Our Rights.
from a pizza place in Johnson, Arkansas that's had enough.
Last night I slipped into an AIRE Ally Meeting hosted by Pizzeria Ruby. A safe space where the community could gather to learn more about what it meant to support those who are on the pointy end of advocating for human rights.
The packed house was a reminder that it doesn’t take much to make a big difference right here, right now.
It could be easy to think the people being ripped out of their homes, cars, jobs, and families is happening somewhere else and there’s nothing I can do about it.
But it’s happening right here in NW Arkansas. It’s happening all around us and it doesn’t care if you’re a mother, a child, here legally, or even a citizen.
It knows your rights but is counting that you do not. It sees the color of skin, hears the language spoken, and makes its decision.
During the training to explain those rights, it was a constant reminder of my social position & privilege I hold…
“While you are not likely to be targeted by ICE…”
“You have greater freedom to ask questions because you don’t have the barrier of the way you look…”
“You can mostly easily ask this question…”
“Your social position gives you…”
“The person with most authority at a work place needs to be informed…”
“Label the non-public spaces at your work place…”
And then it shifted from the personal to something bigger…
“It’s your responsibility to know your rights or they can be taken away…”
“One by one, the collective understanding of our rights will grow and we will be able to better protect our communities…”
“In this work, at some point you will have to ask yourself how far you are willing to go and what you are willing to risk for others…”
Because that’s really what this is all about.
We have a choice to make. We have to decide just how far we are willing to go to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly.
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Just a friendly fyi, it’s Johnson not Johnston.