Fear Taught Us How to Fight

Seven years ago I got a call that shook the world out from under my feet. I spent night and day fighting, texting, calling, emailing, and knocking on any and every door. I spent days sitting at my kitchen table finding out who would give me the yes I needed. I learned that relentlessness is a skill. Like many families I have had my loved ones stolen from me, taken and kidnapped off the street. 

I cried on the phone today. It was the anniversary a couple of days ago. I saw it on my memories. Post after post and reshares from my friends, the anxiety came back flooding into my heart. The fear swallowed my logic for a second not knowing what lies ahead in the coming years. So many families are feeling this fear right now. 

So this is for you. For those folks who are worried sick for their parents, siblings, themselves, or their best friends. People tell you that you can’t allow fear to rule your life. Those folks have never lived afraid to be taken. I tell you right now that that fear is survival. That fear is what is keeping you safe. That fear isn’t abstract — it’s rooted in real histories, ongoing systems of harm, and generational trauma. You’re not imagining this. It burns deep. It zaps your brain and shortwires your body. I grew up vigilant. Knowing at any time someone could find out that I was undocumented. Families have been taken, disappeared, detained. The state has targeted us all.

This fear does not come from a distortion, it’s not something you can “positively think” your way out of. If you feel it taking over, freezing you, or making you feel helpless the goal is not to eliminate it.

Let it teach you how to fight.

"I'm afraid and therefore unsafe." ⇾ "Fear is protection, I get to choose what’s next."

“If I’m not constantly on guard, something will happen.” ⇾ “I stay vigilant by building power.”

“I have no control.” ⇾ “I can’t stop everything. I have tools, community, and ancestors who survived.”

Let fear teach you what is possible. Embrace it. When all you have to lose is the most precious thing you have, then it becomes the fire that fuels revolution. Fear is not the enemy. It is a lesson. It is our internal warning system to prepare. Preparation means we can overcome it. It taught me that I can withstand heat, pain, hunger, exhaustion, and more. It showed me that I will dig deep for freedom and liberation. Let this moment galvanize the strength you have to keep going, This is the battle cry, DO NOT GIVE UP! Every day you are here is another you can fight, It’s another day you can protect yourself and your loved ones, 

Our fears are real. The violence is real. Our strength and volition are just as real too. 

FEAR WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO FIGHT by showing you the strength within you. You are not alone, We are here to stay. Let them come, let them see. We won’t let them scare us out of liberation and off the battlefield. They will have to take it and we will never surrender cuz there's more of us than them.

I won’t say do not be afraid. I will say GET PREPARED!! You aint gotta get ready when you stay ready.