Beth Thomsen Kawasaki is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University and Fuller Theological Seminary. She lives and works in California.
A reporter once asked A.J. Muste, a Dutch-born American clergyman and pacifist who protested against the Vietnam War, "Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?" A.J. Muste replied softly, "Oh I don't do this to change the country. I do this so the country won't change me."
Wake Up
My race relations radar is always on alert as a white adoptive parent to kids born in Central America. It went code red the day after the 2016 elections when my daughter mentioned that a couple classmates had “jokingly” written “Go Back” and “We See You” on a classroom white board after learning that some students, including many Latinx students, were planning a “peace and love” walk-out.
The small march, supported by the retired nuns who live on campus, went ahead with posters full of hearts and “love your neighbor” messaging. A fellow mother, who I’d been in PTA with for years, chose to protest too. She drove back and forth in front of the nuns and students holding a red “Trump” sign in her car window. I wished her a minor accident. It was a low point for the both of us.
More recently, my daughter got her driver’s license. I rejoiced in her new independence and my liberation, and then had a sobering thought.
What if she gets pulled over by an officer who is just-doing-his-job who gets confused about who she is and where she’s from? Then she leans over to the glove compartment to get her car registration and...
My white friends with white kids told me this is irrational, we’re living “left coast” after all. Other friends with black and brown kids told me this isn’t irrational, bad stuff is happening to immigrants and citizens all over the USA.
As a case in point, four weeks ago, an 18 year old Dallas-born U.S. citizen was detained by Immigration Control Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for twenty-three days after traveling within state to a college soccer team tryout. Yes; this was Texas, yes; he was traveling with undocumented friends, and yes; he had some really messed up paperwork. But, it’s still the stuff of a mother’s nightmare.
I decided it was time for the traffic-stop talk and utilized a respected Young Adult (YA) novel and film in which one teen witnesses her friend get killed by a police officer, to emphasize what-not-to-do during a pull over. Then I stuck clear color copies of her up-to-date US passport in her car, backpack and wallet; as well as in my own. I concluded this somber session by reminding her to “keep your hands in sight until you ask the officer if you can move!” Crazy begets crazy.
Sadly, I did not get the usual “you’re overreacting” eye-roll that night. She understood. She reads the rising rhetoric about people like her, whether they are US citizens or not, criminals or not, and now, whether they are elected US Congresspeople or not.
"It all makes your blood boil. How is this even possible in America? Americans are good people. Everyone knows that. There must be some mistake." – Kate Riggs, actor, writer, and activist
Staying Awake
“But what can I do?!” For the affront fatigued, this can become the reflex response to the unabating alerts of rants & chants & cages & raids, and injuries to faith, truth, and justice. Author and activist Kate Rigg calls this “injustice whiplash.” During better times bad news has served to outrage and activate me; but now, and this is what frightens me most, I can find myself numbing to the new norm.
In Mark 13, Jesus goes apocalyptic on Mt. Olive and predicts the unimaginable fall of the Temple as well as wars, earthquakes, famines, betrayals, court cases, fake Messiahs, lying preachers, in short, the undoing of all the political, religious, and social structures his disciples know and rely on. What was his advice? Six times he tells them to keep your head, don’t panic, watch out, and stay with it. In Matthew 24:42-51, Jesus uses the story of the Master and workers to teach his disciples that staying awake and being vigilant is a prerequisite for the Son of Man’s arrival and their job success. And in Mark 14:32-46 and Matthew 26:36-46, Jesus is in Gethsemane anticipating his crucifixion and asks his disciples, three times, to stay awake with him. All three times they succumb to sleep.
“He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” – Mark 14:37-38, The Message
Point taken.
Which led me to choose the Lights for Liberty protest on July 12 over the Art on the Square event I was actually headed to, after seeing my friend and Episcopalian priest, Charlotte, in her clergy collar on the corner nearby. My wake-up call.
There, those of us who could stand free and fearless, formed a new community on the eve of the threatened ICE raids. We declared that “we care” to the many who were home, turning off their phones and lights, closing drapes, reviewing their rights, and training their children on what-not-to-do.
Friendly police were present to direct traffic if we spilled into the street, and firefighters honked their horns in support as we listened to Gospel and immigrant stories, prayed, and learned what we could do for our neighbors.
Heart-breakingly, we also, bore witness to migrant children who have died in US custody since 2018:
Jakelin Caal Maquin, 7
Felipe Gómez Alonzo, 8
Juan de León Gutiérrez, 16
Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez, 2
Mariee Juarez, 19 months
Darlyn Valle, 10
Carlos Hernández Vázquez, 16
Woke
Since the protest, I have scoured the internet and interviewed community leaders to find out who is doing effective work on behalf of vulnerable immigrants. This is how I discovered the Faith in Action and the Rapid Responder Network (RRN). As part of RRN, trained volunteers get notified when ICE conducts a nearby raid. These volunteers show up to peaceably bear witness by recording what happens, (from a distance), and to update the RRN dispatchers in real-time. The presence of these volunteers and their smartphones can help show support to those being targeted and ensure that established legal protocols, including safety and dignity for all, are observed during the heat of the encounter. This also provides valuable documentation for legal consideration after.
Recalling A. J. Hurst’s words, I’ve found that volunteering for the RRN is one way I can stay me and stay awake
to the biblical mandate to care for the stranger, foreigner, and alien; and to Jesus’ command to love my neighbor, as Jesus
scandalously scoped it (Luke 10:25-37). While also acting as he advised, “as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.“ (Matthew 10:16-20).
Resources
Here are many doing effective work on behalf of immigrants in local communities and at the southern border:
Annunciation House
California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice
Caravan to Clint
Catholic Charities Rio Grande Valley
Christian Community Development Association
Ciudad Nueva
The Episcopal Church: Office of Government Relations
Faith in Action Bay Area and Rapid Response Network
Kids in Need of Defense
Matthew 25 Movement
National Immigration Forum
RAICES: The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services
Image credits: (1–3) Beth Kawasaki.
