Peace, Love, and Hard Truths

The day after the election, I sought solace and community by attending the Climb Big meet-up. Climb Big is a community for fat climbers. Since we’re in Chicago, it’s mostly indoor climbing. All bodies are welcomed - fat, thin, whatever. A lot of our members are queer. Most are younger than me, pretty sure they all are. Our super couple, J & B, brought their big fluffy dog. Winnie was a rock star. Calm as everyone who passed her stopped for an emotional supportive snuggle. At one point, I was sitting on the ground next to J and we leaned into each other. I put my head on their shoulder. She asked me, “We’re gonna be ok, right?”

“I dunno. But I do know we’re gonna help each other get through this.”

I wanted so bad to tell J that we’re gonna be ok. I REALLY want to tell my daughter this. But I can’t.

The week of January 9th 2021 saw 25,974 deaths due to COVID-19 - the peek of our national death toll. That 2020 Christmas my pod stayed home. We skipped family gatherings, with broken hearts, but had a great little Christmas. It was also the last one before my daughter would go off to college. We got a real tree and went all out on decorations. We were ok. But almost 26,000 people, 26,000 families were not as fortunate. They were not ok.

In two months we are going to be back under the um, leadership, of a man who told a nation to inject bleach and take horse de-worming medicine to combat a pandemic. A man who laughed off basic mitigation protocols like masking because they signaled weakness. To him, taking care of each other is a sign of weakness. When taking care of each other is a sign of strength.

When the abortion bans started to pop up in this country, I wrote a beginners guide to working against the bans and for reproductive justice. A fellow Chicagoan, Shannon Downey, just published a handbook, Let's Move the Needle: An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers; Build Community and Make Change!, for those who might be new or are rusty to community organizing. Shannon also has a great Patreon and the latest offers a lot of tips on getting started.

I won’t spoil the book, but the first step is always to look for what is already built. Also, as Mr. Rogers said, look for the helpers. Ask them how to get involved. Ask them how to help.

And helping can look like a lot of different things. One friend volunteers every Saturday sorting clothes at a free store. One is a longtime health clinic escort. Another raises money to purchase vests so people seeking healthcare know who the helpers are. Others do pro bono work in law and/or notary services. One friend coordinates our local mutual aid network. Actually, I know a few folks who are deep in that work. We need help on the frontlines, in the back room, and with spreadsheets. We need callers, door knockers, TikTokers, and fundraisers. The idea of helping can feel enormous, but there are an enormous number of ways to help. You might need time to find your spot, but you’ll find it.

These are hard days. We will be under attack on multiple fronts. The incoming administration will pit communities against each other. But we must remember that an attack on one community is an attack on all of us. .This includes pushing back on pundits who want to sell us the idea that Harris lost because we focused too much on “identity politics.” Our ability to control our bodies - whether it is to obtain an abortion, not die from miscarriages, or affirm our gender - is not something up for debate. They are not identity politics, they are freedoms. We can get through this together. We must stand our ground together. We must take care of each other.

And maybe that’s your role in this. Taking care of the community. Radical hospitality is a real thing. And we are going to need a lot of hugs. Sorry, New Zealand, but these are gonna be long ass hugs.

Peace.

Peace, Love, and …. is an occasional newsletter from Veronica Arreola. She is a professional feminist, serial academic entrepreneur, and women’s sports evangelist. You can support her public scholarship by throwing coffee money in her tip jar, buying notebooks, purchasing books or creating a book registry.

It will take place on Wednesday, December 11 at Secret World Books, an awesome indie book store at 1774 2nd Street in downtown Highland Park. The show will start at 7. The evening will end around 9. Tickets are available at Eventbrite.