Con Nuestra Familia No Te Metas!

 

 

“Con mi familia no te metas.” In our Latine community everyone knows this is a code to live by. “Don’t mess with my family!”

My personal and political experiences in this country helped me understand early on that the concept of “family” must extend beyond immediate family to encompass a wider network of people. As an immigrant, I didn’t have my family here, but I had to figure out how to create a family in order to survive and thrive.

The family that I belong to today is big and diverse, and it is being viciously attacked by tyrants who have money and power. The size and complexity of this family can amplify its vulnerabilities and its strengths. We are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, white progressive, working class, unemployed, religious, atheist.

Some days I feel like the little nerd kid in the playground who is simply reading her book when she is approached by the bully who wants to mess with her. The bully who appears strong but is so weak and full of hate that he is ready to inflict his own pain on others.

I am afraid and anxious about what could happen to my immigrant family, but I am also afraid about what could happen to my trans, Black, and Indigenous sisters who had great hope that this country was finally realizing its responsibility to repair the harm it has done. The years of work they put into DEI reparations seem to have been taken away in the blink of an eye.

It is hard to figure out how to respond cleverly and immediately to vicious attacks from bullies.

I feel the punches in my gut when they attack immigrant workers and trans youth, or suspend the contract of my Black sister entrepreneur.

Yes, this is painful, Mr. President, but your punch is not going to leave us crying in the playground. You underestimate the power of my strong, big family. We don’t leave our kids alone on the playground to suffer.

Nothing triggers me like an attack on my family. Attacks on my family have made me remember that strength is in our numbers and that our resilience is in our diversity.

Bullies are not going to derail the progress we have accomplished with tears and hard work. We are not just going to resist — we are organizing to fight against your bullying attacks.

We know how to do this because we have done it before. Your strategy to divide us is not going to work this time. The era of divide and conquer is over.

The political reality we are experiencing in this country will bring our big family together. We know that united we are stronger. Con nuestra familia no te metas!