What’s really happening on the streets of Los Angeles? What are immigrants taken in ICE raids facing? And what does it mean for the upcoming No Kings rallies this weekend?
We just talked about it all with political strategist Anat Shenker-Osorio and Andrés Dae Keun Kwon, a lawyer and organizer at the ACLU of Southern California. Both are immigrants themselves, and, as with so many Americans, they bring that experience to their work supporting the protesters and to their long fight for immigrants’ rights (Kwon, in fact, was motivated to become a lawyer by his own fight for citizenship).
The city of Los Angeles, Kwon told us, just faced the most devastating wildfires in recent history, and now faces a manufactured firestorm. And that’s because, Anat told us, Los Angeles is what Donald Trump and Stephen Miller fear most. It’s a famously immigrant city, where people from all backgrounds can feel at home and come together to build something new. But that’s also the American story. 1 in 8 Americans lives in California. 1 in 35 Americans lives in Los Angeles. It’s as real as America gets, and it’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise. What’s happening now, she said, isn’t just a struggle in the streets, but the epic narrative battle to define what America is.
The pushback against the Trump regime, Anat suggests, may be the spark that catalyzes mass resistance, that provides social proof that Americans are indeed in the know (we understand what’s going on) and in the no (that we refuse this).
So get out there this weekend for the No Kings demonstrations happening nationwide on Saturday, June 14. As Anat has told us before, “Resist, refuse, and ridicule!” And say no to kings, as she sang today (watch the video above and wait for it, with TLC’s “No Scrubs” in your mental karaoke machine).
Your support is how we keep the lights on, pay our writers and editors a fair wage, and build the new media we all deserve. When you subscribe, you help us reach more people. Join us today, or if you are already a member, give a gift or group subscription.
More Live conversations next week!
Join us on Monday, June 16, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, when we talk to scholar of authoritarianism Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Then on Tuesday, June 17, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll have a musical conversation with musician, activist, and author Adam Met. And on Wednesday, June 18, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, Omar El Akkad, author of One Day, Everyhone Will Have Always Been Against This, will join our Book Club meeting.
To join and watch, download the Substack app (click on the button below) and turn on notifications — you’ll get an alert once we’re live, and you can watch, chat, and even participate in the conversation during our Book Club meetings from your iOS or Android mobile device. If you’re using a computer, you can also watch (and ask questions in the text chat) on our homepage.
Share this post