Happy New Year! I am going to miss having you in class. I appreciate your questioning and thought process, as it often slows me down. I find myself curious about how our thought processes towards liberation are similar. However, our understanding of how much society has lost its humanity seems to defer. There were several things in this email that made me slow down and process what the next four years will look like. I watched Evil on Trial over the summer. What stood out to me the most about that time and now is how people are okay with the suffering of others if that means they can guarantee their temporary safety. This is one reason I went into this profession because people do not realize that seeing the harm done to others is physiologically traumatic. Ultimately transforming their humanity. When someone has to watch the video of George Floyd or see the bodies of Palestinian children to move toward action, their humanity was compromised long ago. I know you to already be radicalized and thoughtful about change that matters. However, we are in disagreement on if something is coming because I believe we are already here.
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“I pray to any entity that we never get to the industrialized killing like in Nazi, Germany”. This stood out to me the most. I am curious how you would define “industrialized killing” when the United States has a long history of sanctioning the killing and murder of Indigenous communities as well as what we are seeing in Palestine, Sudan, and Congo. As Syria experiences uncertainty, the United States has resumed bombing parts of the country to “deter terrorism”. I wonder if industrialized killing feels different because it is an ocean away or only observable through a phone screen. What if instead, we defined industrialized killing as the absence of healthcare, the broken education system, or the quality of food that is slowly killing us every day? When the definition includes everyday ways the United States is killing us does it feel scary or disheartening? Or does it feel closer to home? For me, it could be the permission I need to embrace despair and let go of the humanity I have left but instead, it radicalizes me towards community and reaffirms my hope.
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You mentioned concentration/work camps existing but worrying about the possibility of them becoming more inhuman. I think about Robert Brooks and the lack of humanity given to him while correctional officers beat him to death. There is a misplaced assumption that to be in prison, they must have done something wrong but we already know that is not how the prison pipeline works. Michelle Alexander says, "As a society, our decision to heap shame and contempt upon those who struggle and fail in a system designed to keep them locked up and locked out says far more about ourselves than it does about them". A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups, on the grounds of state security, or for exploitation or punishment. When I read the definition of a concentration camp it is hard for me to imagine for-profit prisons as anything other than concentration and work camps. I think about all the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's products made and created by prisoners. I am reminded that while people know Trader Joe's products are made from forced labor, they still seek out the latest dupes. Alexander goes on to say, "The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its Black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid". I recently read, "Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care" by Kelly Hayes. In the book the author says, "Our goal should be interdependence: to be part of a community where rescue is viewed not as exceptional but as something that we owe each other.” One tactic of prisons is to keep people from organizing or creating community because shared culture is where people thrive and continue to grow. As someone who has worked in those spaces, your lived experiences of seeing inhumane conditions could be part of what has radicalized you today or solidified why you wanted to work in mental health.
"I have fears about not obeying in advance. What are your thoughts about doing it today?" To answer your questions, being in community is how. I want to start by affirming and acknowledging the genuine fear of experiencing harm. We have witnessed everyday examples of what happens to people who speak out and push against dehumanization. Fear is one of the most physical emotions and over time our fear has become over sensitive to what is real and imagined. I will highlight that today, you do not have to do more than disagree in most cases to become a target. Moreover, when you are in a community with those who do not hold your shared values or believe in your liberation this should also be seen as harmful. When you are not able to be your true authentic and vulnerable self, fear might become the only familiar thing you know. "How do we balance resistance with a high risk of being harmed/killed/imprisoned"? Community is where you are loved, cherished, and cared for. It is where you can speak up and push back without being targeted. It is where you will be challenged to think critically and deeply about how to change for a better tomorrow. Community is where we make mistakes and are embraced for having the courage to try. What is most important to me is my community is where we share responsibility and lean on each other because fighting for liberation is a shared endeavor. I often remind people that I am not a protester in the ways of being on the front lines or standing on the street. However, I am a proud womanist-activist-scholar. When my students sat in for a free Palestine, I showed up, wrote numbers on their arms, and held their belongings while the police carried them away. I donated money to get them released and brought warm food to the encampment the next day. While others might say I am not doing enough, I believe we need all of it. We need people to make sandwiches and make posters. We need people to make phone calls and knock on doors. We need people willing to disrupt business as usual and people who are willing to put their lives on the line. And again I will remind you to find a community that allows you to do what you can while still pushing you to stretch in places you are able.
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In your message you wrote, "to say it's dark now isn't accurate; the light is dimming". What if I said the belief and light we had in our government officials and in the idea that the government was working for us was snuffed out decades ago? The dimming over the years is the realization that it does not matter if it is Trump, Biden, or Harris because the government is working exactly as it has been designed to. We have been forced into a scarcity mentality causing us to fight one another instead of build the community support we deserve. It is hard for me to say how you can make sure you do not obey in advance because I cannot remember a time when I have obeyed. Not because I have regularly done exceptional things to shake up the system but only because I have remained true to myself and my community. This has not been easy but it has always been worth it. I will end with this. What if you have already been working against the white norms and beliefs of how white educated women should act? What if your master's degree means you are already well positioned to not obey? And what has already radicalized you means you are already well on your way to aiding your community in valuable and acknowledged ways? What if your fears and worries are proof that your humanity is foundational to your work and the cultural humility you have for others is unmatched?
I hope we will remain in the community over time and that you will never stop being willing to slow me down.
Dr. D