General Strike Jan 30th
If you are planning on striking and not buying anything on Jan 30th, hell yeah! I will not be buying anything. I’m a caregiver for my husband and SAHM to our two year old, so I will be abandoning them, jk, but consider me on the picket line.
I do want to draw attention to something though. My friend is a union teacher and she wants to strike, but she does not want to strike right now because she is protecting scared kids at school. Her students are Black, Latino and Filipino. Her school is safer than their homes at the moment because there is built in organization and communication. Organization and communication that she has worked on building explicitly for this purpose. She said it will take a lot of organizing and planning for teachers to strike. She also mentioned, and I agree, that more workers in the largest sectors of our economy will have to feel empowered to make that bold step. The most vulnerable workers in our society have a different set of risks in partaking in strikes like this. Many workers are spread thin because they are supporting family members who can’t risk working right now.
I do hope this strike builds momentum and solidarity. But, I think it’s important to consider where the workers taking care of our most vulnerable populations, and vulnerable workers themselves, are coming from. It’s also incredibly important to think about how the most privileged (myself included) workers are going to support people that can’t afford to strike. A lot of them have been on the front lines of this fight longer than we have and might have insight into how to move forward.
One thing I’m doing to help with the neighborhood safety question, that you are welcome to do too, is making sure I am connected to my neighbors and offering help. There are a lot of older folks in my neighborhood, so I’m giving out physical letters offering help. I’m keeping it broad as a neighbor intro, and leaving my phone number (happy to send you a template if you want). If you have a younger neighborhood you might consider a signal chat.
One of the most diabolical aspects of capitalism is how it isolates and alienates us. It’s not a bug, it's a feature. Consider this an opportunity to connect. Before we ask vulnerable workers to let go of their jobs, the only support they have for money and healthcare for their family, we should consider how we will catch them when they fall. I believe unions are where we should be looking to do this. We have strong unions in LA that are not afraid to strike when they have adequate time and planning. Unions that have connections to other cities for broader reach.
But of course, not buying shit is great for us all.
As always, help where you can, know your strengths and fuck ICE.
Love,
Amber
i should’ve said this is LA specific! i think it probably applies a lot places, other than minneapolis, who is ahead of us in fascism. but i wouldn’t know for certain because i’m in LA.
Thank you for this beautiful post. I’m a bit limited in what I can do physically and am caring for someone else, too, but I can do some of what you are doing. And bless nurses everywhere.