Hope in dark times?

by Lida Shepherd, director AFSC WV Economic Justice Project

I was listening recently to an interview with Rebecca Solnit, purveyor of “Hope in the Darkness” and she was talking about how hope doesn’t come from ignoring reality, it comes from honesty.  With that in mind I will refrain from any “happy new year” greetings, because it has been a gut-punching and despair-inducing new year thus far.   

ICE agents killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, our country dropped bombs on Venezuela, ICE agents are disappearing people from our communities in West Virginia and around the country --- meanwhile billionaires are looking to rake in more even more profit as stocks are up for weapons manufacturers and oil companies like Chevron.   

Feeling like we are in the inescapable grip of the merchants of misery is enough to make you weep.  While there is a lot about which to feel really really uncertain, here is Solnit again: “Uncertainty leads to possibility: Despair often assumes the future is fixed. But history is full of surprises and turning points.”  

I’ve been re-reading these days about nonviolence resistance and strategy in the face of authoritarianism (for obvious reasons), how the overreach of tyrannical regimes can actually provide those turning points, and how people always have more power than we might feel.  

Solnit has instructive advice for tamping down the anguish that we might feel right now: “Connect with others: Hope grows when it’s shared. Joining movements, communities, or simply leaning on friends creates a sense of belonging and power.” 

To that end here are ways to connect with others around West Virginia who care as much as you do: 

Follow ICE watch activity in WV here.  

Tonight (1/9) in Charleston

Tonight in Keyser

Sunday (1/11) in Clarksburg

Monday (1/12) at the WV Capitol

Wednesday (1/14) in Charleston

If all that weren’t enough, the WV State Legislature kicks off next Wednesday, January 14th.  Here are some Advocacy Days to note (full list here): 

1/19: Fairness WV Day 

2/17: Local Food and Farm Day 

2/23: WV Environmental Day 

2/24: Black Policy Day 

3/2: Leading for Justice Day 

3/4: WV Library Day 

3/6: Reproductive Rights Day 

Kenny and I hope to see some of you around “the well” at the Capitol, where commiseration is had and gossip is shared.  In the meantime, I’ll try to remember what Solnit says about practicing hope daily: “Some days hope comes easily; other days it doesn’t. That’s normal. Journaling, noticing progress, limiting bad news, and showing up in community are all ways to keep practicing.” 

 

No to another war

When the world learned of the Trump administration's aggression this weekend, the American Friends Service Committee released this statement. 

  Early this morning, the Trump administration bombed several locations in and around Caracas and forcibly captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. This unjustified, illegal, and unprovoked act of war against a sovereign nation comes after months of U.S. escalation – including the extrajudicial assassinations of civilians on boats and the U.S. seizure of oil tankers near the Venezuelan coast. President Trump announced that the U.S. will “run the country” until some undefined transition—a path to indefinite occupation or a return to corporate control and colonial extraction.

The U.S. attack on Venezuela comes as the Trump administration revitalizes a long history of U.S. violence and imperialism against nations and people in Latin America. Like other wars before it, this is about control over oil and resources—Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. Congress and the international community must take immediate action.

Venezuela posed no threat to the U.S. But the U.S. wants Venezuela’s oil. This attack was an act of war that is illegal under both U.S. and international law. While information is limited about the impacts, it is extremely likely that civilians were killed when the U.S. dropped bombs on the highly populated capital city. Congress should immediately act to condemn this aggression and should block further military actions.

The administration first said this violence was about drugs and democracy. Now the administration is expanding its justifications, openly claiming the U.S. has the right to overthrow Venezuela’s government and take the country’s nationalized oil. These shifting justifications expose the imperialist nature of the attack. They’re also absurd coming from an administration that has systematically undermined democracy at home, cut drug treatment programs, and dismantled systems to hold drug traffickers accountable.

The Trump administration doesn’t care about human rights and democracy. President Trump has actively intervened in recent elections in Argentina and Honduras, attempted to interfere in the Brazilian judicial system, and rewarded the blatant human rights violations of allies with lucrative contracts. There is no doubt that Nicolás Maduro is responsible for serious human rights violations against the Venezuelan people, and he should be held accountable for those violations. Being unilaterally kidnapped by the U.S. military will prevent that accountability rather than facilitating it.

This isn’t about drugs. Bombing Venezuela and arresting its leader will do nothing to stop drug trafficking, addiction, and overdose deaths. And the Trump administration only talks about ending the drug trade when it fits their political goals. Just two months ago, Trump pardoned former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been convicted in a U.S. court for smuggling 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.

We have decades of evidence that the bipartisan “war on drugs” is a failure that has led to the mass incarceration of millions of poor people and people of color in the U.S., escalated violence and repression in Latin America, all while overdose deaths have soared. If the Trump administration wanted to address addiction, it would invest in community-based treatment and prevention. Instead, they are cutting these programs. 

U.S. bombs and guns never bring peace and justice. As a Quaker organization that has worked to end war and violence for more than a century, AFSC has worked ceaselessly to stop U.S. militarism in Latin America and around the world. In the 1980s, AFSC witnessed firsthand the impact of U.S. military intervention in Latin America. We documented the violence in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala and offered support and solidarity to those facing repression. Instead of bringing stability, the U.S. fueled conflict that killed and disappeared hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. It perpetuated cycles of violence, forced migration, and deep poverty that persist today. 

It is time to break this cycle. It is long past time to end the U.S. government’s imperial ambitions in Latin America and across the globe. People do not want endless wars, which lead only to mass death, forced migration, and impoverishment. We must work in solidarity with the Venezuelan people, upholding their self-determination and human rights. And we must honor those rights whether people stay in the country of their birth or migrate to the U.S. 

We call on Congress and world leaders to stop U.S. regime change in Venezuela. We need investments in our communities and a safe and sustainable world where everyone can thrive. 

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine Light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.