PITTSBURGH, PA - Greetings from the Burgh, where I just got back into town late last night after traveling more than 24 hours back from Brasil. I am gonna take the weekend off to catch up on some household stuff and get right back into the swing of things on Monday.
I still have five stories left to wright from Brasil and will be releasing these stories over the next few weeks as well as getting back to covering happenings in the United States.
Over the coming weeks and months. I will be sharing insights that I think are valuable for our current fight against fascism. I will also be covering Trump’s attempts to interfere in the Brazilian presidential election this year.
One of the biggest things I realized after six weeks in Brasil was how exhausting it is to fight Trump. Nearly every day, I waz receiving notices and alerts about ICE kidnappings here in Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
One night I was at a small house party in Brasil and I received notifications about a large ICE raid in Pittsburgh. I started sending messages to friends back home in Pittsburgh about what was going on. My Brazilian friends at the party were concerned by the look on my face and asked me what was wrong.
At that moment, I knew how tired I was as people at the party stared at the look of panic on my face. For the past year, all I have been thinking about is ICE raids. Even when I was in Brasil, I was thinking about ICE raids.
I started telling them about how people in the rapid response networks were involved in defending against raids. I told them about the terror and vigilance that many feel when they hear about these ICE raids. I told them about the volunteer systems that went into place to warn others of raids, get people legal aid, and make sure that the families of those affected by the raids are financially supported.
My Brazilian friends told me that while they had often seen news reports on Brazilian TV of Americans fighting back against Trump, that they hadn’t realized how sophisticated the rapid response and support networks to battle ICE were. They all told me how much they admired the work that so many Americans were doing.
In these six weeks, I realized how intense our battle was against fascism as I explained to Brazilian friends over and over what many of my friends were doing to defend immigrants. So many Brazilians are admiring us, cheering us on, and hoping we win this fight.
(Be sure to read my story “Brazilians Watching News About ICE Closely & Cheering On Americans Fighting Back”)
So now, after a few weeks in Brasil, I feel a renewed purpose. I feel refreshed and ready to fight again. The whole world is watching us and cheering for us.
I will have a few more stories from Brasil and will mix in some Brazilian coverage with our regular labor news from the States. We got a lot of fighting fascism to do ahead of us and we plan to help folks continue to realize how they can win these heroic fights.
If you can spare a few bucks to help us pay our editors. Donations of any size are welcome.
Thanks again for all the support.
Love & Solidarity.
Melk
