Editors Note:
Last week we shared our thoughts on the shooting and killing of Lorenzo Salgado Aruajo, a Mexican father, husband and community member that was stopped by ICE on his way to work and was killed. On Monday morning, just a few days after Lorenzo was murdered, ICE agents shot and killed a Colombian father, husband and community member, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero. ICE agents rammed into Johan’s vehicle and then approached him with their guns drawn. They then shot him alleging that the ICE agent felt he was in danger. There are videos circulating online of the agents pulling Johan’s limp body out of his vehicle and shackling him. Last week, I made a point to speak about Lorenzo’s death as I experienced it as an immigrant in this country. There are plenty of news outlets that are reporting on the deaths of our community members. We do not need to continue to read about their gruesome deaths to understand what is happening. There are videos we bear witness to as well. Something that has been especially difficult for me to read are the constant mentions of the “legal status” of the men killed in the name of the state.
I’ve read comments and mentions of their being in the country “legally” in TikTok videos and news articles alike in some twisted effort to humanize them to the public, and maybe their intentions are good. Maybe they want to remind people that as long as you are black or brown, your “legal status” is not a guarantee of safety. Citizenship has always only meant white men and the white people that serve them. Not us. But this language during a time of deep hatred for the undocumented and immigrant communities is harmful.
“He was here legally.”
“He did it the right way.”
I want to remind our community of undocumented immigrants that you deserve to live. You deserve to drive to work, to drop your kids off at school, to go to the grocery store—without fear of being murdered on the street. Your worth is not based on whether you are here legally or not, on whether you have the paperwork to prove that you are a citizen of the United States or not. “The right way” is quite the paradox for a country built on stolen land, on the backs of the forced and cheap labor of black and brown bodies.
He was here legally.
You are a human being.
And like Ana writes in this week’s poem, surviving, resisting and assisting one another in times of hate is an art form. If you are able to take to the streets and protest the deaths of our neighbors please do so. Let’s get active.
In my city, community is out in the streets in 110+ degrees!
This week we share this poem by Ana, an asylum seeker who left her country in search of a better life. You can read the first poem she shared with us and learn more about her below:
Ser Extranjero en Tiempos de Odio
Ana
No sé es extraño cuando amas la vida igual que los demás en el mundo, No se es ajeno cuando te comprometes a ser parte de una comunidad No se es forastero cuando la mano amiga o tu mano sirven para construir Como el orden y la ligereza son equilibrio, ser extranjero en tiempos de odio es como ser: lluvia en tierra sedienta, aire que ventila el ambiente y renueva la faz de un nuevo moment de la historia... Resistir, asistir, y sobrevivir es un arte que no es de muchos, pero se vuelve imperante en los tiempos de odio... En tiempos de odio no basta la ternura o la mirada triste que suspira en el viento; hace falta el paso firme que se vuelve sustento. En tiempos de odio es mirar al que está asediado y cargar con su herida, sin robarle su fuerza ni anularle la vida, más bien ser parte de la denuncia y la exigencia justa.
Propina
Muchas gracias a Ana por compartir sus poemas con nosotros. Es arte como el de Ana que mas se necesita en tiempos de odio.
If anyone would like to share their art with us we encourage you to reach out to us, we’d love to hear from you.
We’ll see you next week.