Without love there is no Revolution

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Vigil for migrant justice. In solidarity with immigrants and refugees facing U.S. state violence. Thursday 9/23 2pm. Outside Carl B Stokes U.S. Courthouse (801 W Superior Ave. Cleveland) #CommunitiesNotCages (at Carl B. Stokes United States Courthouse) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUIsKGWJEbs/?utm_medium=tumblr

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1 yr commemoration of Cleveland uprising. Against all forms of state oppression. March & Rally. Justice for Vincent Belmonte. We Demand Accountability. May 31st at 1pm meet at Heritage Middle School. 💗🌹✊🏽 (at Cleveland, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPVtqI8JDWW/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Almost here! 21st Annual Social Justice Teach-in [Liberation Lab] Theme • Memoria y Resistencia: Reflections on Self-Identity and Communal Legacies • Register @ teachin21.eventbrite.com. Swipe to see panelists and breakout topics. more info at https://fb.me/e/15aBZ8JvZ (at Cleveland, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CM441lFJ6F2/?igshid=1leuhtwe6h888

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Unexpected #MutualAid delivered to my doorstep from my dear friend @tessax28. Grateful to not have to worry about dinner tonight thanks to their delicious gift. #ThisIsCLE #FoodIsMedicine #SharingIsCaring (at Cleveland, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKuxKGrpakQ/?igshid=1ucv8nhur70a6

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Cle community, plz ask out congresspeople to support the Lieu amendment to H.R. 7617, which forbids federal funding for joint federal police task force operation Operation Legend. OL put 30 fed officers in our streets w/o consent decree oversight, bodycams, etc. #defundthepolice #blacklivesmatter https://tinyurl.com/LieuAmendment/ (at IRTF - The InterReligious Task Force on Central America) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWuGCzpgUJ/?igshid=1jbt6q4qw3fzh

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Regardless of who's in the Oval, we need bold, sustainable solutions that serve all our communities. Come see what that could look like Sat 3-5pm at our virtual townhall https://tinyurl.com/WhatNowCLE #WhatNowCLE #CLEDemandsAction #ClimateJustice #AbolishThePolice #FightFascism @BLM_216 @blackspringCLE @ResistORPCLE @SunriseMvmtCLE and more (at Cleveland, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/CH0dVfrJ_J2/?igshid=1l6fzkdiraspt

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Join our friends today for a graphic design trained for organizers today at noon EST zoom:879 655 19464 pw:284481 https://www.instagram.com/p/CGXYGlzpDWH/?igshid=u3ls3rl7fy1e

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We are SO grateful for our friends, comrades, compañer@s, amigxs, and partners all around the world! Across the migrant trails through the Americas and especially, right here on Turtle Island.🐢 🌴 Our friends @Arm in Arm DC successfully made this statement before dawn and we couldn’t be more excited to be in relationship with such beautiful grassroots solidarity communities. Happy Indigenous Peoples Day, today and everyday. With love, from Haudenosaunee lands to Piscataway lands #landback #savethepostoffice #transitnotcheckpoints #nomasmuertes #stolenland #nomoredeaths https://www.instagram.com/p/CGQV6pyJTBd/?igshid=wuertrcduvtk

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“my parents are Mexican who are not to be confused with Mexican-Americans or Chicanos. i am a Chicano from Chicago which means i am a Mexican-American with a fancy college degree & a few tattoos. my parents are Mexican who are not to be confused with Mexicans still living in México. those Mexicans call themselves Mexicanos. white folks at parties call them pobrecitos. American colleges call them international students & diverse. my mom was white in México & my dad was mestizo & after they crossed the border they became diverse. & minorities. & ethnic. & exotic.”

— Tonight’s Cantab feature is Chicago poet José Olivarez! This is from “Mexican American Disambiguation,” from his book Citizen Illegal. (via bostonpoetryslam)

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I know the best brujas in the world. xoxo Susan! #galentinesday #palentines #strongleadershipskills #resist #persist #mademyday #bruja (at IRTF - The InterReligious Task Force on Central America) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bty-bdnBI0l/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ydchwv4mqi26

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Always great to be back at @johncarrollu! It’s rare to be here for something other than the @ohiofairtrade Expo planning. Thank you @eddie_torial @andytrares and Heather for inviting us @irtfcleveland to come speak to the arrupe scholars. #peoplepower #thisiscle #irtfcleveland #solidaridad (at University Heights, Ohio) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqqhJqrnj0Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1luqcxrv2c219

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#systemracism #immoral #stop #policebrutality #resist #abolish #dream #breathe #liberate

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The ground is shaking cause all the nations have come to save this land. We have come to protect the water. #irtfcleveland #justice #lajusticia #lapaz #peace #resistance (at Nogales-Mariposa Port of Entry)

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The next generation of @peacepoets. Part @guache_art and part @alvinailey #resistanceisfertile #raiseup #liberation #irtfcleveland #power #niumamas #borderencuentro #SOAWatch #closeSOA #nomasSOA (at Pima County Courthouse)

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I love when I'm the only fem identified person on a panel. And, I love when a participant closes his eyes when I'm speaking, but is wide awake when the other panelists speak. 🙄😒 (at IRTF - The InterReligious Task Force on Central America)

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Bowing down is not an option. I can no longer remain silent to the injustice that exists around me. We must honor (not exploit) that which has birthed us and nourished us, unconditionally. No one of us deserves to be superior. Each of us do deserve dignity, food, shelter, love, water, air, care, insight, and more. #DoCweareOne Will we stand up? Will we speak out? #irtfcleveland (at Indianapolis, Indiana)

[ecc-poetry]

"selena”

The women in my family have our own moon goddess: Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla.

Celestial in bodysuits and charro jackets, she was star-bound, she woke up like this a decade before Beyonce, she rocked rainbow bustiers before Katy Perry could walk. Like all stories about women and the moon, this one can’t finish without blood: she was killed on the line between English and Spanish, her first ingles album about to drop. I was seven. My mother must’ve thought we’d have more time to learn songs and dance moves, to scream-fight I wasn’t leaving the house like that after I’d seen her newest music video and hot-glued costume jewelry to my bra. Instead, Selena returned to the sky smelling like gunpowder, and we remembered that Mexican goddesses have a history of waning.

The women in my family keep our own vigils: the DVD of Selena, starring Jennifer Lopez, sits on my mother’s side table waiting to light up her TV like Mass. Laura updates her Facebook status: she’s at the Selena museum in Corpus Christi. Death has not dampened our belief. We cherish Christ the son and Selena the moon, our call to love others and our dreams of loving ourselves. I kept a doll in her likeness, a little idol whose dark hair I combed faithfully, watching its disco jumpsuit catch starlight. This is how I played church, how I learned to honor the people who paved my way; like how my sister and cousin learned to sing and dance and it didn’t seem impossible; we were all congregants and the only prayer was bailar.

The women in my family speak sacred incantation, bidi bidi bom bom and como la flor. When I stand in karaoke fluorescence, breathing in as much air as I can gulp, I half-believe I resurrect Her: little Texas with a lot of mouth, open my lips and the Word comes out, and what’s a ghost if not our soul’s breath? What’s a goddess if not a ghost we can call on again and again, effortless as pressing play?

My sister texts a picture of her Selena-themed outfit, faithfully reconstructed from holy writs. Blessed be the hips that remember our Lady’s hips, the shape of figure eights and merengue. Blessed be the lurex and the bustier. We text her back constellations and mirrors, a swirling perfect universe, like if we collect enough fireflies we’ll finally be able to convince the world we shine.

-ecc

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Mi diosa.