What are we being called to do in the current moment?

An Editorial from Interim Executive Director, Adria Husband

 Here in Illinois, on October 13th we observe Indigenous Peoples Day, which has been intentionally renamed from honoring the memory of Spanish colonizer Christopher Columbus, to the original natives of the unceded land that we all stand on today. The land we know today as Chicago, the traditional homeland of the Council of the Three Fires: The Odawa, Ojibwe and Potawatomi Nations, as well as other Tribes like the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox. The observation of this “holiday” feels deeply insufficient to acknowledge the deep trauma and pain of our Indigenous ancestors and their descendants in the 2nd largest Urban American Indian community in the nation, that we share this land with today. What does it look like to truly acknowledge the reverberations of effects from European colonization in the Americas that took so many Indigenous lives it cooled the earth’s temperature? This question feels appropriate and timely as we are faced with the current state of affairs in this country and in our beloved city. 

“What are we being called to do in the current moment?” 

This is a question that I have been sitting with since stepping into the Interim Executive Director role at Enrich Chicago in August. Enrich Chicago was founded in 2014 by a collection of predominantly BIPOC arts leaders with an unapologetic purpose of creating “An arts-led movement to undo racism.”

As I reflect on the values that drive our work at Enrich and the current moment we are living through, what becomes clear to me is the patterned behaviors of racist systems running the same playbooks to create fear, division, and panic. None of these things are new or original. What also becomes vividly apparent to me is how the arts play such a crucial role in powerfully amplifying activist voices calling for social change and justice, it serves as a refuge, a place to preserve and continue retelling our stories, and it connects us to what matters most in our lives. So, as we process what is happening in the streets we traverse each day, as well as witnessing the rapid expansion of threats from the federal level, wielding seemingly unchecked power, it begs us to go back and get (Sankofa) the wisdom and lessons left for us by our ancestors as a guide. 

FEAR

With federal ICE agents descending upon our city en masse, and the national guard troops entering the area and building bunkers to take up residence here, we have seen escalating violence under the guise of “deporting dangerous undocumented immigrants”. This heavy militaristic show of force is intended to cultivate fear. Fear is one of our oldest and strongest emotional responses, and our brains are hard wired to alert our threat detection system. 

In Chicago,the fear inducing tactics we have thus far witnessed include:


Witnessing federal employees’ brazen defiance of the law that everyone else in this country is expected to live by - is absolutely intended to induce fear. “What if I am next?” “What if they target my loved ones or my neighbors?” “Who can or will stop them from perpetuating this lawless violence upon all of us?”

DIVISION

Chicagoans know that there is something particularly special about this city. There is an energy, a vibe, and deep roots of activism, arts, organizing, innovation and leadership that is unlike any other place in the country, or the world. 


As amazing as our city is, Chicago also continues to be one of the most racially segregated cities in the country; which was planned, not accidental. This strategic separation is often leveraged by those in power to foster tension, conflict, and division among groups within our city, and that tactic is active in what we are witnessing today. 


As a sanctuary city, Chicago seeks to be the most welcoming city to immigrants in the country. This aspirational aim was deeply critiqued when a Texan Governor decided to bus tens of thousands of immigrants crossing the southern border to Chicago. By blasting harmful narratives about these immigrant populations (many of whom were fleeing conditions of imperialism in their home country), the intent was to stoke fear and condemnation of these populations by receiving communities. This massive influx of people also intended to create an urgency to place the needs of incoming Brown communities at the top of the priority list, which in turn felt like a smack in the face to Black communities who have long since been living in under-resourced and neglected communities; ultimately stoking division and resentment between Black and Brown people and communities across the city. 


This distracting tactic of division among communities of color prevents what the few who hold power are most fearful of - collectivism and unity. Since the founding of this country, the establishment of systems and structures designed to uphold the false supremacy of whiteness resulted in massive accumulation of wealth and power, largely by white men, predicated on maintaining division among the masses of poor white people and people of color in this country. This same tactic is alive and well today.


PANIC

As I have deepened my own awareness around the signs of a dysregulated nervous system, (persistent racing thoughts, anxiety, chronic fatigue, sleep troubles, difficulty concentrating, headaches, digestive issues, etc), and after mentally checking many of these boxes, I recognized a mix of feelings. On one hand, feelings of relief and affirmation, and on the other feelings of rage and sadness when I learned the impact of prolonged chronic stress. Weathering is a concept coined by Dr. Arline Geronimus which describes the prolonged effects of chronic stress caused by systemic racism in this country and how this shows up in BIPOC bodies. There is an entire scientific body of evidence derived from over 40 years of analysis and research; and yet this conversation is not being had as widely as it should be to name the many contributing systems that uphold these outcomes. Dr. Geronimus’ research highlights a stark reality of the impact of racism on Black and Brown bodies:


“No matter how they live and work, (and even if they are college-educated, professionally employed, and  have access to high-quality resources), members of marginalized groups suffer from accelerated aging,  early onset chronic disease, infectious and autoimmune disease, disability, and early death much more disproportionately than their  middle- and upper-class white counterparts.” 


I feel this in my body in real time every day. And right now, stress levels from worry, fear, and anxiety are heightened to such levels that the only thing our bodies can do to combat this physiological overwhelm is to force a manual shutdown - through illness, headaches, pain, exhaustion and fatigue, etc. It is incumbent upon all of us to keep this truth at the forefront of our minds as we interact with each other, and especially BIPOC people and communities each day. Despite the ways we may show up, “appearing to be fine”, BIPOC people have been subjected to chronic stress for centuries in this country. 


THE ANTIDOTE: ARTS & ACTIVATION

The antidotes to fear, division and paralysis ALL live within the arts and culture community. Art is where we reflect and connect to our humanity. We tell stories, we challenge beliefs, we create access points for deeper understanding, we articulate what words often cannot. Artistic expression is seen and felt on stages and screens written on pages, in the rhythm of sound, it is the movement of bodies, it is color and texture rearranged; but it is not limited to any confined space. It is in the style of the fashions we put on each day. It is our favorite playlist we listen to during our workouts, on a walk, or while cleaning or cooking. It is the DJ who saves our life every weekend as we get lost in the music and release our troubles. It is the centerpiece for outings with loved ones; attending a concert, a play, a dance performance, a film, a party, a symphony, a poetry reading, a paint and sip. Art is where we find refuge! It is our collective place of peace, joy, reflection, and activation! 

As we stand in this moment together, it feels important to remind myself of a few things, and I thought these reminders could be of use to our broader Enrich community as well. So here they are: 

Feel the fear, and do it anyway. 

Just because we may be able to name and identify bullying behavior, it does not mean we are automatically immune to being afraid. There is always a risk in challenging systems of power, especially violent power. However, the decision to not challenge systems that are unlawful, oppressive to BIPOC people, LGBTQIA+ communities, seniors, low income communities, unions, educational institutions, etc., I would argue is a much greater risk. I encourage all of us to reflect on these questions:

  • What can our historical cultural leaders teach us about how they navigated seemingly impossible environments and somehow felt the fear and continued anyway?

  • What can we learn from historical progressive and social movements and the role the arts played? 

  • How are you choosing to activate against the escalating violence and injustice we are witnessing?

“None of us are free until all of us are free” - Fannie Lou Hamer

When we become aware of the tactic of division as exactly that - a tactic to maintain power in the hands of a few - then we can make the conscious decision to counteract it. Messaging that upholds the status quo is insidious and pervasive. Before settling on an opinion or a belief about any person, community, organization, policy, incident, pause to ask yourself:

  • Who benefits from this action/policy/belief/narrative? Who is negatively impacted? 

  • How does this particular issue/policy/action/belief intersect with race? When you investigate the issue and disaggregate the data by race, what do you see and how does the narrative shift?

  • What is the root cause of the issue at hand? (What factors and conditions contributed to it? What decisions were made previously that lead up to the current status/condition?)

  • What do I need to learn?

Embrace all forms of Resistance

When it feels overwhelming, and like the power operating is too big, too well resourced, etc; this is when you lean into grounding and resistance! What do I mean by this? By grounding, I mean understanding   all of the ways that interconnected sociopolitical systems of oppression (racism, capitalism, sexism, ableism, heterosexism) disconnect us from our ancestral traditions and focus on ways of being that are rooted in connection to the earth/land, nature, and each other. 


In terms of resistance, this can come in many, many forms! Here are some ideas to get you started:

  • Rest as resistance 

  • Dance as resistance

  • Activism/disruption as resistance

  • Laughter as resistance

  • Singing as resistance

  • Joy as resistance

  • Retreating to nature as resistance

  • Distraction free space for deep connection as resistance

  • All forms of ART as resistance 

Resistance is experienced in small moments; where your pace becomes your practice, and in bigger moments when you speak your truth even when your voice shakes. In a recent article from Third Coast Review, they quoted the iconic activist and freedom fighter Angela Davis who recently spoke at the  Chicago Humanities Festival. She spoke to this moment beautifully by saying: 

“We must confront finite disappointment with infinite hope, and our courage must be collective.”

We need each other right now. We need to truly see, understand, and protect each other right now. And while we do, we can embody the most radical forms of resistance by embracing freedom in our greatest expression of humanity - through the arts! 

This is an invitation to join us, build with us, and imagine with us. As a collective we have all we need! In community is where our courage swells, our care is always centered, and our power becomes unstoppable! Stand with us and stay connected by signing up here  

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