Content warning: shootings and police violence
We at MG have been processing the past week of violence in the United States (January 2023). On top of the continued assault against Black communities, people have been lost to gun violence in Monterey Park, CA, Half Moon Bay, CA, Des Moines, IA, Yakima, WA, and more in a matter of days. Many were Asian folks, some were Indigenous farmworkers, some were children, and all were beloved relatives to people. We feel deep love for them and for their families and communities.
Last week, Georgia police shot and killed an Indigenous Venezuelan activist named Tortuguita Terán. Tortuguita was defending Weelaunee forest outside Atlanta against the development of Cop City, a planned urban warfare police training facility being built on land that was stolen from Mvskoke people in the 1800s and later used as a plantation and a prison farm. Tortuguita’s death has been on our minds, and their family and comrades in our hearts.
In the wake of Keenan Anderson’s murder at the hands of LAPD this month, we can draw connections between the losses of Black and brown lives. We know that all of this violence is connected by a common thread of colonialism. We are still learning about what happened in the recent shootings in California, but one thing is clear: The rise in mass shootings in this country is a tragic consequence of an extractive system that breeds xenophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and racism. The colonial violence represented by Cop City and the land’s history, as well the extractive economy that militarized police are designed to protect, illustrates a system that centers the protection of capital and privilege over the well being of people and the planet.
What becomes possible when we shift our economy towards sacredness and caring? While we can never bring back the precious lives lost, we work to transform our communities from the inside out to be connected, safe, and loving. It is a long road full of grief. The healers among us help us to hold the grief, move through it, and transform ourselves and the world around us.
We are here to hold space, especially for our Asian communities in this moment. We are here to vision and work for a better future. In the meantime, we offer some resources for grief and healing for all, and some actions that can be taken.
Practices for Moving Through Grief: https://justhealing.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/practices-for-moving-through-grief-blm.pdf
Grief Is a Messenger: https://grieftheory.tumblr.com/
Grief Belongs in Social Movements. Can We Embrace It?: https://inthesetimes.com/article/freedom-grief-healing-death-liberation-movements
Asian Mental Health Project: https://asianmentalhealthproject.com/
Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/monterey-park-lunar-new-year-victims-fund
Resources for Monterey Park Victims and Families: https://aapiequityalliance.org/support-for-monterey-park/
Half Moon Bay Strong Fund via Ayudando Latinos a Soñar: https://www.alasdreams.com/
Coastside Hope’s Farmworker Fund: https://coastsidehope.org/
GoFundMe for Family of Tortuguita Terán: https://www.gofundme.com/f/for-family-of-manuel-tortuguita-paez-teran
Stop Cop City: https://stopcop.city/
Defend the Atlanta Forest: https://defendtheatlantaforest.org/
Take Action Against the Atlanta Police Foundation: https://twitter.com/resist_abolish/status/1617530336866631683