"Knowing was an 'illumination.': We Must Support Each Other, on the Golden Notebooks and a rally for a friend. #IStandWithRavi and #NewSanctuaryCity.

Revolting Lesbians with a message for the world. 

Two of the coolest, Tim and my BFF!!!

Scenes from "You Can't Deport a Movement," above.  Photo below of what happened the last time Ravi had an ICE check in.  Saturday, the activist enjoyed a stay of deportation.  Photo and caption by Erik McGregor. "Ravi Ragbir, executive director of the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City... On February 10, 2018; The New Sanctuary Coalition together with faith leaders, immigration activists, and community members outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices and immigration courts at 26 Federal Plaza, marching in silence and prayer in solidarity with Jean Montrevil, Ravi Ragbir and all immigrants who are facing deportation. (Photo by Erik McGregor)"

"Knowing was an 'illumination.' During the last weeks of craziness and timelessness I've had these moments of 'knowing' one after the other, yet there is no way of putting this sort of knowledge into words. Yet, these moments have been so powerful, like the rapid illuminations of a dream that remain with one waking, that what I have learned will be part of how I experience life until I die."

--Anna Wulf in The Golden Notebook

For weeks, our reading group – dubbed the activist informed reading group - planned to read the Golden Notebooks by Doris Lessing.  Her1962 novel about people and movements, contradictions and hypocrisy, individuals and history felt ideal for this moment of uncertainty, immigrant bashing, and market fluctuation.  It is not easy living every day knowing that the government of the place you call home has been controlled by corporations and people with little interest in embracing the better angels of our nature, people embracing the most xenophobic of our instincts.

 But illuminations are everywhere, in the streets, people, movements, and ideas. I saw it all day long on Saturday.  

We’d get to the book after rally.

I rode out of the house at 830 AM to get to Foley Square in Lower Manhattan forthe rally for our friend facing deportation.

You Can’t Deport a Movement:

“This moment is urgent. This is bigger than any one case. ICE is escalating its attack on immigrants, and only our movement can stop them.

There is a new stay for Ravi’s deportation, but this moment matters now MORE THAN EVER! We must stand up for the countless thousands of Ravis and Jeans and show that we are powerful together! We leave no one behind! ICE cannot target our leaders OR our communities! 

Bring your friends, your colleagues, your love and solidarity to demand a#NEWSANCTUARYCITY 

We need to stop the escalation of ICE and the president’s attacks on immigrant communities, including targeting dissidents for deportation, threatening Dreamers with detention, ICE efforts to infiltrate courts and churches, and up to the racist rhetoric of the president and his office. We will not be silent and we will not let immigrant communities continue to be an example of the endless cruelty of this administration. 

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we’re asking friends and fellow activists to help hand deliver a message of love for all immigrants to ICE’s office by showing up on Feb. 10th at 9AM in solidarity with Ravi, Dreamers, TPS recipients, workers, families, and community members. We’ll use messages of love and solidarity to combat the "good immigrant, bad immigrant" narrative. We resent the pressure on immigrants to prove their social or economic worth in order to justify their humanity. We encourage making signs that celebrate people’s differences through what makes them special -- not just how a piece of paper classifies them.

This rally concerns all of us -- immigrants, U.S. citizens, New Yorkers. This is a fight against this racist administration’s attempt to overstep the constitution and cherry pick who has the right to freedom and who will be terrorized into silence. We’re going to let them know that this movement has deep roots and cannot be eradicated. We’re going to show them that you can’t deport a movement. 

Please share widely!

Feel free to use the themes below when creating signs for the rally!

“You Can’t Deport a Movement” -- ICE is targeting our leaders to try to silence our communities. We’re going to let them know that this movement has deep roots and cannot be eradicated. 

“Have a heart!” -- Express love for all immigrants! Complement it by wearing heart adorned clothing, signs, and accessories. 

“I am Ravi” -- Ravi Ragbir forfeited his privacy in this vulnerable time to stand as a symbol for the fight that millions of people in this country face. When we show our solidarity with him, we show it to all people threatened with deportation.

“Love to [....] immigrants” -- Let’s remind America of every immigrant’s humanity. Status or citizenship is a detail, not an identity. Celebrate the identities, hobbies, and talents that make us human!”

Most all my friends were there, activists from Rise and Resist, the Revolting Lesbians, Anarchists and Judsonites, speaking up for our friend Ravi and the movement he represents.

Walking around at the rally I greeted comrades, snapped a few pictures, and we listened to speeches.

Several of the Revolting Lesbians who had brought attention to the climate science denying policies of Rebekah Mercer, who sits on the board of the Museum of Natural History, were there.

The speeches continued about Ravi and the plight of all immigrants.

Finishing the rally, number one and I walked, traversing the majestic Brooklyn Bridge, toward home.

By eleven I was greeting my friends at the Commons, where we were discussing David Harvey’s tomb, the Madness of Economic Reason.

“We’ll be reading the Penguin edition of Capital,” Michael announced, starting out with a little housekeeping.  We’d been reading Harvey for weeks.  The week before, he even joined our group.  But what was the best way forward for the group – to read more Harvey or get to the source, Marx?  We’d discuss the topic for almost an hour.  Process counts after all.

“Its such a socialist approach,” laughed Leslie, reflecting on discussion of how we would move forward during our bathroom break.

Its useful to ask what to do with the banks noted another participant.

Read Rick Wolf to explore that question, its not for this reading group.

Will the venture capitalists consume all the devalued assets, asked another member?

But what will happen with the markets?  One man cheered for the markets to crash.  Others pointed out that the poor become collateral damage when economy contracts.

A crisis does not equate to a victory for the left, another participant followed.  The Germans got national socialism after a crisis in the 1930’s.

For weeks, we’d been talking about the circulation of capital moving and transforming like the water cycle, the paths of value in motion.  Harvey even send us his chart of the process.

ProductionReproductionChart - Harvey

The speed of circulation is important notes Harvey. T

Thinking about the immigration debate, I wondered about Marx’s concept of anti-value, when circulation slows. You can learn a lot about the immigration debate reading the business section of the paper.  Supporters of private prisons want bodies filling their prison cells, jails, and immigration detention centers.  Why else would the state be spending its tax dollars to detain Ravi and Jean, flying them from here to there, incarcerating them and many others, taking them out of circulation. Of course, the counter argument can and has often been made that immigrants do more to move the circulation of capital and projects from anti-value to value, doing jobs needed to build and rebuild cities, bringing ideas and innovation.

Yet, alienated workers are threats to valorization. 

And that is certainly the case today.

And so on, we debated.

And I started to turn to the anarchist pamphlet I picked up at the interference archive.

Around break time, I quietly bowed out of the debate. My friend Gene thinks its crazy to study Marx.  He grew up in Russia, only leaving for the states when he was ten.   He lived the failures of the socialist paradise. 

These were the debates we saw in Eastern Europe last summer, where Stalin twisted Marx’s critique into an oppressive system, housing many on the one hand, detaining and torturing countless other bodies on the other.

I wandered home to get ready for our Golden Notebooks session that would start at three PM.

I first heard about the book in my freshman year of college three decades ago. Sitting at the outdoor coffee house at Scripps college in Claremont CA, my friend Kira was reading a copy. 

            “I just broke up with Jack,” she told me when I sat to talk with her.

            “Are you ok?”

            “I am fine,” she told me in a blasé tone, before sticking her nose back into her book.

She later lent me a copy of the book, which I loaned to somebody else, never getting it back.

            I only dug back into the book this winter for the AIR bookclub.  Its Caroline's favorite novel.  At six hundred plus pages, it is considerably longer than most of the other books we read. The book is about Anna, who has completed a considerably successful autobiographical novel about her life with the communists.  But now she is stuck, trying to talk things out with her friend Molly, drafting four notebooks about her life and her writing, her politics and desires, sex and art, communist dreams and the realities of her world, that she hopes to synthesize into a golden notebook.  It’s a whole book about things splitting about…

The book begins with a simple observation.

"The two women were alone in the London flat."  But, “Everything is cracking up…” observes Anna to Molly, people, movements, ideas, the party, sex, men, women, everything.

            We read it all afternoon, one line after another. 

            Like the Harvey reading group, we’d spent hours debating how much we could get done, and how many sessions we should dedicate to the story. Yet, this book took everyone by surprise, opening up a huge conversation about theory and practice, literature and consciousness.

            “A self-knowledge is knowing on deeper and deeper levels what one knew before…” writes Lessing.

            There is a knowledge deep inside of us.

            But it gets obfuscated. We justify things and become rigid.  Lessing’s best lines are about the true believers, certain in their faith about the system or their criticism of it.

            It helps to understand the Trump era, noted Dave, pointing out that we’ve been through terrible times before.

            “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun,” noted Leslie, referring to Ecclesiastes 1:9.      

            We are marching through history, looking at ourselves and the social forces around us, trying to integrate knowledge into action, theory into practice.  A little history and humility helps.

“Knowledge was an illumination,” Lessing reminds us.  “That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.”

“Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself.”

Thank you Doris.

Solidarity counts. 

We must support each other. 

reading the golden notebooks together. 

First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging the Targeting of Immigrant Rights Activists: Federal Government Agrees to Stay Mr. Ragbir’s Deportation Temporarily

Immigrant Rights Leader Ravi Ragbir and Community Organizations File First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging the Targeting of Immigrant Rights Activists Federal Government Agrees to Stay Mr. Ragbir’s Deportation Temporarily

New York, NY —  Immigrant rights leader Ravi Ragbir, together with the New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City, CASA de Maryland, Detention Watch Network, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and the New York Immigration Coalition, filed suit (Ragbir v. Homan) in federal district court in the Southern District of New York today to challenge the recent targeting of immigrant rights activists by federal immigration officials. Pending briefing and consideration of a preliminary injunction motion, the government has agreed to stay Mr. Ragbir’s deportation temporarily.

Mr. Ragbir, Executive Director of the New Sanctuary Coalition, was abruptly detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) on January 11, 2018 at a routine check-in, and remained in immigration detention until a federal court ordered his release on January 29, 2018, concluding that his detention was “unnecessarily cruel” and unconstitutional, and expressing “grave concern” about the possible First Amendment implications of the targeting of an immigrant rights activist. Upon his release, ICE issued a notice ordering Mr. Ragbir to report to ICE for deportation on Saturday, February 10, 2018. That deportation date has now been converted into a regular check-in with ICE, which has agreed not to deport Mr. Ragbir at this time.

“Like so many people who are living in this country under the threat of deportation, I know how important it is to raise our voices against the injustices in the system,” said Mr. Ragbir. “This lawsuit is not just about me, it is about all of the members of our community who are speaking out in our struggle for immigrant rights.”

ICE’s recent attempts to detain and deport Mr. Ragbir come amid a string of ICE actions against immigrant rights activists, including the detention and deportation of a co-founder of the New Sanctuary Coalition, Jean Montrevil, to Haiti last month. These high profile actions prompted Arnold & Porter and the New York University Immigrant Rights Clinic to file suit today to challenge federal immigration officials’ retaliatory and discriminatory enforcement of immigration laws against Mr. Ragbir and other immigrant rights activists on the basis of their protected political speech. “ICE’s targeting of immigrant-rights activists based on their protected speech and political advocacy plainly violates the First Amendment. We intend to put an end to this vindictive practice,” said Sally Pei of Arnold & Porter.

The lawsuit seeks, among other forms of relief, a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining the government from taking further action to effectuate a deportation order against Mr. Ragbir, while also seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining the government from selectively enforcing immigration laws against individuals based on protected political speech.

“Justice was restored today, at least temporarily, as Mr. Ragbir is now able to remain in the United States and free until the Court reviews his constitutional claims,” said R. Stanton Jones of Arnold & Porter. “If the First Amendment means anything, it means the Government can’t silence immigrant-rights activists like Mr. Ragbir by deporting them. We look forward to presenting these grave constitutional claims to the Court.”

“Today was a good day for Mr. Ragbir and for everyone who cares about immigrants’ rights or the First Amendment,” said William Perdue of Arnold & Porter. “Government officials cannot retaliate against those who speak out against them. Immigration authorities are no different.”

The lawsuit was joined by numerous organizations who have been harmed by ICE’s aggressive tactics in recent weeks and months. “Ravi has devoted his life to the immigrant rights movement. It is a testament to his work and the work of others like him that so many incredible organizations have stepped up to challenge the unjust targeting of our movement leaders through this lawsuit,” said Alina Das of the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic.

The plaintiff organizations have issued the following statements:

“Each day we wake up in this new era of American life, we are faced with the challenge of how we will choose to live. Will we be intimidated by a regime that believes in silencing activism and dissent? Or will we choose courage, standing up for our convictions? The New Sanctuary Coalition that Ravi leads helps thousands – with growing numbers by the day – to walk the courageous route. This lawsuit is our way of asserting our fundamental right to live in truth with a voice this country needs to hear. I am proud to co-chair this coalition because we see how this administration is trying to undo our fundamental way of life. Perhaps the administration finds liberty inconvenient. Thankfully we have a constitution to stop them,” said the Rev. Kaji S. Douša, co-chair of New Sanctuary Coalition, and Senior Pastor, Park Avenue Christian Church.

“If the First Amendment of the United States Constitution means anything, it means freedom of expression and freedom of action. Freedom doesn’t bring with it being singled out, silenced or deported. Freedom means the capacity to speak your mind without state intervention or retribution. In the case of Ravi Ragbir, there is clear and unwarranted punishment for legal thoughts, words and actions. Not only is this punishment illegal. It is also fundamentally and cruelly immoral,” said Rev. Dr. Donna Schaper, Senior Minister, Judson Memorial Church, and member of the Board of New Sanctuary Coalition.

“Ravi Ragbir has been clearly targeted for speaking out against the injustices of our immigration system; a cruel irony that further validates the importance of his work. The immigrant community and advocates will not be bullied into silence, we will only get louder, and we will fight back with every tool at our disposal,” said Steven Choi, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition.

“We are outraged by the intentional targeting of immigrant rights activists by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The right to outspoken political opposition is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy, and attempts by the federal government to suppress dissent by targeting activists points to a broader threat that should concern us all. As a result of this egregious targeting, activists are taking increased precautions to protect themselves, while also remaining steadfast in their commitment to expose ICE’s inhumane and unjust practices. DWN will continue to speak out against ICE’s egregious patterns of abuse, stand with those they target, and demand accountability for their attempts to silence us,” said Mary Small, Policy Director, Detention Watch Network.

“The current unconstitutional tactics being employed by ICE to try and silence the leaders of our movement will not succeed. Through this lawsuit, we stand with Ravi and all the other immigrant leaders who demand that ICE stop targeting our communities. We call on the courts to vindicate their constitutional rights and on our elected officials to finally pass legislation fixing our broken immigration system,” said Gustavo Torres, Executive Director of CASA.

“ICE’s targeting of immigrant activists for exercising their fundamental First Amendment rights must end. For nearly fifty years, NIPNLG has stood with community activists like Ravi Ragbir who courageously speak out against the injustices of the U.S. immigration system. We cannot allow the Trump Administration to use deportation as a tool for silencing political dissent,” said Dan Kesselbrenner, Executive Director, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NIPNLG).

[updated at 10:20am 2/9/18] ICE is no longer requiring Mr. Ragbir to check in at 26 Federal Plaza in New York, NY, on Saturday, February 10, 2018. He and numerous other organizations ask the community to join a “You Can’t Deport A Movement” rally in solidarity with all immigrants Saturday morning at 9am. Details are here.

###

#istandwithravi: Jericho Walk before D Day, #RaviRagbir faces deportation

#istandwithravi — with Ravi Ragbir and Micah Buceyin Manhattan, New York.

Thursday morning, I joined members of my congregation and the New Sanctuary Movement

for a Jericho Walk at Foley Square.

Its been a tough month since Jean Montrevil was deported, Ravi was taken into custody, released, and is now facing subsequent deportation.

At Foley Square we walkedsingle file around the federal plaza, housing Immigration Customs Enforcement and immigration court, the site "of extreme trauma for immigrant communities," notes the New Sanctuary Coalition.  "Our brothers and sisters come into this building with a real fear that they can be picked up and taken away from their families at any time. During the march, we walk in prayerful silence and pause at the front of the building where we raise our hands in prayer."

We walked in silence, meditating and reflecting on the suffering going on inside. 

I can only imagine what it must be life to face a hearing where i could be separated from my family. 

The march was joined by two counter protesters, carrying signs declaring "Deport Ravi" and "Ravi is a Felon."

"My dad used to always say, the law is an ass," I mentioned to my friend Bobby, before the rally started. "When they prosecute all the white collar criminals on Wall Street I'll start thinking otherwise."

After the first lap around the building, a man looked at the counterprots, ignored by everyone else, and declared: "Maybe we should deport you.  I'm Native American."

After the Jericho walk, Micah Bucey of the Judson memorial lead us in a Jericho Prayer. 

"They are using the language of war games, saying Saturday is d-day," explained Ravi after our walk. "There are more and more ICE officials and police around here.  They are getting ready... But we are showing the world New York is a city full of love.  Thank you for this lovefest," he smiled.

It had been otherwordly to see him at the rally after the chaos of the events on January 11th. 

On Friday, Ravi will be in court for a hearing about his case.  Saturday, he faces possible deportation.

In response, the New Sanctuary Movement "and their allies are calling for an emergency rally to show solidarity with Ravi and immigrant communities across America. This moment is urgent. This is bigger than any one case. ICE is escalating its attack on immigrants, and only our movement can stop them.

Bring your friends, your colleagues, your love and solidarity to demand a#NEWSANCTUARYCITY and show ICE that they cannot deport this movement."

First they came for the Muslims....with the numbers of immigrants being detained and deported,

activists have come to describe the process as a new form of ethnic cleaning.

The facebook invitation for the Jericho walk offered background:

#RaviRagbir faces deportation this week. New York, join us for the Jericho Walk on Thursday morning. Make no mistake: Ravi is being targeted for his activism on behalf of the undocumented community. We need to stand with him now. 

#IStandWithRavi 

5pm #Vigil at 201 Varick Street

6pm #CommunityMeeting at 55 W15 Street

Our friend Jean Montrevil, a founder of New Sanctuary Coalition, was hurriedly, secretly and wrongfully deported by ICE to Haiti, we learned Tuesday morning. At the same time, Ravi Ragbir, our executive director, faces deportation.

Join the New Sanctuary Coalition Thursday at 11 a.m. for a Jericho Walk at 26 Federal Plaza, to demand Jean Montrevil's return, and Ravi's freedom. Come together with faith leaders, immigration activists, and community members for this march in silence and prayer in solidarity with Jean Montrevil, Ravi Ragbir and all immigrants who are facing deportation.

*** Following the Jericho walk, there will be an evening vigil at 5:00 p.m. at 201 Varick Street. ***

New Sanctuary Coalition of New York City shared a link."BREAKING NEWS: A new lawsuit alleging ICE’s targeting of activists across the country violates the First Amendment results in a new stay for Ravi’s deportation. Read more: https://theintercept.com/…/ravi-ragbir-ice-immigration-dep…/SHOW UP TO OUR RALLY TOMORROW TO TELL ICE THEY CANNOT TARGET LEADERS AND OUR COMMUNITIES AND THE THOUSANDS WE ARE FIGHTING WITH! 9 AM at Foley Square!"

Joining us this Saturday? Here's what you need to know for our  emergency rally  to protest Ravi's deportation.

Friends, Ravi is scheduled to be deported this Saturday, February 10th. We'll meet at 9am in Foley Square. Ravi has a hearing tomorrow that could delay his deportation - but this rally against ICE will happen no matter what. During moments like this, it is easy to feel helpless. Here's what you can do to prepare and fight back. Before Saturday Make signs to bring with you. Some of our suggestions: “Being undocumented is an act of civil disobedience” “Detention is internment” “Deportation = Violence” “Defund ICE” or "Abolish ICE" "Bring Back Our Disappeared" "You Can't Deport a Movement" "Bring Back Jean" and "I Stand With Ravi" Invite 5 friends, coworkers, or family members to join you at the rally. Post a selfie holding a sign of support ("I Stand With Ravi," "You Can't Deport a Movement") on Facebook and Twitter with a link to the Facebook event. On Saturday Bring an umbrella (there's rain in the forecast). Remember to prioritize deescalation while Ravi is with us. Follow the direction of marshals, who will be wearing neon vests. Things are changing minute by minute. For the most up to date developments Ravi's case, text ISTANDWITHRAVI to 41411, follow us on Twitter ( @NewSanctuaryNYC ) and Facebook , and track the hashtags #IStandWithRavi and #NewSanctuaryCity. See you on Saturday, in solidarity, The New Sanctuary Coalition