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here i am in a group picture from a number of years ago with some dear friends that i’ve known for three decades, at Buona Forchetta in South Park, San Diego. i’ve eaten there a number of times since, & eaten many times across the street at a restaurant named Kindred.  i’ve walked the neighborhood before & after dinners numerous times with one of my dearest friends, sitting on a nearby bench a time or two enjoying long, deep conversations.

to see this happy, peaceful, alive neighborhood on the news with a recent ICE raid, where some officers showed up in tactical gear, while others disguised in plain clothes, made a dramatic show of force arrest, as they have in so many places across this nation, was just so sad & tragic…& unnecessary (for an immigration arrest???). but the dramatics are part of the message, no? to attempt to instill fear in a community, to proclaim that the government has an ever watchful eye, & its thumb pressed, upon us? all, of course, under the guise of law & order & patriotism. but those who are aware, those with eyes to see & ears to hear, know fascism when we see it.

the light in this very dark moment, though, is seeing neighborhoods of people, communities band together to push back & name it for what it is, to call to conscience the officers for the actions they are participating in.

may such communities be blessed & protected, may our hearts open, & may awareness, wisdom, & courage arise in each & every heart in resistance to cruelty & oppression, & may we do so in the name of Love.

~j

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#BuonaForchetta #SouthPark #SanDiego #immigrants #fascism #SitDownRiseUp #MindfulResistance #JinpaLhaga