When They Come…

Guest Editorial

By AARO KARJALA

This isn’t new.

I’ll grant you that federal agents shooting middle-class white people in the face is a bit novel, but on the whole, this isn’t new. I would argue that this is about as American as it gets.

America is no stranger to state or federal agents terrorizing cities. It’s no stranger to massive deportation pushes that leave hundreds of thousands displaced or dead. It’s not even a stranger to mass incarceration and concentration camps. If I were feeling generous, I would say that America has perfected the business of wholesale slaughter while saving on ammunition.

This isn’t new. This is our collective legacy, a live re-enactment of the “First they came for,” poem. Mind you, America’s poem started off a bit different. It started with Indigenous genocide and Indian schools, kidnapping children for assimilation. It started with the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, chattel slavery and breeding programs. For over 250 years, the United States has slaughtered, incarcerated, and abused the peoples of this world. First, we came for them all.

So, this isn’t new. But neither is our resistance.

When they come, they will be sleeping in your hotels. When they come, they will be eating at your restaurants, re-supplying at your stores. When they come, they will need food and gas and restrooms. When they come, they will need your resources, all of the things the generations of this city have built. When they come, they will rely on all of us to support and supply their occupation.

But we outnumber them. We do not have to accept their terror.

We do not have to accept federal agents ripping children from kindergartens. We do not have to accept federal agents executing people in the street. We do not have to accept the disappearance of our neighbors and friends. We do not have to accept the paper bag test. We can stop it.

Pueblo has this moment to reinforce the work done by generations of activists. The heart and soul of this city is the care and power built by the Chicano movement. Pueblo has proven, time and time again, that the people are the power. It is up to each of us to decide how we will continue this legacy.

Many of us can feed tens if not hundreds of people. Many of us can set a twisted ankle. Many of us charge into conflict headfirst and deescalate. Many of us see a need and fill it before we are asked to. The things we do every day of our lives are invaluable. Our relationships, to people, to land, to history, are needed. This city is given life by our invisible labor, work rooted in care and determination. There is a place for us in the movement, because our work makes the movement possible.

The movement needs your dreams. It needs all the things you have done to keep yourself and the people you love safe. It needs your skills, your hands. It needs your voice, the voice of generations of survivors, to guide and ground the work that faces us, to speak truth, to uplift and support, to demand. The movement does not exist without the people. You, and the things you’re doing this very day, are going to help us fight and win.

To all those institutions and elected officials this city looks to in moments of great change and pain, it is time. It is time for labor to unite behind all of its workers. It is time for local government to lead, to create plans and safeguards to push back against an occupying force. It is time for the PPD to decide what “serve and protect” actually looks like. It is time for these institutions to serve the people, not just the highest bidder, the highest donation, or the laws that do nothing more than fill our prisons.

When they come, we will all need to decide who we want to be. We can take all these moments before to create safety nets, support CORRN, support mutual aid, pour into community, talk to our neighbors, and use our collective survival to be ready. We can speak about the occupation in other cities, how Pueblo and communities around the world pushed back against tyranny, the history of our communities and what we want the future to be.

And we do this so that we are proud of the stories we tell our children about what we did when they came.

All power to the people.