subversive shit I did last week

Early this morning I read that very disturbing New York Times piece that said, among other things, that DJT didn’t know he was putting Bannon on the National Security Council. HE SIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDER AND HE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT SAID. Also apparently his staff has been literally working in the dark because they couldn’t figure out how to turn on the lights in the cabinet room.

We’ve got our work cut out for us, you guys.

Last week I wanted to give more attention to some issues impacting Indiana as well as that OTHER complete disaster of an executive order, the president’s Muslim travel ban.

Who I supported

• Indiana Youth Group – creates safe spaces, provides wellness programming,and educates LGBTQ youth and the community.
• The ACLU.

Who I contacted

• Indiana’s attorney general. He’s appealing a ruling that allowed same-sex parents to be listed on their child’s birth certificate. Seriously, who comes up with this shit? So I wrote his office and asked them to quit their foolishness (politely, of course).
• So one of the really cool things Indiana is trying to do right now is bulldoze the inner city’s last old-growth forest. Neat, right? It’s gotten a fair amount of attention and there was even a march over the summer. (Although right now, it’s not looking good.) Currently, SB420 would protect Indiana forests by requiring that a portion of forest lands be restricted from logging. I wrote my state representatives in support of the bill and I wrote the authors of the bill to thank them.
• SB 285 is attempting to restrict protests, so I wrote to my state senators and asked them to oppose it.
• I called Senator Todd Young, who supported the president’s EO on immigration. (I also made a thank you call to Senator Donnelly for opposing the ban and for showing up at the protest held at our airport. Man…thank you calls are so much easier to make!)

What I read

• How to #stayoutraged without losing your mind. Never stop being shocked. Stay focused on one or two issues. It’s okay to have fun. Take care of yourself.
• Every office is different. Every way matters. This is just a Facebook post but it was exactly what I needed to read. (Not to contradict what I posted about overcoming phone call anxiety, but this makes sense too.)
• We need to talk about how we talk about the black bloc. “Please think before you say something quick, superficial, and demonizing, about the black bloc.” This was written by a street medic and you NEED to read it.
• Your defense of immigration is fucking colonialist. And not noted in this piece, but in addition to citizenship not being based on greatness, I just want to note the obvious, that we are NOT all immigrants. A bunch of people were here before us, and we slaughtered them and took their land. A bunch of other people were forced to come over here as slaves and they are still fighting systemic racism and oppression. So no.

What I did

I decluttered. Filing this one under self-care. I cleaned and organized my closet and sorted a bunch of stuff to either sell or donate. I had clothes in my closet that – let’s face it – will never, ever fit me again and were just taking up space. It felt therapeutic to get rid of shit.

Read my other “subversive shit” posts.