Day 6: The message (Boise to Portland)

Who most needs to hear our message? 

The message itself is simple enough (I think): Hispanic immigrants (or anyone) in the United States should not be subject to racial profiling and the absence of due process. 

It’s what this whole mass of land is supposed to be about. At least it’s what’s advertised. 

I say it through the microphone everyday and I’m wondering who needs to hear it the most. Is it the crowd like the one in Portland tonight? Completely on board and ecstatic that I brought it up. They seemed ready to march out of the venue and light the city on fire.

Or is it the people in Boise, ID and Salt Lake? When I said families are being torn apart, US citizens being detained, they were lukewarm about it. No shock . No anger. No clue. It felt uncomfortable for me. 

So why make my situation more uncomfortable? I’m already in a cramped van, I’m already not sleeping. My only solo time for the next few weeks is in the shower.

I thought I did it just to get it off my chest, I thought it was in the hopes that it might change someone’s mind, or piss some people off. Those reasons stand. They are true. But selfishly, it’s also for a camaraderie that I share. 

I say it mostly for the handful of latinos in the crowd each night. 

They come thank me afterwards. We acknowledge that we got each other. That this Country is better off with us, than without us. That these mass deportations are an injustice. That this is cruel. But at the same time, we acknowledge that if this whole experiment goes array, we have land to go back to. That’s the big secret, the inside joke. We may be here because we need to, but push come to shove, we got soil waiting. 

Today I’m heading to Seattle. I’m going to sing in Spanish at a time when it's risky to. I’m going to say what I have to say. I’ll be in the crowd afterwards waiting for the handshake.