Refugee Mutual Aid in Washington DC

Mia talks with Amy Fischer from Sanctuary DMV about caring for the refugees Greg Abbott and others are sending to DC

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to It could happen here, the podcast about the
world falling apart and how we can put it back
together again. I'm your host, Christopher Wong. Now. Three months
ago we covered Great Abbot's attempt to shut down the
border and how he was forced basically to back down
by a Mexican trucker strike. And in that episode we
mentioned that Abbot's newest stunt was deporting people from Texas
to Washington, d C. To make Biden look bad by

(00:25):
you know, moving the problem to him. And as a
political stunt, this has largely failed as a humanitarian disaster,
inflicting untold human misery on completely innocent people. It is
still continuing to unfold. And here today to talk about
this with us is Amy Fisher with Sanctuary d m
V and the Migrants Solidarity Mutual Aid Network. Amy, thank
you for joining us, and welcome to the show. Thank

(00:48):
you so much for having me so excited to be here. Yeah, um,
somewhat less excited that this is happening because dear God. Yeah, So,
I guess to start off, do you want to tell
us a bit about what's been I guess how this
started in what the sort of initial reaction and non
reaction of the d C government has been sure so UM.

(01:13):
In April, Governor Abbotts started bussing people from the border
to d C. UM. We knew from the get go
that this was a racist publicity stunt, um, particularly because
the first few busses were dropped off right in front
of the Fox News building. UM, and we all initially

(01:36):
thought it was going to be a few weeks of
bussing people. And here we are, um in the middle
of July, and the buses have kept coming. Um. Buses
arrive to d C basically every single day of the
week except for UM Monday evening and Tuesday mornings, and

(02:02):
there have been probably around thirty people bussed from Texas
to d C. And uh, not too long after, Governor
Juicy of Arizona started doing the same thing and bussing
people from the Arizona border to d C. And the

(02:24):
d C government has basically been unwilling to grapple with
the reality of what's happening. You know, people are arriving
to d C with very very little resources, typically like
the clothes on their back. Sometimes they don't even have
shoes on their feet. When they get off the buses,

(02:44):
and it's been, um kind of amazing to see the
way that the d C community has responded. It's been
like the type of response that makes me remarkably proud
of being a DC resident and being from the area.
And also, um, it's something that the DC government is

(03:08):
turning in a blind eye to UM and pretending like, um,
the reality that we are seeing when we are talking
to people that are getting off the buses day in
and day out, it's just it's like entirely different from
what you know, the DC mayor is saying about the situation. Yeah,

(03:29):
and I guess, well, okay, so before we talk, I
guess fully about the DC governments just catastrophic. I don't
even want to know if I want to say incompetence
so much is just like we'll just let these people suffer. Um.
Can we talk a bit about what what what the
community responses look like and what y'all have been doing. Sure,

(03:49):
so maybe to back up a little bit to to
tell you about sort of like what the experiences of
the people that are getting off the buses. These are
people that are typically UM coming to the United States
to seek asylum. They're being processed at the border for
a few days. And I think what like have been
commonly started to be referred to as like the Pereiras

(04:13):
and jeleras at the border, so like the dog kennels,
the ice boxes and the at the border and that
are being paroled into the country and um, so the
Customs and Border Protections CBP is releasing these folks to
um like respite centers type of places at the border.

(04:34):
UM in Texas. Most of the folks are coming from
Del Rio and Eagle Path UM and then they're being
told that there's these free busses to d C. And
it's it's a little bit mind boggling because we know
that Governor Abbott is doing these bus this bussing purely

(04:55):
out of the most like racist xenophobic in pensions. And
also for many of the folks, it's a free bus
to to get to where they're trying to go. And
so people are riding on the buses arriving in d
C and then you know many of them are trying

(05:17):
to get to other places along the east coast UM
and many are planning on staying in d C. UM.
And so what has happened is we've um developed a
massive mutual aid response, which has been super cool. So,

(05:39):
you know, we have a crew of volunteers that meet
the buses when they arrive UM at Union Station. And
if you're not familiar with d C, Union Station is
sort of the big transit center and in the middle
of d C UM actually relatively close to where the
capital is. UM. It's sort of like the DC equivalent

(06:02):
of like Penn Station in New York or something like that. UM.
And so they're dropped off in front of Union Station.
We have folks that will welcome them and UM typically
we bring to folks to uh different churches around the
area that have opened up their spaces as respite centers
for us, and we uh you know, sit down with folks,

(06:25):
We offer them some food and really try and talk
through what their needs are and help them as best
as we can meet those needs, whether it is you know,
folks may have UM medical or like trauma that they
need to work through. UM. Maybe they're trying to get

(06:45):
to New York, and so we'll help them, you know,
communicate with family members or help them find their way
to New York. We you know, for the folks that
are staying in DC, we've done our best to help them,
you know, find a way to kind of get settled
and put down roots in their new community, getting them
connected to community members that help them you know, navigate DC,

(07:08):
teach them how to use the metro, help them get
to their you know, check in appointments as they're you know,
having to jump through all of the hoops of ice
and being surveilled by the state, and and helping them
you know, have access to lawyers to explain their legal
process and really just kind of like I don't know,

(07:29):
I took a dude to to Target to be to
like help them get go shopping, and you know, took
folks to get uh, just like the random stuff that
people need when they arrive in a new place in
the same way that like, I don't know, if I
had a friend moving to d C, I would be like, hey,
what do you need? Like how can I help you

(07:50):
get to know this place? Like this is how our
bike share program works, Like just the most basic welcome
get settled. Can we tell a little bit more about
what the sort of legal process looks like here and
what like, for example, like explained what check ins are
and yeah, so um, the folks that are arriving are

(08:11):
being parolled in UM and so basically what it means
is that they are then under surveillance from the federal
government UM from ICE, which is Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
And what that looks like is a little bit of
a crapshoot. UM. So many many of the folks are

(08:36):
UM at the border given cell phones UM that have
tracking on them, and so with that cell phone, they're
being tracked by the government. They basically have to take
like selfies ever so often to UM check in and
then they're basically being enrolled in this program called is APP,
which is the I can't remember the acronym, it's it's

(08:59):
UM a supervision program. And so they have to go
to an ICE office once they arrive in whatever city
that they're arriving to UM. Oftentimes they're being asked to
turn in the ICE the ICE cell phones and having
to download an app on their cell phones. If they
don't have a cell phone, they might be given an

(09:19):
ankle monitor or what many of the Spanish speakers called
like a great They be basically like an ankle shackle
UM for electronic monitoring. They'll have UM officers, you know,
show up at their house, so sometimes they have to
you know, be at home from seven am to seven
pm so that you know, immigration come come by and

(09:42):
make sure that they're like still there. And basically that
part of the program is entirely so the government can
keep a track of where these folks are. It has
nothing to do with like the actual legal process that
they are trying to go through to to be able
to stay here permanently. So separate and apart from that,

(10:04):
the vast majority of these folks are asylum seekers. And
so what that means is that you know, once they're here,
they have a year to apply for asylum and then
they're thrust into the like totally broken asylum system that
has you know, years long backlogs and things like that,
and so then they'll be basically trying to find a

(10:25):
way to um get an asylum grant to be able
to stay here permanently while also navigating the surveillance that's
happening on the ice side of things are so I know,
something that happens with like I guess regular prison a
lot are people being forced to pay for the ankle

(10:46):
bracelets no thank god, okay, which is which is like
something from their minimum but yeah, it's still Jesus. I mean,
I will say that we've one of the issues that
we have started, um sort of trying to figure out
how to navigate, is that what we're seeing is people,

(11:08):
you know, they get the ICE cell phones at the border,
and then at their check in they're supposed to turn
in the ICE cell phones and then download this at
this surveillance app on their phone. Um, many folks don't
have a cell phone, or the app only works if
you have I think a five G phone, So you
basically have to have like the fanciest of the phones,

(11:30):
which if you're an asylum secret and you just risk
it all to come here to seek safety and you
don't really have a support in the US, and now
you're being told that you have to have this super
fancy phone or you get an inkle shackle. It's it's
just kind of a ridiculous thing knowing that it's okay,

(11:53):
maybe you're privileged enough to be able to be surveilled
on your own personal cell phone, or you just have
to have an inkle shackle at all times. So much
of this process just like it really feels just like
it's it's just it's surveillance, just sort of for the

(12:16):
purpose of humiliation. It's surveillance for the purpose of humiliation.
It's surveillance for the sake of some Um. This idea
that we've been dealing with in the US since September eleven,
that uh, immigration is a national security concern that you know,

(12:42):
if if immigrants aren't being surveilled twenty four hours a day,
then like, lord knows what they could do. Um. When
the reality is is these are folks that are just
like normal people trying to live their best lives. UM.
And I also think how I think it's really important
to say how much of this is also entirely based

(13:05):
on government funding and availability that so oftentimes the decision
as to what kind of surveillance you're under is based
upon what is available, um, based on contracts with you know,
private surveillance companies and private prison companies that have a

(13:26):
surveillance arm and things like that. It's it's entirely profit driven. Yeah, definitely, definitely. Again,
I keep thinking about prisons, it's just like, yeah, I
mean literally literally the same companies doing this kind of stuff.
And how Yeah, and like I think, I don't know,
there's there's this kind of like I mean, I guess, people,

(13:48):
it's just a prison industrial complex. But yeah, there's this
whole there's a sort of like state private sector complex
that both feed on each other, where you have these
companies taking federal money to do stuff. You have these
companies who are like have figured out ways to extract
like money from the people that are surevailing. And I guess, okay,

(14:08):
keep keeping on the thread of the state making people's
lives miserable. Um, yeah, so Muriel Bowser not doing anything. Yeah,
we're talking about that a bit. So Mariel Bowser's messaging
that we have received has evolved a little bit here
and there. So sometimes she says that the majority of

(14:32):
people that are getting off the bus have everything they
need and have family supporting them, and so there actually
is no reason for the government to step forward because
these people already have all of their needs met, which
I would say maybe one person or one family every

(14:53):
every few days has someone that's you know, ready to
meet them when they step off the bus, but the
vast majority of people don't. And I would say that
we're seeing an ever increasing amount of people that don't
have anybody in the United States, and so they really
are in need of a lot of supports to help
them really figure out their way here because they don't

(15:19):
have cousins or family friends or extended family, whatever it
may be, to help them, you know, put down roots
in the in their new communities. UM. And in recent
weeks her messaging has shifted a little bit because there
is actually a Spain based organization that got a grant

(15:40):
from FEMA to support on the buses. UM And so
now Bowser's response is this organization, SAMU has it, It's covered.
There's there's no like refuse one refusing to even acknowledge
the fact that the Mutual Aid Network has been and
continues to do the vast majority of the welcoming of

(16:04):
the folks that are arriving. And two once again refusing
to acknowledge that there is any role that DC could
be or should be playing here. Yeah, and it definite.

(16:24):
It seems like I don't know. I mean, it's it's
a kind of classic like State two steps, which was
like yeah, on the one hand, it's like, okay, there's
no problem. The second thing is we found an NGO
we can sort of like pretend is doing the actual work.
UM And I guess one of your things that that
I saw from y'all recently was a bunch of people

(16:47):
got exposed to COVID while doing this and there was like, basically,
you guys did basically a work stoppage. So last week, UM,
we basically hit a ball. UM. Many of our core
organizers had been exposed to COVID. UM, we were running

(17:11):
out of funds because this work is expensive, UM, and
we had been doing this as volunteers around the clock,
you know, twenty four hours a day, sevent days a
week for months, and last week we kind of hit
a wall. And UM told this NGO that is receiving

(17:37):
female funding that UM, we needed to take a beat,
UM and take two days where you know, folks kid
get COVID tested and make sure they were in the
clear to come back to work and rest and also
spend time like we you know, call it a work stoppage.

(17:59):
But we were all too working. We were all you know,
having conversations as to how we make this work more sustainable,
how we find you know, systems of support to to
make this this welcome last And unfortunately that resulted in
people basically getting stranded at Union station. UM. And when

(18:25):
our folks were able to return to welcoming buses on um.
You know. Later in the week they ended up with
like I don't know, thirty additional people that had basically
been sleeping at Union Station because this other NGO that
you know is receiving federal funding to do the work

(18:47):
that the mayor is saying has it and therefore she
doesn't have to do anything didn't show up and and
there were a handful of good Samaritans that like you know,
would be at Union Station and see a bunch of
folks and they you know, spoke different languages and would
be able to support them kind of here and there.
But it really showed how um. I think it really

(19:12):
proved the work that the futual Aid Network had been
holding and that you know, if we tried to take
a step back, things things fall um and really showed
how much we need others to step in because the
work that we've been holding has is has been you know,

(19:35):
wearing us down and hiding the situation a little bit
right that people don't people, you know, when we're able
to really show up and and provide the folks that
are arriving with the support that they need. What it
means is that the government isn't paying attention because it's

(19:57):
it's not their problem. In that moment um, it means
that DC residents don't have to walk by asylum seekers
when they're trying to get to the metro after work.
It means that, um, you know, the people are cared
for and and that's great, and it's work that we're

(20:19):
proud of it. It's work that we're doing well. Um,
But it's also work that we need support doing, um
because it's it's a lot and the numbers have increased,
you know, and and we want to be able to
provide welcome. We want to be able to give the

(20:43):
folks what they need. But as long as we're sort
of living in this world where bus tickets are massively
expensive and food is expensive and you know, we gotta
we gotta help clothes people and and help people meet
their needs, then then we have to have support. And

(21:04):
that's just that's just the reality. Yeah, That's one of
the things that is really frustrating about this too, is
it's like it's not like the resources that you just
don't exist, Like it's not it's not even like the
state hasn't like attempted to put resources out, but it
just got fed into this NGO complex people who are
just doing nothing. And I don't know, like the the

(21:25):
the way you get to see sort of both arms
of what the state does, or it's like, okay, on
the one hand, you have the part of the state
that's just hitting people with clubs, that's just doing this stuff,
and you get the sort of political army of the
state who just like again, are just literally shuffling people's
lives around as as you know, as political theater, and
the political theory doesn't matter because these people's lives don't

(21:46):
matter to the state or to anyone who has even
a tiny bit of power unless you know they're it's
visible enough that people are like the people have to
see it, and that people, you know, get annoyed because oh, hey,
look at this thing happening. That's like interfering with my
life now, and you know, and then it's like, oh, hey,
they're supposed to be part of the state that like
tastes care of people just isn't and that's just incredibly frustrating.

(22:09):
I don't know, it's I think of a few things.
So when we first started seeing buses coming to d
c Um, you know that people are dropped off in
front of Union Station and at the time, there was

(22:30):
an encampment of an housed people um that you know,
had their tents and stuff in front of Union Station.
And so folks would get off the bus and say,
you know what are the tents? Like who are these
people living in tents? And so be like, welcome, welcome
to the nation's capital of this place that you just
came to seek opportunity, to seek safety. And you're immediately

(22:52):
showing getting showed in in the most you know, visible
terms possible of a way that the state is failing
its own people because people in d C don't have
housing um, and housing here is immensely expensive. And then um,

(23:13):
I say in the early days because uh in I
think it was in May uh that encampment was cleared
um and so those people lost their homes um. And
now it continues to be a struggle that you know,

(23:34):
if we are unable to provide housing for the people
that get off the bus, they are going into the
DC shelter system that is already overrun because there is
a housing crisis and DC and aluming eviction crisis, and
even for the folks that are arriving here, on the buses.

(23:57):
If they don't have support, they're they're thrust into this
situation in which the state is preventing them from working.
They don't have a way to work legally for at
least a few months, um, presumably until you know, they

(24:19):
can apply for a work permit, presumably after they file
for asylum. But these are folks that don't have a
way to work legally, that are have that have zero
support from the state. So how like, tell me how
somebody is supposed to live in the United States, feed themselves,

(24:44):
feed them their feed their families, um, have a roof
over their head, survive, have a cell phone for your
surveillance app have the means to travel an hour, you know,
once every few weeks to check in with ICE. If

(25:09):
they're legally prevented from working. It's just it's a total
abandonment of people who need and wholeheartedly deserve support. Yeah,
and I think like it's it's honestly, like honestly think

(25:30):
it's it's worse than abandoned, right Like if they just like,
if these people were allowed to come into the US
and the state did literally nothing at all, it would
be better in the situation that exists now, Like it's
not even just that they're being abandoned, is that they're
actively being prevented from like doing the things they need
to live. And it's I don't know, I think this
is something you see on a sort of broader level, right,
whether there's a lot of I don't know, Back when

(25:51):
I was in sort of social theory land, there's a
lot of talk about like necropolitics and the state letting
people die, and it's like, well, yeah, but like they're
also actively helping to kill them too, like that that's
like it's not just that the state abandoned people. It's
that the state abandoned people and then it it takes
the resources and prevents anyone else from using them, and
then you know, and when it when it does sort
of yeah, I mean going back to sort of this

(26:11):
NHO that's not doing anything, it's like, yeah, when it
when it does sort of send these resources out, it's
sending them into these like into its own sort of
Paris state complex with the sort of geo sector that's
just not doing anything, And it's just I don't know,
like it's it's this bind, right, because it's like, yeah,
like on the one hand, like communities have to be

(26:32):
able to support each other, but it's like we don't
have the resources for it, and that has to come
from somewhere, right, Yeah, it's impossible, and it's it's heartbreaking
to see when DC is barely doing anything for the
people that have been living here for generations, and then

(26:55):
when we have new folks arrive, they're thrust into this
impossible situation and no one's really willing to engage with
that problem. Um, and there are resources, it's just a
matter of whether you want to use them for these purposes.

(27:19):
And this is a problem that we're seeing intimately here
in d C, but it's a problem that's existing everywhere
around the country. And DC is supposed to be a
sanctuary city, Like this isn't This isn't d C with
a mayor that's, you know, politically aligned with Governor Abbott.
This isn't a d C with a mayor who is

(27:43):
attempting to be vehemently anti immigrant. It's a mayor who
is claiming to represent a sanctuary city, a city that
is supposed to welcome immigrants, and yet m saying welcome

(28:06):
doesn't actually mean welcome. Yeah, I remember, like I'm in Chicago,
and you know Chicago's also sanctuary city and I I
you know, we had to physically stop deportation flights with
our bodies. Like what the this like haunting memory always
remembers like the first big like anti ice like anti
quids in cages protests that we had one of the
groups that showed up to this thing like what it's

(28:28):
called Heartland Alliance and then you know they describe itself
as like this human rights, an anti poverty organization and
they were literally running five child attention centers in Chicago
and it was like, I don't know, the doesn't mean
that that was like this the sort of like the
it's it's it's the rubber hitting the road of saying
you're a sanctuary city and what does it look like.

(28:50):
It's like, well, it means that your microjestice organizations like
run child prisons for immigrants. It's a refusal to engage
with reality a little bit. And you know the NGO
SAMO that is receiving female funding to presumably abandoned people.
Union Station is also you know, if things go their way,

(29:14):
trying to open up a facility and DC too, you know,
detain an accompanied children and that's welcome to things. Racity,
it's probably worth meshtioning. It's like, you know, Spain another

(29:38):
country that has just like people getting like people. So
Spain like has a part of North Africa they control,
and you know they're like people like people get shot
at the border by soldiers trying to like trying to
climb fences getting in, and you know, it's it's it's
this fun thing where we're seeing like, I mean, this
is this what's been happening for the last I mean

(30:00):
really like forever, like least five hundred years has been this.
But this the sort of this, this incredible racist border
system is not just an American thing. It's in Europe,
it's in it's been exported like into Mexico itself. It's
been I don't know, it's it's it's it's it's it's
a politics that's just sort of everywhere and like frontexs

(30:20):
and THEU does this stuff like it's it's all just
I don't know, it's borders are racist and they kill
people and they kill people and it feels I don't
actually think we have to go to it's it's I
think it's helpful to make those analogies of how this

(30:41):
is replicated across the world. But I also think that
you know, just a few weeks ago, there were over
fifty uh migrants that were found dead in the backup
attractor trailer in San Antonio, including you know, young indigenous folks.

(31:07):
And we know that there have been thousands of thousands
of Haitians removed under Title forty two um and Haitians
that are drowning in the water trying to find a
way to come to the United States to seek safety.

(31:28):
People are literally dying trying to get here. And what
the folks that are coming to d C in a
way are the lucky ones because they're from countries like Venezuela.
They're from countries like Cuba where U. S Foreign policy

(31:52):
finds it beneficial to allow them to enter. Two publicly say,
you know, these are the quote unquote right asylum seekers
and they're able to be paroled into the country and
still have to deal with all of this crap that

(32:14):
they're dealing with. But there's countless other black, brown, indigenous
folks that are arriving at the border and literally risking
their lives and many losing their lives trying to get
here because of these like racialized border systems that we

(32:37):
have and that we're exporting all throughout the America's like
go south to Mexico to Tapatula and you basically have
an open air prison of black asylum seekers. Yeah, I
mean this is something that like like my my the
reason my family's here is because we were able to
like my grandpa got drafted into the Taiwanese army and

(32:58):
he was like no, and because we were Taiwanese, we
were able to get to the US. But it's like,
you know, lots and lots of people like you know,
if you if you were from South Vietnam, sometime to
let you and if they if you were from Taiwan,
they will let you in. But like God help you
if you're from like Indonesia or just like from I mean,
so sometimes you get people from China. But it's like, yeah,
the I don't know the way that just all of

(33:22):
these people's lives are being used at geopolitical tools. They're
being used and then you know, once they get here,
they're being used as just sort of internal American political tools.
And yeah, it's just as a lot of people getting
killed with the borders and until we fucking make borders
go away. Like the stuff is just going to keep happening,
and people are getting boarded onto buses and sent to
d C because Governor Abbott thinks this is the way

(33:44):
that he can run for president by being the most racist,
xenophobic guy in town. Maybe maybe, and and these folks
are just political tools, and um, it's it's devastating, um,
and it's it's really also kind of amazing to be

(34:12):
able to then also just like hang out with them
and break bread with them and and realize that we're
all sort of fighting this this mess together. Yeah, And
I think I don't know, like we we do. We
do a lot of episodes here that are incredibly depressing,

(34:34):
But yeah, like I guess, yeah, it isn't I guess
important as a as a thing to sort of end on,
is it? Like yeah, I know, like we like we
can take care of these people, like we can if
we actually fight this together, we can beat these guys,
like we I don't know, like it is actually possible,

(34:54):
like these these all of the things that we're talking about,
Like the stuff didn't used to exist. It's not it's
not something that inherently has to exist. And we can
make it not exist again. I think the the response
that we've had in DC has been are really like,
I can't say it enough how beautiful it is that

(35:16):
we have a group of like over two volunteers that
have stepped up, UM and we've been able to raise
a remarkable amount of money. And we've had like, you know,
little kids sell cookies to support our efforts and UM,

(35:37):
it's it's really heartwarming, UM and people using their neighborhood
listeners to you know, get donations of car seats to
be able to you know, make sure that when we're
you know, helping families, we can make sure that like
the little kiddos are able to travel in car seats
safely and all of that. And we've been able to

(36:00):
and we're doing more of this of like building relationships
with folks around the country that are doing similar work.
Or you know, if someone is taking a bus to
New York and it you know breaks down in Philly,
we're able to mobilize other volunteers and Philly to just
like make sure that folks are like fine and okay
and like get on their next bus. And that is

(36:21):
amazing and beautiful and to me, I think the thing
that makes me optimistic and like mad at the same
time is that there are both at the federal level
and local levels, just billions and billions and billions of
dollars that are being invested into into solutions that are

(36:46):
based on like detention, surveillance, border militarization. When God like,
if instead we just devoted those billions, billions and billions
of dollars into making sure that like when folks arrive
here they can have like a comfy bed to to

(37:08):
to like lay in at night and have food and
be able to like support their families. I mean, it
kind of sounds revolutionary, but but it's just like it's
so simple, um, and there is such a concerted effort
to do the opposite of the most basic Hey, welcome

(37:31):
to my town. How can I welcome you? There was
if I remembering my like immigration history right there, they
used they had this program in the UK where for
a while where they would bring, okay you, you'd have
a family they're coming to the US and they get
paired with their British family, and the British family would
like show them the ropes and it worked really well.

(37:51):
Everyone loved it and they stopped doing it because they
once they brought people in like that, they couldn't deport
them because the entire community would show up and just
be like no, And so they up doing it. And
it's like that's a problem, Like that's the problem that
like people are then welcomed and loved by their communities,
Like that shouldn't be a problem that we have to solve.
That should be like, oh, this is a resounding success. Yeah,

(38:13):
And instead it's like it's like actually living in a
better world, actually having a community where people care for
each other and where people take care of each other
and where people love each other or people will fight
for each other, like that is something that the state
sees as a threat. And I don't know, I guess
it's it's it's it's this, it's this weird thing where
it's like, you know, we like the better world we

(38:36):
could be living in, like is is literally being built
right Like you know, you can, you can you can
walk down the street and you can see people taking
care of each other. And then it's like here is
the state, who's the only thing that they want to
do is just make everyone's lives increasingly miserable. It's yeah,
like is it? Is it? That's hard to just say. Hey, Like,

(39:01):
folks want to be able to just like live. That's it.
That's all they want to be able to do is
just like live. They want to be able to work,
they want to be able to support their family, they
want to be able to be safe, they want to
be able to like eat good food and have fun.

(39:21):
And the state is doing everything but allowing that to
be and are like mutual aid work is helping folks
navigate and do as much of that as possible. Yeah,
I think I think that's a good note to end on,
unless you have anything else, I don't think so cool.

(39:44):
Um okay, so where where can people go to find
and support this work? And where can they go to
like give money if they want to or actually help
volunteer too if you're in the area. Yeah, so, um,
we have a link tree that has all of the
links to support us in all the ways. So if
you're here in d C and you want to be

(40:07):
able to support or if you want to donate, Um,
we have really cool t shirts that we sell that
say melt Ice that are designed by one of our volunteers. Um.
And so it's the link tree is uh like the
link tree h slash d C t X Solidarity twenty

(40:30):
two and if you follow that link, you will be
able to um see all about our work. Um, you know,
get the demands that we have for Mayor Bowser, support
us in person, financially, whatever it is. All of that
lives there. And yeah, we will. We will put the
link in the description. So cool, that'd be great. I'll

(40:51):
make sure you have it. Yeah, thank you, um and yeah,
thank you, thank you so much for joining us, thank
you for having me. Yeah, and this is be nicked
app here. Go help your neighbors and go make the
state not be able to prevent you from doing that.
It could happen here as a production of cool Zone Media.

(41:12):
For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website
cool zone media dot com, or check us out on
the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It could
Happen here, updated monthly at cool zone Media dot com
slash sources. Thanks for listening.