What comes next?
To friends and family asking: Do whatever good you can. And to my neighbor (you know who you are): Do better.
Rebecca Solnit’s words from Hope in the Dark were circulating via text on Wednesday morning, and I will return to them for inspiration and solace. They are complete and perfect and I have nothing to add in that vein.
I am not here today to comfort. I am here for what’s next.
Please forgive my brusqueness, and my typos, because I haven’t got time for edits and thoughtful revisions. There is work to do. I have clients facing deportation — children who only want to go to school, learn English, maybe play on their high school football team, and above all live without fear. And parents who want only that for their kids. Families like yours.
I am here because like-minded friends and family ask me where to direct their energy, and they have kindness and determination to give.
Here is my initial list, aka what I woke up thinking about.
1. Reproductive Health
I cannot believe we are here.
I will renew my donations to an abortion fund that directly helps women access health care, including childcare and travel expenses to other states. The National Network of Abortion Funds is a collective of 100 local funds, and you can choose by region which to direct your funds, or to the collective.
Also Planned Parenthood provides health care; and Planned Parenthood Action Fund is its advocacy arm.
2. Immigrants
For my clients, children who came “unaccompanied” to the U.S. to find safety and a future, donate to the groups that help lawyers and social workers protect them from the cruelty to come, if there’s any way.
If this calls to you, Acacia Center for Justice funds this work on the frontlines across the country. National Immigration Law Center or the ACLU challenge bad laws and defend good policy in the courts.
And this too: If you happen to be a lawyer, you have power to help directly, and you can learn. I did not begin my foray into immigration law until 2018, when the reports of barbaric family separations at the border broke. I knew nothing about immigration law. I also knew that I couldn’t stay on the sidelines any more. Bit by bit, with generous guidance and mentoring, I began. The first time I helped a 19-year-old girl (an A+ chemistry student, not that that should matter) get a bond to be released from detention, I felt like I had cured cancer. If you are curious, I would be happy to talk with you.
To get trained as a pro bono lawyer: Esperanza Immigrant Rights Center lawyers in Los Angeles; NIJC in Chicago area; HIAS in DC and NY and around the world. Or do a quick online search of your own.
3. Climate
My mom has dedicated her professional life to two things: electing women (keep going, mom) and protecting the planet. The two often go together.
EnviroVoters — California steps up when the federal government does not, so funding this California political environmental agency may suit you even if you are not in CA.
Our Children’s Trust — The visionary law firm that brought the lawsuit featured in the documentary, Youth v. Gov.
That’s all for now.
Except for this:
As the image above shows, the morning after the election, I went outside to find dog poop arranged in front of our Harris/Walz lawn sign. It was intentional, and it had to be someone who passed our house on the regular — no one would go out of their way to do this gross display.
I thought about all the things I wanted to say — including pointing out the easy metaphor about their win, but better angels prevailed. I wrote this instead, and taped it to the sign that had so offended, so that neighbor walking past the next day would hopefully see it:
To Our Neighbor who left Dog Poop in front of our Harris/Walz sign, the morning after the election,
“I see an America where we care for one another, look out for one another and recognize that we have so much more in common than what separates us. That none of us — none of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. And that in unity, there is strength.
America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities.
- Kamala Harris
Dear neighbor, by your action on this day, when Kamala Harris demonstrated what the peaceful transfer of power looks like for a patriotic American, you showed exactly who you are and what you stand for. Do better.
Let us all strive to keep working for the country we love, and to care for our loved ones.
With love and hugs and ample comfort food,
Laura
Laura Nicole Diamond is an immigration lawyer and writer. She is the author of Shelter Us: a novel, and Dance with Me: a love letter, and editor of the anthology Deliver Me: True Confessions of Motherhood. For more, please go to LauraNicoleDiamond.com.
For unlimited access to articles on Medium, use my personal link to become a member. A portion of your membership will support my writing. Thanks!