Conversation

“We are with you.”

In moments of disaster—or rather, moments when the everyday disasters of this barbarous social order become heightened into, say, blatant and accelerated genocide in Palestine or state repression of anarchism in Atlanta—solidarity blossoms. The kind of solidarity that at least for a time, “out-organizes” charity and its top-down, liberal do-gooder, nonprofit-ally complex or even Marxist-Leninist-Maoist vultures.

It’s a solidarity in which social relations matter—reciprocal, genuine, empathetic, communally caring. It’s a solidarity that moves side by side—with those who have taken the side of life and liberation, dignity and freedom. It’s a solidarity that holds solid, whether we’re friends or not, against the powers that be, the powers that oppress and occupy, imprison and kill. It’s a solidarity that already practices the worlds we want and deserve—even when pulling the wounded and dead from the rubble.

It is a labor of love.

I’ve seen solidarity through the lens of Palestinians in Gaza with “press” across their chests, documenting not just the carnage but also the ways people cooperate to rescue each other or craft DIY “ambulances” or share what little bread they have.

I’ve seen solidarity this past week in the tireless, round-the-clock court, jail, and bail support for 61 codefendants being arraigned on absurd RICO charges meant to stop @stopcopcity, and the before, during, and aftercare that’s offered simply because that’s what we should do for anyone facing the boot of state repression.

I’ve seen solidarity in the “smallest” of ways that feel big right now during in-person organizing because they hold us together emotionally and physically, build trust, and grow our resistance. Like at our 1,000-person-strong speak-out and march this past Saturday in Asheville, from snack and medical herbs wagons full of free goodies, to discreet community self-defense, to a public grief altar, to a banner that says “we are with you, free Palestine” in Arabic, as a gesture beyond borders created by nations-states that instead extends a hand of self-determined neighborliness and shared struggle, shared fate, shared future.

#WeAreAllWeNeed