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DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
ROE V. WHITE     PRO-LABOR PRESIDENT?         JUDGE JUDY’S           HAITIANS IN A
 MEN P.4          WHERE? P. 12                 CLASSISM P. 32        “ROOFLESS PRISON”​  P. 9

                What’s Next for

                DEFUND?
                A conversation between Robin Wonsley Worlobah,
                Makia Green, Andrew R. Hairston, Willie Burnley Jr
                and Kandace Montgomery

                                                                Randi Love reports
                                                                                          +
                                                                on the young Black
                                                                  farmers who are
                                                                        picking up
                                                                          the plow
FEBRUARY 2022
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
WHO BUILT THIS CITY
 HIDDEN HISTORIES OF THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE PLACES

“The context and perspectives to lift                                                                     “An L.A. guidebook for the 99
 and support grassroots organizing                                                                                  percent.”
       for decades to come.”                                                                                        —LA Weekly
                                                    “True stories of desire and loss, of
—Javier Valdés, former Codirector of
     Make the Road New York                        conflict and resistance, from Orange
                                                    County’s suburban dreamscape.”
                                                  —D. J. Waldie, author of Becoming Los
                                                  Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of
                                                                   Place

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                                guide.”                                           protests and demonstrations for decades.”
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                                                                                       strikes, and resilient celebration.”
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DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
V O LU M E 4 6 N U M B E R 2

ON THE COVER

What’s Next for the
Defund Movement? 14

Black Farmers              Judge-y Judy                           A “Roofless
Sow the Seeds            A reboot shows that 25 years
                         on the air didn’t teach Judy
                                                              Prison” for Haitian
for the Future          Sheindlin a thing about justice            Refugees
  Young land stewards            BY YASMIN NAIR
                                                                    The crisis in Mexican
    pick up the plow                 32                                border towns
      BY RANDI LOVE                                                    BY CHANTAL FLORES

          26                                                                  9

                                                              FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES   1
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
“        No political movement can be healthy unless it has
             its own press to inform it, educate it and orient it.
                          —IN THESE TIMES FOUNDER JAMES WEINSTEIN
                                                                        ”
    TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                                                                 FOUNDING EDITOR & PUBLISHER
                                                                                 JAMES WEINSTEIN (1926–2005)
     D I S PAT C H E S                        F E AT U R E S                     EDITOR & PUBLISHER Joel Bleifuss
                                                                                 EXECUTIVE EDITOR Jessica Stites
    6     WISCONSIN IDEA                     14    R O U N D TA B L E            WEB EDITORS     Miles Kampf-Lassin,
           Last Resort Abortion                    What’s Next for the             Sarah Lazare
                                                                                 ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sherell Barbee
           BY SAM STROOZAS                         Defund Movement?              ASSISTANT EDITOR Nashwa Bawab
                                                   A conversation between        WISCONSIN IDEA EDITOR Hannah Faris
    7     Farmers Reject                           Robin Wonsley Worlobah,       INVESTIGATIVE EDITOR Erin Donaghue
          Nicor’s Pipe Dream                       Makia Green, Andrew R.
                                                                                 LABOR REPORTER Hamilton Nolan
                                                                                 CONSULTING EDITOR Bob Miller
           BY ZOE PHARO
                                                   Hairston, Willie Burnley Jr   PROOFREADERS Sharon Bloyd-Peshkin,
                                                   and Kandace Montgomery          Amelia Diehl, Martin French, Thomas
    9     A “Roofless Prison” for                                                  Gaulkin, Rochelle Lodder
          Haitian Refugees                   26 Black Farmers Sow the            SENIOR EDITORS Patricia Aufderheide,
                                                                                   Susan J. Douglas, David Moberg, Salim
           BY CHANTAL FLORES                        Seeds for the Future           Muwakkil, Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007)
                                                    BY RANDI LOVE                CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kate Aronoff,
                                                                                   Frida Berrigan, Michelle Chen, S. Doyle,
     VIEWPOINT                                                                     Jude Ellison, Kari Lydersen, Moshe Z. Marvit,
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                                              D E PA R T M E N T S               CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dean Baker,
    12    Pro-Labor President?                                                     Rebecca Burns, Barbara Ehrenreich,
          Where?                             4     In Conversation                 Jeremy Gantz, Leonard C. Goodman, Mindy
                                                                                   Isser, Naomi Klein, Chris Lehmann, John
           BY HAMILTON NOLAN                                                       Nichols, Rick Perlstein, Micah Uetricht
                                             7     This Month in                 EDITORIAL INTERNS Maggie Duffey, Halsey
                                                   Late Capitalism                 Hazzard, Jocelyn Martinez, Karim Noorani,
     C U LT U R E                                                                  Paige Oamek, Zoe Pharo, Imani Sumbi
                                             9 For the Win                       CREATIVE DIRECTOR Rachel K. Dooley
    32 Judge-y Judy                          10 In Case You Missed It            DESIGN ASSISTANT Matt Whitt
                                                                                 CARTOONS EDITOR Matt Bors
           BY YASMIN NAIR
                                             13 The Big Idea:                    CARTOONISTS Terry LaBan, Dan Perkins

    38 Comics                                       Decentralized Internet       ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Amy Ganser
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    40 In Those Times                                                               Lauren Kostoglanis
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2   IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
EDITORIAL

Roe v. White Men

A
       s we brace ourselves for the                    enacted this punitive measure? A legislature that
         evisceration of Roe, let’s focus on how we    is 77% male and ranks 41st in the nation for its per-
         got here. Of course, there’s Trump’s remak-   centage of women in state legislatures.
         ing of the Supreme Court. But this is the        Oklahoma, with its legislature just over 79%
         culmination of white patriarchy’s decades-    male, tried to enact three anti-abortion laws that
long campaign to police women’s sexuality and          would have gutted access to the procedure.
their bodies; in 2021, the crusade went rogue. The        And, most notoriously, Texas—with just over
most outrageous evidence is the record-setting               73% of its legislators men, most of them
100-plus bills passed in state legislatures vindic-             white—passed a law banning abor-
tively designed to restrict or eliminate wom-
en’s rights to control their own bodies.                          The pro-choice movement has failed
Media coverage typically identifies such                           to go local and help women see how
bills as promoted by Republicans. Rarely                           their statehouses don’t represent
is it emphasized that the legislatures that
enact these laws are overwhelmingly                               most of them and, instead, seek to
dominated by white men in a fusion of                             thwart their freedom.
patriarchy and white supremacy.
   Now, as we all know, the Supremes                               tions after six weeks and empow-
seem poised to either uphold Missis-                                ering anyone—anyone!—to sue
sippi’s law—which bans abortion after                               anyone else they allege helped a
15 weeks of pregnancy, about two months ear-                        woman get the procedure.
lier than Roe allows—or gut Roe altogether. And          Not only are these (and most other) legisla-
what people should be especially infuriated about      tures male-dominated, they pander to evangeli-
is that white patriarchal institutions, which do not   cals (only 25% of the population) while typically
remotely mirror our country’s demographics, are        ignoring those claiming no religious affiliation
the ones seeking to impose their toxic masculin-       (26%), not to mention the 59% of U.S. adults
ity on more than half the population.                  who support abortion rights.
   State legislatures firmly controlled by older         Let’s get back to the Supreme Court, two-
white men have been in an arms race to see who         thirds male, which refuses to block the Texas
can regulate women’s bodies most severely. Let’s       law. It’s now also two-thirds (conservative)
start with Mississippi. Its state legislature is 83%   Catholic; meanwhile, only 20% of the overall
male and 57% white, and its median age is 57.          population is Catholic, and of those, 56% believe
One third of its legislators are white men aged 55     abortion should be legal in most cases. Clearly,
or older, representative of just 9% of the state’s     an out-of-kilter court can no longer protect a
population—not a group that will ever have to          woman’s right to choose.
wrestle with the decision to have an abortion or         All this data about male-dominated institutions
the life-altering impact of being unable to get one.   drives home what The Nation’s Amy Littlefield
With only 17% of Mississippi lawmakers being           emphasizes: The pro-choice movement has failed
women, 52% of the state’s population have virtu-       to go local and help women see how their state-
ally no voice at all (unless, of course, they are      houses don’t represent most of them and, instead,
patriarchy’s fellow travelers).                        seek to thwart their freedom. Now, a long-term
   Not to be outdone, Arkansas passed a law which      and inclusive movement for reproductive justice
would have banned abortions in all cases except to     must be truly engaged at the state level. The ob-
save the life of a pregnant woman in some vaguely      stacles—gerrymandering, insufficient fundraising
defined “medical emergency.” Doctors who per-          for women (especially women of color), bias and
form the procedure would be subject to up to 10        entrenched power — are not insignificant. But this
years in prison or a fine of up to $100,000. (This     toxic patriarchy must be dismantled.
law has been blocked by the courts—for now.) Who                                   — SUSAN J. DOUGL AS

                                                                                      FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES   3
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
IN CONVERSATION

                                                                                                  IS HUNTING THE ANSWER?
                                the U.S. Constitution            provide the freedom to
                                from all threats, foreign        fight capitalism.                In his piece “In Defense of
                                and domestic! And they             The misperception              Hunting” (InTheseTimes.
                                break that oath when-            of fascism as no differ-         com), Joseph Bullington
                                ever they put the interests      ent than capitalism is to        rehashes the rational-
                                of wealthy corporations          consign one to certain           izations I’ve heard for
                                ahead of those of the gen-       defeat—or, perhaps worse,        decades. For example,
                                eral citizenry.                  irrelevance.                     he writes that hunting is
                                   Today, our country is                   —Marilyn Katz          something humans have
                                more of an oligarchy or                              Chicago      done for thousands of
                                corporatocracy than a                                             years. Except, hunters
                                democracy, thanks to the         SETTING PRIORITIES               of the past were “good”
                                corruption of our politi-        Some 30% of election             predators; because they
NATIVE INTELLIGENCE             cal/electoral process by         workers in Pennsylvania          used primitive weap-
“David Graeber’s Mic            vast amounts of money.           have recently resigned           ons, they only took the
 Drop” (January) tells you      I, for one, consider that        their posts. The reason          sick, diseased and old
 a lot about what we don’t      un-American.                     was death threats, not           individuals. For animals
 learn regarding Native                       —Judith Roen       the Constitution. Ham-           like elk, humans were
 Americans and Indigenous                      Rochester, N.Y.   ilton Nolan needs a little       like wolves—they helped
 societies. People don’t                                         concrete analysis to go          make the herd stronger by
 realize “freedom and de-      WHAT’S THE                        with his critique of the         culling the weak. But now,
                               REAL THREAT?
 mocracy” have been the                                          U.S. Constitution. We are        with high-powered scoped
 natural state of most hu-     If Donald Trump is no more        well aware of the elitist        rifles, there is little to no
 man beings for hundreds       of a threat to democracy          structures, like the Sen-        selection, except perhaps
 of thousands of years.        than the Constitution, as         ate and Electoral College.       to find the biggest elk. We
               —Linda Cree Hamilton Nolan writes in              But what is under fire at        are doing the opposite of
                     Michigan “Big Panic for a Democracy         the moment, and needs            what a good predator does.
                               that Never Was” (InThe-           to be defeated, are the             Hunting is generally
 DEMOCRATIC                    seTimes.com), then how            state-level GOP efforts to       more ethical than buy-
 PARTY SOCIALIST
                               is the Texas abortion law a       suppress voting and hijack       ing factory-farmed meat,
 I may be a very long-        “setback,” as Chris Walker         counting and certify-            but that does not make
 standing member of the        writes in “Wisconsin Abor-        ing votes. To defeat all         it good or necessary. So
 Democratic Party, but I’m     tion Rights Could Be Set          these current efforts will       there’s the challenge: Can
 also a democratic socialist Back Nearly 200 Years”              require our organization         hunters become decent
 who believes the country      (InTheseTimes.com)?               at the base on a massive         predators by taking the
 is us—we, the people.            What’s more, why is ev-        scale. We will deal with         weakest prey species? If
   The weird stigma at-        ery Black activist, writer,       the Electoral College and        they haven’t done that
 tached to the label “demo- politician and would-be              such in due time, but first      on their own by now, is it
 cratic socialism” comes       revolutionary fighting the        things first.                    likely to happen at all?
 from corporate inter-         GOP’s attempt to disen-                    —Carl Davidson                       —Glenn Wahl
 ests who are terrified of     franchise voters of color?                       Aliquippa, Pa.                     Via Facebook
 citizens organizing to bal-   It’s because they recog-
 ance between economic         nize that, though funda-
 interests and the well-be-    mentally flawed and built
 ing of the citizenry.         in  a colonialist/white su-       Q TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL
    Elected politicians        premacist    society, exercis-    Tell us what you like, what you hate and what you’d like to
 swear an oath upon tak-       ing  the  right to vote is one    see more of by emailing letters@inthesetimes.com or tweeting
 ing office, promising         way   to redress  grievances,     @inthesetimesmag, or reach us by post at 2040 N. Milwaukee
 to uphold and protect         expand    democracy    and        Ave., Chicago, IL 60647.

4   IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
IN CONVERSATION

           ɯ          RIGHT ON, BRAND
                                                                                                             LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
                                                                                                             We’ve heard a lot over the past few months about how abor-
                                                                                                             tion rights are facing their greatest threat since Roe v. Wade
                                                                                                             was decided in 1973. But this threat has been looming for at
                                                                                                             least a decade, felt nowhere more clearly and harshly than
                                                                                                             across much of rural America and in low-income households.
                                                                                                                After years of clinic closures nationwide, one in five peo-
                                                                                                             ple in need of abortion now lives more than 50 miles from a
                                                                                                             clinic. Piling onto geographic barriers are increasingly re-
                                                                                                             strictive state laws—predominately in the Midwest and the
                                                                                                             South—such as mandatory 24-hour waiting periods, anti-
                                                                                                             abortion counseling, forced ultrasound viewings and multi-
V I A YOU T UB E

                                                                                                             ple in-person check-ups.
                                                                                                                Though clinics and abortion funds attempt to make the
                                                                                                             procedure more accessible, many states also prohibit abor-

        L
                                                                                                             tion coverage in insurance plans for public employees and in
                ook who’s reading us now!                       piece, “Which Side Are You                   Medicaid. Without insurance, the abortion pill alone costs, on
                It’s British comedian and                       Democrats On?” (reprinted                    average, $500.
                activist Russell Brand,                         in this issue as “Pro-Labor                     All of these undue burdens have left people like Isabelle, a
                 known for his pro-labor                        President? Where?”, page 12).                21-year-old in rural northern Wisconsin, with few options
                (and pro-Labour) political                      At press time, more than half a              (see page 6). Unable to afford a child and more than 200
          stances, along with his popu-                         million people had tuned in.                 miles from the nearest clinic, Isabelle was forced to self-in-
          list, often crass and comically                           As Nolan’s article points out,           duce an abortion at great risk to her health. She consumed
          dark takes on such issues as                          the labor movement has seen                  large amounts of alcohol and smoked several packs of ciga-
          wealth inequality, corporate                          little action from the Biden ad-             rettes a day until she miscarried.
          capitalism and climate change.                        ministration. “The power just                   We hold our breath for a decision on Dobbs v. Jackson
          In December 2021, Brand                               bends them into the direction                Women’s Health Organization. If Roe is overturned, the
          pushed a new video on his                             that power tends to move in,                 nightmare Isabelle has been living could become a reality
          popular YouTube channel titled                        so they are kind of largely ir-              overnight for people living in 21
         “ ‘F*CK YOUR JOB!!!’ So THIS is                        relevant,” Brand says of the                 states. If Roe is upheld, however, I
          WHY Workers Are QUITTING!”                            Democratic Party. “I believe                 ask that you don’t forget about the
         — in which he gives a dramatic                         that a strong union movement                 millions of folks in rural and low-
          reading (complete with com-                           can be a healthy part of a nec-              income homes, who will continue
          mentary) of our intrepid labor                        essary change that we re-                    to live where an actual choice post-          Hannah Faris
          reporter Hamilton Nolan’s                             quire,” he adds.                             Roe was never a guarantee.                    Wisconsin Idea Editor

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                                                                                                                                                        FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES                                               5
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
DISPATCHES
                                                                                                                                          who need abortions in Wiscon-
                                                                                                                                          sin don’t have local access to
                                                                                                                                          clinics. Even with access, peo-
                                                                                                                                          ple face restrictions like 24-hour
                                                                                                                                          waiting periods and state-man-
                                                                                                                                          dated anti-abortion counseling,
                                                                                                                                          forced ultrasound viewings
                                                                                                                                          and parental consent (for mi-
                                                                                                                                          nors). Wisconsin also prohibits
                                                                                                                                          abortion coverage in insurance
                                                                                                                                          plans for public employees and
                                                                                                                                          those sold on the federal insur-
                                                                                                                                          ance marketplace. Should Roe
                                                                                                                                          v. Wade be overturned, an 1849
                                                                                                                                          state law would immediately
                                                                                                                                          outlaw almost all abortions.
                                                                                                                                             Wisconsin is also one of 23
                                                                                                                                          states to have TRAP laws on the
                                                                                                                                          books, short for the “targeted
                                                                                                                                          regulation of abortion providers,”

                                                                                                 A A R O N O F L . A . PHOTO GR A PH Y
                                                                                                                                          which saddle abortion provid-
                                                                                                                                          ers with medically unnecessary
                                                                                                                                          restrictions. One such law, for
                                                                                                                                          example, requires that health
                                                                                                                                          centers providing the procedure
                                                                                                                                          be within 30 minutes of a hos-
                                                                                                                                          pital. In addition, anti-abortion
                                                                                                                                          groups have established 55 so-
                         Last Resort                            11 weeks of the last menstrual
                                                                period. And only three health
                                                                                                                                          called crisis pregnancy centers
                                                                                                                                          around the state, which claim to
                         Abortion                               centers provide in-clinic proce-
                                                                dures, all in cities far from most
                                                                                                                                          offer reproductive care but most-
                                                                                                                                          ly exist to intercept, delay and
                         RHINEL A NDER , W IS. —When Is-        rural residents—two Planned                                               confuse people in need of abor-
                         abelle started craving pickles in      Parenthood clinics in Milwaukee                                           tions. Many are located in rural
                         summer 2021, she knew some-            and Madison, and an Affiliated                                            cities like Beaver Dam, Elkhorn,
                         thing was wrong. She assumed           Medical Services clinic in Mil-                                           Ladysmith and Woodruff—one
                         her late period was stress-relat-      waukee. That means only three                                             of the places Isabelle called after
                         ed—until she took a pregnancy          of Wisconsin’s 71 counties have                                           she discovered she was pregnant.
                         test. At 21, unable to raise a child   an abortion provider.                                                        But Isabelle never had any hes-
                         and without access to abortion           Because of social stigma, Isa-                                          itation about getting an abortion.
               Above:    care in her rural community,           belle (whose name has been                                               “At that point in my life, I knew I
    A pro-life banner    Isabelle self-induced an abortion.     changed) told few people about                                            could not raise a child and have
         hangs on the       In Wisconsin, a state with          her pregnancy. “I [fear] every-                                           it be a well-adjusted human,”
    side of a building   some of the most “severely re-         one is like, ‘You’re a whore; you                                         she says. “I was still in college;
       in Tomah, Wis.,
                         strictive” abortion laws in the        should have seen it coming,’ ”                                            I had no job; I had no money; I
    on Aug. 12, 2021,
         contributing
                         nation, people in need of an abor-     Isabelle says. “I did everything                                          didn’t really have my own place
      to the milieu of   tion have little time to lose. As of   that I should have been doing                                             to stay … it was a completely self-
    abortion’s social    2021, only four health centers in      to prevent pregnancy and I still                                          less act in my mind.”
      stigma in rural    Wisconsin provide the abortion         ended up in this situation.”                                                 Still, Isabelle had no way
           Wisconsin.    pill, which must be taken within         Like Isabelle, 70% of people                                            to get to a clinic, the closest

6     IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
being over three hours away.            self-induce an abortion. She
                                                                               THIS MONTH
She called her local hospital, but
her doctor “told me everything
she could do for me if I kept it,
                                        started a daily regimen that in-
                                        cluded three packs of cigarettes,
                                        lots of alcohol and 5,000 milli-
                                                                               IN LATE CAPITALISM
but nothing she could do for me         grams of vitamin C. Within days,
if I couldn’t,” Isabelle says.          she started bleeding vaginally;        ? THE "GENIUS, EDGELORD, VISIONARY" WHO
   Next, Isabelle called New            two weeks later, another preg-            OWNS "AMERICA'S SPACEFARING FUTURE"
Daw n P reg nancy Resou rce             nancy test confirmed it was over.         warns his company, SpaceX,
Center in Woodruff, an anti-             “I thought, ‘I am getting rid            is actually at risk of bank-
                                                                                  ruptcy! (Yes, we’re talking
abortion center. She knew she           of this baby and that’s all I am
                                                                                  about Time magazine’s
could not get an abortion there,        going to do,’ ” Isabelle says. “If
                                                                                 “person of the year,” Elon
but thought the “pregnancy re-          abortion is taken away in Wis-
                                                                                  Musk.) To help, Musk can-
source center” would help. Of           consin completely, people will            celed holiday breaks at the
course, it did not.                     do much worse things.”                    company, already known
   Finally, Isabelle asked her          SAM S TROOZ AS is a freelance jour-       for layoffs and alleged la-
partner to drive her to a clinic.       nalist writing about gender and sex-      bor law violations. What if
But he refused, and she couldn’t        ual health.                               our “spacefaring future” is
do it alone, as the 24-hour wait-
                                        Farmers
                                                                                  just, like, still being treated
i ng p er io d a nd ma ndator y                                                   poorly… but in space??
checkups would require three
or four roundtrips.
   Michelle Velasquez, director of
                                        Reject Nicor's                         ? BIG COMPANIES ARE REACTING TO THE GREAT
                                                                                 RESIGNATION BY PROMISING HIGHER WAGES,
advocacy at Planned Parenthood
of Wisconsin, says rural and low
                                        Pipe Dream                               but promises don’t pay the bills. Take Lauren,
                                                                                 23, who was promised up to $14 at McDon-
income residents are often left         PEMBROKE TOWNSHIP, ILL. —At              ald’s but found the “starting” wage was actu-
behind. Velasquez tells In These        the end of a maze of dirt roads          ally $11. The younger generation is leaning in,
Times that because health cen-          lies a 40-acre teaching farm             though, and becoming their own bosses with
                                                                                 multiple gigs, a trend known as “polywork.”
ters often rent their spaces, land-     called Black Oaks Center, where
                                                                                 Or as it used to be called, “scraping by.”
lord discretion and zoning laws         local residents gathered on a
can inhibit centers’ abilities to       Sunday in November 2021 for a          ? CVS AND OTHER CHAINS ARE BEMOANING
move into communities. In other         farmland restoration workshop            A WAVE OF “ORGANIZED SHOPLIFTING.”
places, anti-abortion protestors        and community gathering. “If             Walgreens even used it as an excuse to close
gather outside of Planned Par-          you all want to bust wood again,         some stores. Back in reality, even the FBI re-
enthoods, even the ones that do         they’re out there,” said Dr. Jifun-      ports larceny rates are at their lowest since
not perform abortions.                  za Wright-Carter—who runs the            1985. Wage theft, however, is growing; the
   Many who need abortions              center with her husband, Fred            Economic Policy Institute reports workers in
seek discreet options, such as          Carter—to the newest arrivals.           the 10 most populous states lose $8 billion
Just the Pill, a nonprofit that         Some joined the group clearing           annually. Apparently, stealing is only “bad” if it
operates virtually in Minnesota,        felled trees for off-grid home-          hurts the bosses.
Montana, Wyoming and serves             steading, while others stayed in-
surrounding states. Because the         side to warm up and chat.              ? NOTICE ANY STRANGERS BECOMING NEW
abortion pill cannot be mailed             In addition to raising food and       FRIENDS ON YOUR SOCIAL? If you’re underwa-
                                                                                 ter, those “friends” might be debt collectors,
in Wisconsin, for example, the          hosting classes, Black Oaks has
                                                                                 now legally allowed to personally email and
group drops it off at the Minne-        become a hub for organizing
                                                                                 message you. It’s not just creepy and unpro-
sota border. Regardless, as Dr.         against a proposed natural gas
                                                                                 fessional, but opens the door to new scam-
Julie Amaon, medical director at        pipeline some locals say threat-                         mers hoping to score what-
Just the Pill, points out, rural res-   ens the area’s farming way of                                    ever cash you have left.
idents still need transportation.       life, which is rooted in environ-                                 When in doubt, kick
   With time running out, Isa-          mental stewardship.                                                   ‘em out.
b el le’s on ly o pt ion wa s to           Fou nded in t he 1860s by

                                                                                         FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES               7
DEFUND? What's Next for - In These Times
RESIST

           SAN FR ANCISCO — United under the anti-imperialist social media hashtag #NoMore, hundreds of primarily Ethiopian
           American and Eritrean American demonstrators gather at Twitter’s headquarters Dec. 10, 2021. Twitter has been
           accused of censoring activists and enabling the spread of violent content. Since November 2020, the northern Tigray
           region of Ethiopia has faced civil war and thousands have died in conflict. Activists fear the civil war will be used as
           pretext for U.S. meddling. (Photo by Anibal Martel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

                    Joseph “Pap” Tetter after he es-      method,” says Carter, whose un-       fund the pipeline in Pembroke,
                    caped slavery, Pembroke served        cle came here from the South in       which is designated a “hardship
                    as a refuge for others f leeing       the 1950s and bought five acres.      area,” by raising rates on all Ni-
                    North and for local Potawatomi          Now, Nicor Gas is pursuing          cor ratepayers. Three weeks later,
                    people evading displacement           a $10 million plan to lay more        Nicor filed for a Certificate of
                    to reservations. It grew into the     than 30 miles of gas lines to         Public Convenience and Neces-
                    largest Black farming communi-        connect hundreds of Pembroke          sity from the Illinois Commerce
                    ty in the northern United States.     households, despite opposition.       Commission to begin installa-
                    Farmers grew hemp there dur-          Supporters claim the project          tion in Pembroke Township.
                    ing World War II and supplied         will kick-start local economic           Pembroke residents only found
                    food to Chicago during the Great      development, while opponents          out about the request a month lat-
                    Migration. Generations of Black       warn it threatens Pembroke’s          er, in October 2021, says Wright-
                    farmers have since preserved          rich ecosystem and could dis-         Carter. She helped form the
                    Pembroke’s rare three-biome           place Black farmers.                  Pembroke Environmental Jus-
                    ecosystem, known for its black          On Aug. 27, 2021, despite lob-      tice Coalition (PEJC) shortly af-
                    oak savanna habitat.                  bying from Pembroke residents         ter, which moved to intervene in
                     “Regenerative agriculture was        and environmentalists, Illinois       court. But the lost month is em-
                    what we did by default, because       Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill      blematic of how the process has
                    we couldn’t afford any other          that will allow the company to        played out, Wright-Carter says.

   8   IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
Nicor’s v ir t ual commu nit y
 meetings on Sept. 8–9, 2021, were
                                         investigation by the Illinois attor-
                                         ney general for $500 million in
                                                                                   FOR THE WIN
 held in the morning, when many          environmental damages, includ-            •   NEW YORK CITY OPENED ITS FIRST
 residents were at work, in a com-       ing potential water contamination             SUPERVISED DRUG-INJECTION SITES
 munity without reliable internet        at a dozen sites.                             to help stop overdose deaths.
 access—noted Gavin Kearney,               “As a farmer,” McDonald says,               Trained staff at two locations
 senior counsel with the Chicago        “I’m worried about where the line              provide clean needles,
 Lawyers’ Committee for Civil            is going to run and how it’s going to         administer naloxone (as
                                                                                       needed) to prevent overdoses
 R ights, who represents PEJC.           affect my growth.” Some residents
                                                                                       and provide options for
“This is not the process you would       also fear their land may be seized
                                                                                       addiction treatment. The
 create if you were genuinely inter-     under eminent domain and trees
                                                                                       centers prevented at least two
 ested in whether the public wants       will be torn down, and many ques-
                                                                                       overdoses in their first day.
 this, and what their concerns are,”     tion whether Nicor conducted an
 Kearney says.                           environmental impact study.               •   AMAZON WORKERS HAVE ANOTHER SHOT
   “We’re this close to them install-       If Pembroke is going to convert            AT UNIONIZING. The National Labor
 ing,” says Wright-Carter, “and          to a new energy system, mem-                  Relations Board says Amazon illegally
                                                                                       interfered with the April 2021 election in
 nobody knows where it’s going to        bers of PEJC say there are cleaner,
                                                                                       Bessemer, Ala., so there’s going to be a
 come in. No one’s seen a map.”          more affordable options. The Il-
                                                                                       redo. If a majority votes to join the Retail,
    Meanwhile, Mark Hodge, mayor         linois Climate and Equitable Jobs
                                                                                       Wholesale and Department Store Union,
 of nearby Hopkins Park, is promis-      Act, passed the same session as               it would establish the first unionized
 ing a local economic boost from         Nicor’s funding bill, creates mil-            Amazon warehouse in the United States.
 the gas lines, and the Rev. Jesse       lions of dollars of incentives for
 Jackson, of the Rainbow PUSH            low-income communities to con-            •   UNIONIZED WIRECUTTER WORKERS
                                                                                       WALKED OUT Black Friday weekend
 Coalition in Chicago, calls the         vert to renewable energy. Nicor
                                                                                       in protest of their treatment by
 project a “big deal” and a “new         is “locking in natural gas … at the
                                                                                       management at the New York Times
 day for Pembroke, a Black farm-         same time that we, as a state, are
                                                                                       Company. Workers missed their
 ing community that has been left        passing legislation that says we              expected holiday overtime but the
 behind.” Jackson adds it “will help     want to eliminate fossil fuels” by            union's GoFundMe made up the
 bring business to Pembroke, and it      2045, Kearney notes.                          difference, with excess contributions
 will help others do business with          Carter puts it this way: “We need          going to other strike funds.
 Pembroke.”                              a long-term plan around our future
    Members of PEJC, however,            that does not include the harm of         •   BARBADOS IS THE WORLD’S
                                                                                       NEWEST REPUBLIC, removing
 think the burden of the project         our health and our environment.”
                                                                                       Queen Elizabeth II as its
 outweighs any benef it. Many           ZOE PHARO is a Chicago-based writer            head of state in a nod
 residents heat their homes with        and In These Times editorial intern. She       to moving beyond its
 a mix of propane, wood and elec-       holds a degree in political science from       colonial past. The new
 tric space heaters, and switching      Carleton College.
                                                                                       republic does remain
 to gas appliances would be ex-                                                        in the Commonwealth,
 pensive—especially in such a poor
 community.
                                        A "Roofless                                    along with the likes of
                                                                                       Australia, Canada, India
   “I’m a senior citizen, so it’s not
 like I have a whole lot of money
                                        Prison" for                                    and Belize.
                                                                                   •   CHICAGO ORGANIZERS OPPOSE
 stashed away to do that,” says Di-
 ane McDonald, a 32-year resident
                                        Haitian                                        THE USE OF SHOTSPOTTER TECHNOLOGY.
                                                                                       The tech allegedly locates gunshots
 of Pembroke. McDonald says she
 wants to see reliable internet and
                                        Refugees                                       and dispatches police before 911 calls
                                                                                       come in, but a report from Chicago’s
 electricity first.                      M O N T E R R E Y, M E X I C O — Wilson       Office of Inspector General states that,
    Wright-Carter also fears a natu-    sits, constantly refreshing his                of the more than 50,000 ShotSpotter
 ral gas explosion, as the nearest      phone, waiting for COMAR, the                  alerts sent to police, only 9.1% involved
 f ire department is a half-hour        Mexican Commission for Refugee                 a gun-related crime. The report also
 away. Nicor has a history of gas       Assistance, to reschedule his ap-              confirms activists’ claims that the
 leaks and explosions and is under      pointment, originally set for Oct.             technology biases police behavior.

                                                                                         FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES                9
13, 2021. A day prior he received a            as they had aspired. Under the                  have deterred many Haitians
                         cancelation through email.                     Biden administration’s Title 42                 from completing their journey
                           The Casa Indi migrant shelter                policy (initiated by the Trump                  north, but they face another set
                         in Monterrey, in northeastern                  administration under the pre-                   of hostile conditions in Mexico.
                         Mexico, received 1,600 Haitian                 text of preventing the spread of                The Mexican government has
                         migrants in September 2021, a                  Covid-19), thousands of Haitian                 mirrored Biden administration
                         month after a tropical storm                   migrants seeking asylum were                    policies by militarizing the coun-
                         damaged large swaths of the                    simply expelled back to Haiti or                try’s southern border, enforcing
                         island and contributed to the                  southern Mexico. The rest, like                 mass detention and deportation,
                         destabilization that has forced                Wilson, remain in limbo, even                   and subjecting migrants to a
                         tens of thousands of Haitians                  as more refugees arrive. In ad-                 grueling asylum process.
                         to flee. By early November, “of                dition to Title 42, the Biden ad-                 According to Yetzi Rosales
                         the 1,600, there are now about                 ministration is also restarting                 Martínez, a researcher at El Cole-
                         800 ... t here’s now enough                    the Trump administration’s in-                  gio de la Frontera Norte in Mon-
                         space for everyone to live inside              famous Remain in Mexico pro-                    terrey, the chain reaction starts
                         the shelter” rather than in tents,             gram, whereby migrants must                     with the United States. “Histori-
                         says José Jaime Salinas, Casa                  wait in Mexico until they are                   cally, everything depends on the
                         Indi’s accountant.                             approved, and expanding it to                   politics of U.S. immigration,”
                           But it’s unlikely those who                  include Haitians.                               Martínez says. “When [the Unit-
                         left made it to the United States                These aggressive U.S. policies                ed States] needs population, it

      IN CASE YOU MISSED IT                                                                                      ALL THE NEWS THAT WAS FIT TO PRINT—
                                                                                HYPED                                  AND WHAT GOT PRINTED INSTEAD
            More than 23,300 people have signed
            a Change.org petition demanding the
            media stop interviewing Will Smith                                          The United States is crossing
            and Jada Pinkett Smith. Maybe they                                          the threshold of 800,000
            don't know they can turn off their TVs.                                     Covid deaths, with older
                                                                                        Americans hardest hit.

                                     Actor Jussie Smollett’s bizarre hoax—                                                     The not guilty verdict in the
                                      in which he staged a hate crime against                                                  Kyle Rittenhouse trial will
                                      himself for publicity—handed the                                                         surely embolden right-wing
                                     Right an opportunity to attack Black                                                      extremists and vigilantes.
                                    Lives Matter and criminal justice reform.
TRIVIAL

                                                                                                                                                               V I TA L
                Matthew McConaughey will not                                               Healthcare costs pushed
                run for Texas governor, the                                                more than half a billion
                actor announced on Instagram.                                              people worldwide into
                                                                                           extreme poverty in 2021.

                                    Celebrity surgeon and                                                                A new study in Nature Communications
                                    pseudoscience guru                                                                    suggests rain will become more
                                    Dr. Oz is running for                                                                common precipitation than snow in
                                   Senate in Pennsylvania.                                                              the Arctic within the next 80 years.
                                                                            IGNORED

10        IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
opens the borders. When it does
                                                        not, it starts deporting.”
                                                           With the crackdown at Mex-
                                                        ico’s borders , Ha it ia ns a re
                                                        trapped in cities like Monterrey,
                                                        where they form a “permanent”
                                                        commu nit y u nder consta nt
                                                        threat of deportation. Wilson,
                                                        28, would be happy to build a
                                                        life in Mexico with his 29-year-
                                                        old wife and 2-year-old son, but
                                                        he is waiting on COMAR. “If
                                                        I get [my papers], I can work,”
                                                        he says. Migrants at Casa Indi
                                                        have reported that some em-
                                                        ployers have offered them work
                                                        without papers, but the condi-
                                                        tions are exploitative, with mis-
                                                        treatment and little rest.
                                                           The racism that Afro-Mexi-
                                                        cans and dark-skinned Mexi-          Haitian migrants Samuel, 32, and Louis, 29, pose with their 3-year-old daughter at a makeshift
                                                                                             camp in Ciudad Acuña, Mexico, on Sept. 22, 2021, sheltering here out of fear of deportation
                                                        cans face is also experienced
                                                                                             from within the United States.
                                                        by Black migrants in accessing
                                                        employment, healthcare, edu-         assist the migrant population.”           States has coerced market-ori-
                                                        cation and housing. As African         Enise Charles has had prob-             ented reforms and backed the
                                                        and Caribbean migration to and       lems for mont hs w it h an ir-            violent 1991 and 2004 coups that
                                                        through Mexico has increased         regular menstrual cycle that              overthrew democratically elect-
                                                        in the past decade, human rights     sometimes makes it difficult to           ed President Jean-Bertrand Aris-
                                                        groups have documented in-           walk. She’s still waiting for a gy-       tide. That destabilization has
                                                        stances of local police harassing    necologist. “I want to settle in a        contributed to Haiti’s present
                                                        and robbing Black migrants, and      place to receive the proper treat-        political crisis in the aftermath
                                                        a lack of adequate housing.          ment,” she says.                          of President Jovenel Moïse’s July
                                                           John Bayard, who made the           Charles, 25, who taught kinder-         2021 assassination. Now, the
                                                        dangerous journey from Chile         garten in Haiti, left Chile with her      United States has inserted itself
                                                        to Mexico with his wife and          boyfriend partly due to growing           to support Ariel Henry as Haiti’s
                                                        3-year-old daughter, says he         anti-Black and anti-immigrant             leader, despite being unelected.
                                                        could only find overpriced rent      discrimination. They arrived in           State Department Special Envoy
                                                        in an insecure neighborhood—         the southern Mexican city of Ta-          to Haiti Daniel Foote resigned in
                                                        and the municipal police took        pachula, where tens of thousands          September 2021 in protest of this
                                                        a large amount of his savings.       of Haitians await the outcome of         “international puppeteering.”
                                                       “[The local police] intimidate us,    their asylum claims. A “roofless            According to Phillips, Hai-
                                                        threaten us with planting drugs      prison” is how a report by Am-            tian Bridge Alliance is expect-
                                                        on us,” Bayard says. “Here, we       nesty International and advoca-           ing “tens of thousands of more
PHOTO B Y PAUL R ATJE /A F P V I A GE T T Y IM AGE S

                                                        have no rights.”                     cy group Haitian Bridge Alliance          Haitians to flee Haiti.” Instead
                                                          “If all the migrants were white,   describes the situation.                  of “putting up walls and crimi-
                                                        we would not be seeing this,”          According to Nicole Phillips,           nalizing them,” Phillips adds,
                                                        says Katy Cavazos, a psycholo-       legal director of Haitian Bridge         “the Americas and clearly the
                                                        gist and activist who has assist-    Alliance, “People are desperate           U.S. need to prepare for how we
                                                        ed Central American migrants         to leave.”                                can welcome the Haitian mi-
                                                        for years. “In this classist and       Some argue the United States            grant community.”
                                                        xenophobic state, it is difficult    has a special responsibility to            CHANTAL FLORES is an independent
                                                        to make any concrete plans to        support Haitians. The United               journalist based in Monterrey, Mexico.

                                                                                                                                                     FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES           11
N          T
VIEWPOI
                        H A M I LTO N N O L A N                                         Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

                  Pro-Labor President?                                                  It is a trifling sum for Bezos,
                                                                                        who has accumulated more

                  Where?
                                                                                        than $100 billion while doing
                                                                                        everything possible to ensure

                  W
                                                                                        that his hundreds of thousands
                            e are told that           done from the very top—where      of workers are unable to
                              President Joe Biden     the agenda is set, and where      organize to improve their
                              is the most pro-        symbolism matters?                own lives. Bezos specifically
                   labor president in decades.           During the pandemic-           asked that the donation be
                   That seems to be true. It is       wracked year of 2021, there       earmarked to build a plaza in
                   also a good demonstration          was no more important or          honor of Rep. John Lewis, the
                   of the fact that looking to        inspiring union story than the    late civil rights leader.
                   the Democratic Party for           effort to unionize an Amazon         John Lewis was a strong
                   salvation is a surefire way for    warehouse in Bessemer, Ala.       supporter of unions. Imagine
                   the labor movement to              It represented an attempt to      how meaningful it would
                   get nowhere. Let’s take                                                 have been if Barack Obama
                   a moment to reflect on                                                  had publicly supported
                   what our Democratic                                                     the Amazon union drive in
                   friends have done for us                                               Alabama. He didn’t, though.
                   lately.                                                                 But he will have a “ ​ plaza”
                      People who view the                                                  paid for by the guy who has
                   world through the lens                                                  become richer than god by
                   of electoral politics tend                                              crushing Amazon workers.
                   to dislike the question, ​                                              I hope that plaza will be
                  “Which side are you on?” It                                              spacious enough for John
                   is seen as unsophisticated,                                             Lewis to roll over in his
                   simplistic—a black-                                                     grave. Thank you for your
                   and-white view of a                                                     leadership, Obama.
                   political reality in which                                                 There is another inspiring
                   compromise is the path to          crack the most influential and    union drive, which began
                   getting anything done. But         powerful (and anti-union)         in Buffalo, N.Y., and is
                   the phrase has great utility. It   company in the nation, a          spreading across the country,
                   acknowledges that there are        battle which will have ripple     happening at Starbucks. The
                   sides, and that you have to        effects on the future of          billionaire former chairman
                   be on one. Power concedes          work across the country in        of Starbucks—stop me if this
                   nothing without a fight.           decades to come. Though           sounds familiar—is leading a
     HAMILTON         A year into full Democratic     the union lost that election,     ruthless anti-union campaign
      NOLAN        control of the federal             the company cheated, and          to try to stop his workers from
                   government, and a year out         another election will be          organizing. That billionaire is
    is a labor
    reporter       from the likely end of that        held. In the fight to unionize    named Howard Schultz, and
  for In These     happy arrangement, is a useful     Amazon, everyone must be on       if Hillary Clinton had been
 Times. He has     time to consider what the labor    a side.                           elected president in 2016, she
 spent the past    movement has gotten out of           Biden himself did send a        was reportedly going to name
 decade writing    this ostensibly ideal situation.   supportive, if vague, statement   him as her secretary of labor.
  about labor      Have we gotten the PRO Act,        to the Amazon workers. His           Joe Biden didn’t do quite
  and politics     the number one thing labor         predecessor can’t say the same.   so bad. He picked as his labor
   for Gawker,     wants and needs? No. Nor           In November 2021, we learned      secretary former Boston
  Splinter and     will we, until the filibuster      that former President Barack      Mayor (and union guy) Marty
 The Guardian.     is gone. So what else has the      Obama’s foundation accepted       Walsh—an establishment pick,
                   Democratic establishment           a $100 million donation from      but one broadly endorsed by

12   IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
THE                     BIG                                IDEA
 major union leaders. Walsh has
                                     de•cen•                                           decades.) Web3 is a vision of the internet
                                                                                       free from the control of corporate
 had the good fortune to be the
 government’s top labor official
                                     tral• ized                                        gatekeepers and government regulators.
                                                                                          Like much else in Silicon Valley, it’s hard
 during a months-long wave of
 strikes that has garnered much
                                     in•ter•net                                        to pin down exactly what web3 “really” is
                                                                                       or how it would work, because it’s more of
                                     noun                                              a grand vision than a specific proposal or
 public attention. There have
 been many inspirational strikes     1.   a way to democratize web                       technology. Of course, that isn’t stopping
                                                                                          venture capitalists from pouring billions
 in the past year, none more              access and break Big Tech
                                          monopolies                                       of dollars into the idea.
 hard-fought than that of the
 United Mine Workers members
                                     + Is the internet really                                 + Do we really want an
 in Brookwood, Ala., who have        “centralized” right                                       unregulate-able internet,
 been striking against Warrior        now? Not in the sense                                    though? Probably not. A
 Met Coal. Theirs is a tough          that any single entity “owns”                           lot of cryptocurrency activity,
 battle. It is the exact sort of      the internet, but a handful of                        for example, looks a lot like an
 strike that has historically been    corporations do exercise
 won when the government
 helped the union, and lost when
                                      enormous control over the
                                      bulk of the internet’s physical       “ innovation,
                                                                              [We need] discussions about
 the government didn’t.               infrastructure and the data and                     resilience,
   In November 2021, Marty            commerce that takes place onli
                                      ne. “Decentralized internet” is an
                                                                             open protocols [and] data
 Walsh went to Birmingham
 to hold a news conference. It        umbrella term, but the basic idea      ownership ... if we want
 would have been a perfect            is to circumvent mass surveillance
                                      and prevent giant companies (like
                                                                             the internet to stay free,
 time for him to stop by the
 picket line at Brookwood,            Facebook, Google and Twitter)          democratic and engaging.”
                                      from having any single internet            —IRINA BOLYCHEVSKY, AN ORGANIZER WITH REDECENTRALIZE.ORG
 which is right down the
                                      kill switch, largely by running the
 road. But he didn’t. A couple                                                        evasion of financial regulation (which
                                      internet on peer-to-peer networks.
 of weeks later, Walsh went                                                           is to say, money laundering). And while
 to Buffalo to talk about the        + Does this all have something to do             decentralization might help break corporate
 infrastructure bill. Did he         with Bitcoin? Some cryptocurrency                control over our lives and protect us
 meet with the unionizing            enthusiasts envision a decentralized             against government censorship, it’s not
 Starbucks workers? No. I            internet built around crypto and                 necessarily a panacea. We know that
 suppose those things would          blockchain infrastructure, which they’re         white supremacists, for example, have
 just be a bit too radical for the   calling “web3.” (Web 1.0 generally refers        been relying on peer-to-peer messaging
 secretary of labor of the Most      to the development of the World Wide             networks to continue organizing out of
 Pro-Union President of Our          Web in the 1990s, while web 2.0 refers           public view.
                                     to the internet’s shift toward mobile and
                                                                                     + Should the Left support a
 Lifetimes during the Great
                                     social platforms over the past couple of
 Strike Wave of 2021.                                                                 decentralized internet? We should
   What beaten-down workers                                                           want a more democratic internet, at least.
 really need is not a president                                                       According to the Pew Research Center, 93%
 who will smile and shake                                                             of American adults use the internet, so the
 hands with both them and                                                             question of who mediates those interactions
 the boss who is beating them                                                         is important. We need net neutrality and
 down. They need a president                                                          regulation (or nationalization!) of major tech
 who will shake hands with                                                            companies and service providers, and open-
 them and then tell their boss, ​                                                     source platforms to provide alternatives
“Fuck you. I’m with the union.”                                                       in the meantime. But these are political
   We aren’t likely to see a                                                          challenges more than technological ones—
 Democratic president like that                                                       and, as usual, it’s best not to rush into buying
 any time soon. We better go                                                          whatever Silicon Valley is selling.
 organize some workers, so
 that we can save ourselves.                                                          I L L U S T R AT I O N S B Y T E R R Y L A B A N

                                                                                         FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES                  13
PHOTO B Y JO S E LUIS M AG A N A / A F P

                                           Protesters rally at Black Lives
                                           Matter plaza across from the White
                                           House as President Donald Trump
                                           accepts the Republican presiden-
                                           tial nomination Aug. 27, 2020.

                                           14   IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
What’s Next for the

                    DEFUND
                    Movement?
                    A CONVERSATION BETWEEN ROBIN WONSLEY WORLOBAH, MAKIA GREEN,
                    ANDREW R. HAIRSTON, WILLIE BURNLEY JR AND KANDACE MONTGOMERY

                    F
                                 ive police abolitionists from around the
                                 country—some of them newly elected
                                 to city councils—talk about lessons
                                 from November 2021, the efficacy of
                                 the “defund the police” demand and
                                 where the movement goes from here.
GE T T Y IM AGE S

                                                              FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES   15
MINNEAPOLIS                                         ROBIN WONSLEY WORLOBAH: I think often in these
                                                                          conversations—and within our movement—it’s
                                                                          about policing only. And that’s also how the oppo-

                     I
                        n the birthplace of the summer 2020 up-           sition tries to frame it. But actually, under a capi-
                        rising over the police murder of George           talist society, policing is only one piece. My city
                        Floyd, the defund movement took a blow in         council campaign put Question 2 within a socialist
                        November 2021. Ballot Question 2, which           analysis: “We have to correct the conditions under
                        would have opened the door for major              racial capitalism that cause a power imbalance
                        structural changes to the Minneapolis             and inequality that policing ends up reinforcing.
                     Police Department, failed 44%-56%. Yet city          We have to make mass investments in our public
                     council challenger Robin Wonsley Worlobah,           infrastructure, which we know actually address
                     who campaigned in support of Question 2,             crime by stabilizing people’s lives and their com-
                     won by 13 votes in a runoff. And a progressive       munities.” Neoliberals don’t want to hear anything
                     ballot measure to allow rent control, known as       about mass investments. We lead with transitional
                     Question 3, passed 53%-47%.                          demands that not only improve people’s material
                                                                          conditions, but also shine a light on an enemy to
                     K ANDACE MONTGOMERY: The result of the               rally working-class people around—demands like
                     summer 2020 uprising that was led by young           rent control, which maintains some level of hous-
                     Black and brown people here in Minneapolis           ing security for working-class people and has a
                     was a political opportunity to create systemic       very clear class enemy in corporate developers,
                     and transformative change in the ways po-            who generate millions if not billions of dollars of
                     lice hold power and how resources are moved          wealth from working-class people through ever-
                     within the city to support public safety. Many       expansive rents. So then we link these issues by
                     of us understood it as a step toward abolition.      saying, “You are going after our localized enforce-
                     For others, it felt like a necessary step to actu-   ment structure of capitalism, the police.”
                     ally ensure folks’ safety.                             I think the movement backing Question 2 made
                        So the Yes On 2 campaign looked to change         a mistake of not naming the enemy. Because then
                     the city charter—our city’s constitution—to          the opposition was able to say, “You hate the police
                     remove a requirement to keep the police de-          chief, this upstanding Black man.” Or, “You hate
                     partment as it is. Then, it could be replaced by     Black people, you want them to live in communi-
                     a Department of Public Safety that would take        ties riddled with gun violence.” The mayor, these
      KANDACE        a public health approach to our safety. That de-     corporate-backed PACs like Operation Safety Now,
     MONTGOMERY      partment would include police officers but also      the Downtown Council, the chief of police and
   is a Black and    a breadth of other things, like mental health        the police union literally went on four months of a
 queer organizer     responders and nonpunitive social workers.           speaking tour. Almost every weekend, out over in
  in Minneapolis        I’m still processing lessons learned. I think     north Minneapolis, where a baby has just got shot
   and a national    our opposition made the conversation very            and killed, they would basically say, “Look at these
    leader in the    much about abolition or not. That created a lot      grieving parents, look at these grieving Black folks,
   Movement for      of fear for people who are not quite there, who      we can’t afford to try something experimental.”
  Black Lives. She   have some really real concerns around their            We didn’t have a narrative to counteract that at
  is co-executive    physical safety and intercommunal violence.          that scale. And that’s fine—but if we don’t have
 director of Black   And so the conversation became very narrow.          the narrative, then we damn sure have to have the
   Visions, which       But my experience of talking to folks on          ground game. Because, I mean, we’re only run-
   co-issued the     doors, talking to our canvassers, being on the       ning on people power, we ain’t got none of these
   May 2020 de-
                     phones, is that once you are able to actually        corporations sponsoring us.
  mand to defund
                     have the conversation of, “Here’s what a De-           I think there was a missed opportunity to have a
 the Minneapolis
   Police Depart-
                     partment of Public Safety could look like—it         strong ground game in the places that the corpo-
  ment. She was      could include youth programming, it could            rate elite targeted, which was working-class Black
   board chair of    include all of these things”—I found, over-          folks. It was a great testament to the signature
 the Yes 4 Minne-    whelmingly, that even people who were still          campaign [to get Question 2 on the ballot] that they
  apolis coalition   very committed to the idea of still having           reached 1,400 Northside residents, but what if we
   to remove the     police were able to embrace this vision. They        had joined forces with the rent control coalition
   city’s mandate    just needed more time to let go of the policing      [backing Question 3] to do joint canvasses across
     for a police    thing. And that was OK, as long as we were           north Minneapolis? To say, “This is your better of-
    department.      consistently doing that work.                        fer. Not only will you get a quality, equitable public

16    IN THESE TIMES + FEBRUARY 2022
Yes 4 Minneapolis volunteer Tira Howel (right) garners support for Question 2 on Election Day, Nov. 2, 2021, which
                                                                     would have allowed Minneapolis to restructure its police department.

                                                                     safety system, but you’ll stop paying all your money  of 2020. Folks were exhausted, living through
                                                                     to the slumlords. This is how you don’t got to work   a pandemic. Our organizations were all very
                                                                     two jobs in order to take care of your kids. And then much pulled. Multiple organizations, including
                                                                     you’re missing out on your kids, and they’re being    Black Visions, were dealing with internal con-
                                                                     pulled to get involved in other things.”              flict. And a lot of organizers were experiencing
                                                                        Another point the opposition said was, “You pro-   a lack of activity from community members—
                                                                     gressive abolitionists, y’all ain’t got no plan. This because of the economic conditions, because of
                                                                     public safety department ain’t gonna do nothing.”     the pandemic, because of isolation.
                                                                     I’ll be very frank, the coalition had internal debates   Some opportunities had to be missed be-                        ROBIN
                                                                     about this. Very early on, we knew the opposition     cause people just literally didn’t have the ca-                  WONSLEY
                                                                     was going to weaponize the language of the bal-       pacity to pick them up. I name that because                      WORLOBAH
                                                                     lot amendment. And I think there was a missed         I think our movements need to really think                        is Ward 2 city
                                                                     opportunity of putting out that proposal Kandace      about how, in these low moments, we are forti-                  councilor-elect
                                                                     mentioned, around alternative responders.             fying our organizations and our bases and our                   in Minneapolis.
                                                                        My campaign made our own democratic so-            relationships. How are we actually developing                     She has been
                                                                     cialist public safety plan. We made zines of it that  Black organizers so that it’s not just 10 of us                  active in Black
                                                                     we distributed when we were door knocking to          who are brilliant, radical Black strategists in                    Lives Matter
                                                                                                                                                                                           since 2015 and
                                                                     say, “What if we actually invest in what Kandace      the city? Because, to be real, it’s hardly much
JO S HUA LOT T/ T HE WA S HINGTO N P O S T V I A GE T T Y IM AGE S

                                                                                                                                                                                          backed the 2021
                                                                     named—unarmed responders, first responders,           more than that.
                                                                                                                                                                                           ballot measure
                                                                     mental health providers, social workers?”                To the rent control piece: The rent control                   to restructure
                                                                        In our ward, we turned out more than 50% of reg-   coalition was a bit broader, and it was not nec-                    policing. A
                                                                     istered voters, and Question 2 won [56% to 44%].      essarily aligned on policing. Some of the leader-                  democratic
                                                                        And I know Kandace wants to throw in some-         ship intentionally decided not to sign onto our                    socialist, she
                                                                     thing, too.                                           question. And so those collaborations weren’t                  was endorsed by
                                                                                                                           really possible. Again, it speaks to the ways we                the Democratic
                                                                     KANDACE MONTGOMERY: I agree with a lot of those have to build alignment, shared vision. I think                          Socialists of
                                                                     offerings, Robin, and I’m excited to sit down to de- everybody should understand how police aboli-                      America and
                                                                     brief. Just adding, I think it’s important to see the tion gets us to housing justice gets us to these               Socialist Alterna-
                                                                     conditions in which we were fighting, coming out other things, but it’s long-term work.                                    tive MN.

                                                                                                                                                                    FEBRUARY 2022 = IN THESE TIMES         17
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