Abundance in action
Mx. Lee goes to City Hall
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TW/CW: Police violence, ableism, transphobia, sexual assault
A few weeks ago, I went to Atlanta City Hall to watch public comment opposing the militarized facility being built on an essential forest just outside of Atlanta, which folks have called “Cop City.” My partner planned to speak, but I was unsure of what to say until I was in City Hall for 9 hours and noticed that there were no ASL interpreters or proper captioning during people’s speeches. I was pissed. Even though I am currently learning ASL, I knew that my experience as a Deaf person involved moments with police that were deeply traumatizing. I also knew I wasn’t the only Disabled person to navigate trauma around police brutality. Not having an ASL interpreter in City Hall denied access to important information.
I soon began to write a speech about how I have been negatively impacted by policing and how Disabled people have historically been a target of police. In the discussions to “Stop cop city” as well, I wasn’t seeing as many narratives regarding the impact this facility would have on the Disability community. It was something I recognized I wanted to discuss and share my own personal stories regarding the cops. It was nerve-racking to share some of my own trauma because as much as I share deeply personal things regarding my experiences, this was on a more public platform than I am used to speaking against a powerful system.
News then broke that a longtime mainstay of the community, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, was targeted and arrested. These arrests happened a week before this upcoming public comment.
Leading up to last week’s public comment, we were told to bring empty water bottles for the sake of “security.” So my partner and I woke up early and went to City Hall. Usually, the building is open early as well. However, we were told it wouldn’t be open to the public until 11:15. We arrived at 8:30 with empty water bottles, as instructed. We were already running into inaccessibility and had to rely on community members to bring water for those empty bottles to drink outside as we waited. Thankfully, Council member Liliana Bakhtiari made sure we could get inside earlier. There were so many people inside city hall, which was deeply exhilarating. Swarms of police were watching us from the balconies. I took deep breaths, thinking, “We are in a historic moment.” I kept thinking about my friend Judy Huemann.
I won’t spare the details about the process of getting ready to speak and waiting to speak, we spent many hours at City Hall before having the chance to share what we had to say, and it was a long, long day. The public comment started at 1 pm, and even though I was at the front of the line of speakers, I didn’t get to speak until about 4 pm. Part of my intention with the speech was to call out the lack of funding regarding accessibility in the city. My partner has known Nikki, the ASL interpreter featured in this video, for a long time, and I met them at the Trans Youth march a few months back. Being discouraged about not seeing an ASL interpreter during the public comment last time, I wanted to bring one with me to sign as I was speaking. To provide access and prove that the city wants to fund more violence vs. basic human needs such as an ASL interpreter. Later in the evening, another person who came to public comment needed to have a translator for her speech. City council was having issues finding one until one of the other folks attending public comment volunteered their time to translate for her.
It really took a lot out of me to share so much trauma from my own experience and trauma from the Disabled community as a whole. Soon after my partner and I left the chamber, we saw that the elevators were broken. An older woman in a walker was dehydrated (because they wouldn’t allow members of the audience in the chamber to drink liquids) and tried to go downstairs to get some food. My partner and a couple of other community members had to walk her down the stairs of city hall due to the broken elevator.
My partner and I left around 5:30 pm, but public comment continued until around 4:30 am. There were so many powerful speeches. Indigenous leaders, faith leaders, children, education leaders, veterans, lawyers, EMT’s, Atlanta Solidarity Fund, physicians, sexual assault survivors, doctors, educators, environmentalists, farmers, and arts org leaders came together to speak against the facility. There were over 12 hours of public comment.
I am so thankful for my ASL interpreter, the support from the community, and the people who believed in me enough to cede their time to me so I could speak longer than the allotted two minutes.
There was also inaccessibility when it came to streaming public comment. There were no captions going on as the YouTube stream was live, and some censorship as well.
While the vote didn’t go for what the majority proclaimed and have been proclaiming for two years, I and others believe in a new world. We still have hope for this new world. A world where we are resourced and practicing community care. A world where violence isn’t present. A world where we take care of each other.
We, as Atlantans, showed up for each other at City Hall this past Monday. That abundance of care isn’t going anywhere.
Four things for you!
“Historians are learning more about how the Nazis targeted trans people”
Happy Pride Month! Here’s a very sweet video about Gay Muppet performer Richard Hunt.
If you are in Atlanta, come out to Dandelion Festival next Sunday!
Image description: A flyer featuring an illustration of a butterfly sitting on top of a flower. The text in the flyer reads, “Mariposas Rebeldes presents Atlanta’s 3rd annual Dandelion Fest, weaving back into our sacred web of abundance (swoa) all monetary transactions banned, all are welcome, a day of cambalache and community care. 6/18/23 from 1 to 10 pm at EAV farmers market. Renewal, rebuilding, regrowth.” A friend and community member, Mary Fashik is, still needing community support.
Image description: A beige background with dark brown text that reads, “A queer disabled activist needs help with rising rent costs. Venmo: UAMaryF CashApp: $MaryFashik Paypal: @ MaryFashik As always, thank you so much for taking the time to read my newsletter, and I look forward to sharing things with you soon! I hope that you are staying safe and well. <3
