It never ceases to amaze that despite all that the state and its thuggish bedfellows throw at us, we’ve got each other covered. We blanket each other with solidarity. Even from afar, across borders, we supply comfort.

That’s not a simple task, even under the best of conditions—and fascism is making for the worst. Moreover, given the weight of the collective and individual as well as historical and present-day trauma that’s layered on top of us because of the violence of states and their allies, sticking unflinchingly and lovingly (even when we don’t know and/or don’t always like each other) by each other’s side can sometimes be a challenge. Our pain, our grief, can spill out onto each other in messy ways.

Yet time and again, what the state and its cronies can’t reckon with are the deeply worn threads of our solidarity, notwithstanding our frayed edges.

Overall, we show up. Whether in front of a jail to make tender noise for those inside or at court to offer support, whether by raising tens of thousands for bail or organizing an in-person care clinic, whether by helping keep our movements going strong or holding space for rituals of resistance and communal mourning. Indeed, there’s no way to contain the innumerable acts of solidarity on any sort of laundry list.

Solidarity is being there for each other as if our social relations really matter. Meaning solidarity is acting as if the social relations we desire are already embodied in each and every one of us. Meaning solidarity is our best weapon against the state and its coconspirators.

So on a snowy day on the stolen lands of Tio’tia:ke/Montreal, it shouldn’t surprise—but it should amaze—to see a big sheet-turned-into-banner voicing solidarity and empathy beyond borders for @stopcopcity and the dynamic struggle many hundreds of miles away to @defendatlantaforest.

#ForestsNotFascism
#CareNotCops
#SolidarityNotStates
#DefendWeelauneeForest
#MayTortuguitasMemoryBeABlessing

(photo: banner hanging off a railway overpass with graffiti in the background; the banner reads, “Cop city is a threat to everyone / Solidarity w/Weelaunee forest defenders / Revenge 4 Tort”)

Donations are greatly need for the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, particularly as the detainers, facing the full wrath of the state, go to their second bond hearing on March 23:

https://atlsolidarity.org

Wednesday-of-action postering as seen in a small corner of Tio’tia:ke/Montreal today in solidarity with the upcoming week-of-action gathering (March 4-11) for @stopcopcity in a big forest in Atlanta.

The particular wall pictured here has seen layers of the #ArtOfResistance related to stolen lands and stolen lives—from a powerful mural painted during @unceded_voices several summers ago to an enormous wheatpaste in defense of @yintah_access this past year to mourning and honoring Tortuguita, recently murdered-by-cops in the @defendatlantaforest struggle.

May our solidarity be thickly layered too, from those sticking side by side in the Weelaunee Forest this coming week to all those offering support, love, and collectively caring anarchic infrastructure from near and far.

Tangibly, check out @defendatlantaforest for ways to plug in and pitch in, and give generously to @atlsolfund to abidingly aid all those who the state tries to target.

#SolidarityIsOurBestWeapon
#MayTortuguitasMemoryBeABlessing
#WeAreAllForestDefenders
#TreesAreLife