resources.

ACLU People Power has organized deportation solidarity event outside regional ICE offices tomorrow, Sunday, April 23rd at 3 p.m.

I'm going to the one in Boston. A quick check of the People Power website found others in New York and Seattle. (The website isn't set up to search for events by date or time; I found those two by searching based New York and Bellevue zip codes I remembered.)

The Boston event looks small so far: 121 of us have signed up to attend, so I figure I'll be more noticeable there than I would have been if I'd made it to the March for Science today.

Note: this was originally announced for April 22nd, and then rescheduled a couple of days ago. Sorry about the short notice.

(This is a revised version of my post to thisfinecrew.)