ActivismPolitics

Creative Minds Unite to Reunite Families

On Saturday, despite literally-oppressive heat across the country, hundreds of thousands of Americans came together to protest the separation of families at our borders, advocate for the families that have already been separated, and clamor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to be abolished.

And if this administration was looking for a sign regarding public opinion on its policies, we’ve got ’em in spades.

Washington DC

Where this whole mess began, and where we’re hoping it’ll end. Our own Celia made the trek down to the center of the action when she and her husband decided they “needed to go yell at the White House instead of just the local protest.”

#familiesbelongtogether
Marching up on Washington DC. [Photo: Celia]
Headed toward the White House. We’ve got some words for you. [Photo: Celia]
WE’RE HERE FOR YOU. [Photo: Celia]

New York City

A crowd of about 10,000 gathered in New York’s Foley Square to march in protest of the separation of families. Kicked off by an all-woman drum band, the crowd marched across the Brooklyn Bridge, past tourists and a lone Trump supporter who was drowned out by chants of “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here.”

SAY WHAT?! [Photo: Sean Cusack]
How many times do we have to say it? [Photo: Sean Cusack]
[Photo: Sean Cusack]
We will stop calling you a nazi when you stop [unreadable] like one. [Photo: Sean Cusack]
Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. [Photo: Sean Cusack]
VETO THE CHEETO! [Photo: Sean Cusack]
SEPARATE EL PENDEJO FROM POWER. [Photo: Sean Cusack]
¡No Más Muertes en la Frontera!
¡No Más Muertes en la Frontera! [Photo: Sean Cusack]
BAG ICE
Bring the broken hearts back together. [Photo: Sean Cusack]
[Photo: Sean Cusack]

Atlanta

Over 4,300 people committed to attending the Atlanta march, a peaceful, half-mile procession from the Atlanta Detention Center to the Richard Russell Federal Building. (Prisoners waved.) The venerable civil rights icon John Lewis, who was also the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, spoke before the gathered crowd and exhorted them to remain passionate, but “never, ever, ever hate.”

“We are one people … one family, we all live in the same house… There is no such thing as an illegal human being. We are all humans.”

-Georgia Congressman John Lewis

When you’ve got this many people willingly crowding onto MARTA on a Saturday, you know it means something. [Photo: Adam Levenstein]
“Harming children as a means to affect parents’ choices is inhumane.” [Photo: Adam Levenstein]

Chicago

My kind of town. This is my home. And my adopted city done me proud with what appears to have been the biggest turnout for any of the marches! Despite temperatures approaching 100ºF with a heat index hovering around 106ºF, an estimated 60,000 people showed up in Daley Plaza at 11am for a rally and subsequent march on a route that was unpublished for safety concerns. The route was so full that the head of the march got back to Daley Plaza just as the last marchers were stepping out.

Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
The Chicago march fills the street. [Photo: Adam Arcus]
Even in transit, we have a sign or two for you. [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
Never doubt our patriotism. #EndFamilyDetention. [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
Is he protecting you?
DO ALL LIVES STILL MATTER? [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
#FamiliasUnidasNoDivididas
#FamiliasUnidasNoDivididas [Photo: Adam Arcus]
INDIVISIBLE CHICAGO! [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
[Photo: Michi Trota]
ZERO TOLERANCE FOR HATE, BIGOTRY AND INHUMANITY
It’s a full house at Daley Plaza. [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
IT'S CALLED KIDNAPPING
What if they were your kids? Are we sending the right families to court? Snowflakes care about the children![Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
Kids need pediatricians, not prison!
Pediatricians have an even greater interest than most in the health and well-being of children – this fine group marches together against separation. [Photo: Jeff Wagg]
So. Many. Signs. [Photo: Jeff Wagg]
The crowd at Daley Plaza in Chicago. [Photo: Jeff Wagg]

And a little child shall lead them

FREE THOSE KIDS. [Photo: Jeff Wagg]
Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
Play dates, not court dates! [Photo: Adam Arcus]
Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
We love this family. [Photo: Adam Arcus]
HOLDING KIDS HOSTAGE IS AN ACT OF TERRORISM [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]

These signs can block up the scenery any damn day.

Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land… [Photo: Adam Arcus]
Familias unidas, NO dividas. [Photo: G. Aviles]
Inhumane. Corrupt. Evil. Abolish ICE!
[Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
Hi Ivan!
…we DO still have multiple branches of government, don’t we? [Photo: Adam Arcus]
History won’t forget and neither will thise kids. (and kids grow up.) [Photo: Karlyn Meyer, Indivisible Lakeview/Lincoln Park]
Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
No, seriously, how did this happen so we can undo it? [Photo: Adam Arcus]
we are here because you are there. And you, and you, and you… [Photo: G. Aviles]
Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
Migration IS beautiful. [Photo: Adam Arcus]
STOP THE TURD REICH! [Photo: G. Aviles]
Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS THAT GOOD MEN (and women) DO NOTHING. (mostly.) EDMUND BURKE [Photo: Adam Arcus]
“El Cucuy” is equivalent to “the boogeyman.” [Photo: G. Aviles]

So What’s Next?

Did you miss your local march? Were you there, but want to do more? Well, whether we want to say “luckily” or not, there’s still a ton to be done. Children are still separated from their parents with no government plan in place for families’ reunification. Parents are being detained and misled that surrendering their asylum claims will return their children. And the children have been shipped all over the country with less tracking than your most recent Amazon package and less connection to their parents than is standard procedure at a Chuck E. Cheese. Basically, all sorts of terrible shit is still going on… our single voices may be small but together they are mighty.

So yes, you can start small. Look up your local Indivisible chapter or Solidarity Sundays group and see what actions you might be interested in participating in. Contact your representatives – you can use one of the many, many automated tools and apps out there (like Resistbot) to help you with topics, phrasing, and how to address them. It takes just a little bit of time, even a lunch break is enough! If you can run errands in that time, you can donate, sign petitions, look up local actions, or even just research laws relevant to your state (especially if you’re in the border zone) so you’re prepared to support your community.

We may feel little, and broken… but we’re still good.

Families Belong Together march, Chicago, June 30, 2018
It’s true. [Photo: Adam Arcus]
Yeah, still good.

 

Beth Voigt

Beth is a graphic designer in Chicago, a superhero in her own mind, and absolutely nothing on TV. She wrangles fonts professionally, pummels code amateurishly, and has been known to shove fire in her face for fun. Fond of volunteering, late-night bursts of productivity, and making snacks, she dislikes grocery shopping and sticky public transit and is only on her second smartphone. Her opinion is that you should try everything twice; if you don't like it, you were probably doing it wrong the first time around. If external links are your thing, here are links to Twitter and Instagram, and you can support her ongoing weirdness by buying her a coffee or six.

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