Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info
I would like to thank everyone that showed up at the Reed City School Board meeting on Monday, November Seventh. This was the first time that the voices of support in the room outnumbered the voices of hatred and ignorance. The trans student who has been facing the majority of this backlash told me how much it meant to her and other LGBTQI+ kids at Reed City. Although I tend to have little faith in bureaucracy, the fact that the School Board is adamant in defending these students rights and has not backtracked yet is promising, as is the fact that many of those that typically speak out against the trans students yielded their time due to the sheer amount of people there to support these kids. The bigot running for school board did not win, much to the relief of many of us. I cannot properly express how grateful I am not just to the students of Reed City who are brave enough to face this, but to all who made sure these kids know they are not alone. Reminders of what solidarity means, what it looks like, is what motivates me, and many others, to continue forward with hope.
Secondly, I would like to reiterate a point that I had made in my speech on Monday. I know here in the Midwest it is a popular saying to “Bloom where you are planted”, but nobody owes hostile soil their flowers. It is understandable, and justified, that many of us decide to leave, to dig up our roots and move to more hospitable grounds. However, what the LGBTQI+ children at Reed City, what leftists in Right Wing dominated areas starting Mutual Aid Groups and organizing Direct Actions, are doing has immense importance. It is far from easy to stay and toil, to break down environments and cut off cycles of fear, hatred, and greed. This work though is what ensures that when others arrive, when they are planted, they will find a kinder place to grow.
I know for those of us paying attention that looking at our broken system, our broken world, and knowing that every horrible thing, every injustice, is related feels overwhelming. It is easy to look at the totality of oppression and become despondent. Learning Right Wing candidates won School Board Seats en masse – for example, all four of 1776 Project PAC candidates in Bradywine, MI won their elections and are bent on “turning schools conservative” – can be enough to lessen celebrations of wins like what has happened in Reed City. It is nothing short of exhausting, knowing that part of bringing down the patriarchy is fighting fascists showing up at School Board meetings; knowing that true environmentalism means abolition of police and military; knowing the fight against imperialism is the same as the fight for workers rights. It is easy to fall into apathy, knowing that the work is so far from being over, that more graves will be filled and more blood will be shed. However, the hope that comes from all oppression being woven together is that pulling a single thread helps unravel the entire tapestry.
Change does not come from being educated on every terrible thing happening in the world, every injustice enacted by corrupt and broken systems. It does not come from burning ourselves out trying to be involved in every call to action, or drowning ourselves in essays, news stories, and knowing all the right vocabulary. Change starts when all of us begin pulling threads within our reach. When we look after and build up our local communities. When we take care of our neighbors and our loved ones. When we show up when a child asks for support, or are carrying the weight of progress by themselves. When we can pay attention to who is running for small local elections, and show up to School Board meetings. When we fight back against the military taking and abusing land in our own state, in our own backyard.
We cannot continue to pass burdens on to our children and future generations, to allow them to fight alone. We cannot allow hatred to be the loudest voice in the room. We can not give in to hopelessness and apathy. The garden begins with us.
