Rage Begins at Home

You know, like it says in the Constitution.

Victerma’s children, photographed in 2019. Source: CNN via Steady newsletter.

Last Friday night, authorities in the state of Texas killed a family of three. The latest victims of Gov. Greg Abbott’s ceaseless cruelty include Victerma de la Sancha Cerros, 33, as well as her 10-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son.

Around here, we have a word for those who allow people to drown: murder.Dan Rather andTeam Steadyshared details in their beautiful, harrowing remembrance.

The five family members had reportedly formed a human chain to cross the river, but at some point, one of the children broke free, and the strong river currents swept three of them underwater. That’s when Mexican authorities requested help from the U.S. Border Patrol, which was denied access to the area by the Texas State Police and National Guard.

The Department of Justice has now clarified that the three had already drowned before Mexican authorities informed the Border Patrol — also informing them there were still two people in danger on the US side of the river, and Texas troopers wouldn’t let Border Patrol through to assist them.

Only thanks to Mexican soldiers were Victerma’s sister, Mónica, 30, and her own 10-year-old son extracted from the water. They have hypothermia but are expected to live.

State governments across this country are typically vicious to aspiring Americans, especially to the poorest and most desperate, but states like Texas and Florida take a particularly venomous approach. Only by the grace of kind souls do impoverished new Americans receive anything resembling a welcome.

Nothing in the state of Texas will change as a result of this vicious triple murder. Nothing at all. Over the past 30 years, it has increasingly become dangerous for a lot of people — like, for example, persons of reproductive age in possession of a uterus — to dwell there. The level of risk is infinitely higher for those impoverished masses who seek refuge there without documentation.

It wasn’t always this bad in Texas, and it doesn’t have to be this way in the future, but while plenty of good folks choose to stay and fight, plenty of others take advantage of their right to bring their tax dollars and good neighborly behavior elsewhere.

Of course, many people do not have the ability to leave an inhospitable homeland for a safer region. And it is not a privilege. It is a right — the right of freedom of movement.

When I read what Stephen Robinsonwrote about the drowned family here on this very recipe blog, I was so full of anger at the evil Texan authorities. I wanted to throw my desk out the window. As this would have no good effect on anyone and is surely not the definition of “good neighborly behavior” here in the frozen ice planet of Hoth/Chicago, I decided instead to ponder how, exactly, we use rage as fuel for freedom — the freedom that comes with change, healing, growth, and community care.

How can my anger lead to someone else’s blessing? How might my wrath lighten someone else’s burden? And why, when there is so much to worry about in the wider world, should I spend time and effort and even a little money on this seemingly intractable issue right here at home?

I know I get a version of the Internet that you do not get, and vice versa. Instagram feeds us things based on what we look at, what we click on, what we respond to. The accounts I follow are not representative of the vast American populace. That said, with the exception of such headline-grabbing incidents as the triple homicide in Texas, homegrown American terror and violence seems to be a less popular topic than overseas massacres.

I know the deaths of three people in Texas is not comparable with the deaths of 1,139 people in Israel on October 7, or an estimated 24,448 people in Gaza since October 7. Compared to 132 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, or an estimated 61,504 people wounded in Gaza since October 7, one adult and two children from Mexico dead at the hands of Gov. Greg Abbott and his minions may seem insignificant.

In underreported news, Sudan leads the International Rescue Committee’s 2024 Watchlist, with more than 12,000 people reportedly killed since April 2023. This does not include the estimated 25 million people in need of humanitarian aid. If we measure the importance of a violent conflict by the number of persons it puts in danger, one might think we have a clear “winner” here.

But we are not playing a numbers game. Everyone loses, except for the corporations that make more money off these situations, and the political leaders who gain more power.

We can care about many things at once. But the deaths of Victerma and her little children remind me that sometimes, I need to keep my eyes on my own paper. Which is to ask: What the fuck am I doing about the vast array of steaming shitfuckery right here at home?

I swear to God, I wanted to be funnier here in a dark and insightful way, but the marrow of my funnybone is currently suffused with rage. Instead of screaming IN ALL CAPS FOR THIS WHOLE POST, I’m trying to be of service in some way. (Also, have you ever tried to read something this long IN ALL CAPS? It is not easy on the eyeballs.)

We all should care what happens to vulnerable humans around the globe. National boundaries are artificial lines created by corrupt humans with power, and we’re all an interconnected web of humanity, and what happens there affects what happens here, and so on and so forth.

Still, while I may be concerned with neighbors (and their neighbors, and their neighbors’ neighbors) I must always look around my own home and see what the hell is falling apart.

WITH THAT IN FUCKING MIND, here are a few organizations devoted to helping things suck somewhat less right here in these United States.

RAICES Texas — Founded in 1986 in San Antonio, these folks do so much heavy lifting on behalf of Border communities and refugees. Influenced by their origin in the Sanctuary Movement, they do extraordinary work in direct service and in popular education.

Miry’s List — The founder, my pal Miry Whitehill, began using online wish lists years ago in order to provide supplies for Los Angeles-area families brought to the US through the Federal Refugee Resettlement program. Then it became a real deal nonprofit working across several states!

From their website: “Brand new arrival families are in ‘survival mode,’ often living in motel rooms, jet-lagged, quiet, and scared.” Through attending events and volunteering to boost their efforts via social media, I learned more about the dearth of services for these families — many of whom have an adult member who worked with the US as a translator or in other capacities in their home country.

Like, they often need beds. And shoes. And laundry detergent. Basic things you’d think Daddy Government would provide, but nay. It’s up to all of us.

Since 2016 (remember that year? I don’t!) they’ve supported more than 1,000 families from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Moldova, Syria, and Ukraine.

The Zinn Education Project — This is not a direct service organization for refugees, but they do work to ensure the stories of poor marginalized groups continue to be taught in American public schools. As a former high school educator — and as somebody whose public high school in New Jersey assigned A People’s History of the United States as a textbook — I love to support what they do. Had I not been exposed to the work of historians like Howard Zinn and Studs Terkel way back in high school, I don’t know that I would have formed a lifelong interest in issues for new Americans.

I invite you folks with other good resources — nonprofits, mutual aid groups, books, links to reputable reporting, all that jazz — to add some in the comments. I’m always looking to learn more, and rumor has it you people know many things about many things. Also, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of learning about those kind helper types Mister Rogers told us all to look to when we felt despair.