Social Media in a Time of Political Upheaval
My social media feeds have been all over the place lately. Normally a smattering of mental health-related posts, some good articles here and there, but mostly pictures of my kid or my dog — but now, during the border crisis, it all seems ill-fitting and jarring.
The images of migrants seeking asylum locked in cages, caked in filth, haunts my mind constantly. As I live my charmed life in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, my guilt continues to grow. Why should I be able to carry on, while innocent children at our border suffer? This is a drop-everything-and-scream-for-action type of emergency, yet we carry on. All of us look away sometimes because the alternative would be incapacitating. We have kids to take care of, jobs to do, relationships to manage.
But of course, so do the migrants. They wanted nothing more than a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All three of which, our administration has denied.
So in my Instagram feed shows Beyonce holding a juice box for her child, looking as fierce as ever, next to pictures from Lights for Liberty protests.
A dramatic image of a shadowy blue heron from my family canoeing trip is juxtaposed by colorful picketing signs of “Immigrants make America Great” and “No Hate, No Fear, Refugees are Welcome Here.”
My mind struggles to compute the co-existence of my good life and the miserable lives in cages.
The President is making racist remarks again. His billionaire buddy is raping kids and will probably get away with it.
Do I still write about Asian American identity, and representation? How is this affecting all of our mental health? Does my book matter? Do we hide from all the headlines and live in denial?
What else matters right now but the human rights crisis?
I share the stories of my friends.
John Spencer, a teacher from Arizona wrote a touching post about witnessing an immigration raid and helping to provide sanctuary:
“A decade ago, we were painting a mural and the sheriff did an immigration raid. We watched mothers running with their strollers only to be thrown to the ground as their crying children were pulled away. The crime? They had dared to come here for a better life. It was gut-wrenching to watch. But we didn’t just watch. We acted. We did what little we could do. We led them on campus and the Catholic Church across the street opened their doors as well. We were determined to be a sanctuary. We wouldn’t be neutral in the face of injustice. We wouldn’t say, “Well, both sides . . .” We just had to act. Period.”
Carol Thompson, a mother in Tucson, comforts me:
“I just know there are hundreds of volunteers in Tucson working every day to help the migrants when they have been released to their sponsors/families. Before they are transported by bus to the various locations their sponsor may be, they make 2-3 day stay at a facility run by catholic social services – Tucsonans of all ages donate food, clothes, toys, hygiene items as well as provide translation services, medical exams& serve and prepare meals every day all day. They do it out of love for humanity and try to bring a bit of kindness into these families lives before they move on. These families are getting homemade hot meals, showers and places to sleep. We are really trying not to add more pain and fear into their journey. I am proud of Tucson!”
I share a grinning photo of my child holding the biggest book he could find at our local library.
Because we have to build resilience. We have to rebound, so we can keep fighting. Outrage fatigue is not an option.
So I take breaks. I smile, I laugh at Mindy Kaling’s posts. I get inspired by Awkwafina and The Farewell. I recover and recharge.
But I don’t forget, this is not an option for those in cages.
