Mr. Melee told me that he’s perma-banned from Instagram, so he probably won’t see this, but I’m sure you’ve seen him before, if you’ve been to any rally, march, or protest in past year or so.
This was from May Day. I’ll be posting a few photos. Me and the other 10,000 people with cameras who were out here today.
Comrade Nate was a little suspicious of my intentions at first, but I think I won him over with the sheer power of my airtight logic: if you show up looking this cool, you’re gonna get pestered for a photo.
You know him. You love him. Comrade Zarafa reppin’ the axis in the belly of the beast.
One year ago, I couldn’t take the day off work to march in May Day, but I did show up to an after-hour rally in this same park with a different organization.
I used a bullhorn and let all my frustrations with work out to a thin crowd that was just trying to soak up the evening sun. What a difference a year makes.
I’d been unofficially “dual-carding” to figure out where I wanted to put my after-work energy; I’d also been extremely conflicted about my sense of purpose at my job.
It burned me up, but eventually, as is often the case, the heat of contradiction gave way to the starkness of clarity; my job means a lot to me, but, under capitalism, despite its mission or vision, despite its non-profit status, I accepted that it will always and forever be just a job.
That 1st of May was bitter and angry; this year, I felt more joy. And I got to be a care bear again.
I’ve thought a lot about what it means to find a “political home.” It’s an expression I heard others use; the uncanny parallel to “spiritual home” did not escape me.
“No org is perfect,” just like “no church is perfect” – no one disagrees on that. But there are some who’ll say this as a way to punctuate debate, a truism to end thought and move on, while there are others who mean it more earnestly, as an invitation to more conversation, and, one hopes, to mutual growth and incremental learning. After all these years, this is the politic I now value the most.
What was it that Lenin once quoted? Theory, my friend, is grey, but green is the eternal tree of life? Well, I want the whole rainbow, thank you.
Two historic icons of revolt irrupting back into our contemporary moment.
If you haven’t heard of the red “melt the ice” hats, this symbol came out of Minneapolis, where a yarn shop called Needle & Skein started making these in the tradition of the Norwegian “topplue” or “nisselue” hats worn as a sign of resistance to Nazi occupation.
“Red is the color of resistance,” the owner was reported to have said. “Here’s our chance to take the red back. Red doesn’t belong to MAGA.” Seattle’s Fiber Artists Against Fascism agree.