Revolutionary Road

on the front lines and at the heart of the struggle to achieve a sense of justice, a sense of righteousness, and a sense that, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we still have agency over our bodies and the quality of our lives. They are out there on every knowable front of resistance to racism, tyranny, oppression, injustice, inequality and basically anything that threatens people, the planet and Life itself. We have covered and live-streamed their protests, most notably, the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene and Seattle. We have found all to be hubs for an impressive network of individuals, groups and organizations who don’t just gather to protest, they arrive by the thousands prepared to provide for every conceivable human need that might arise including free food, water, shelter, medical and emergency medical, and more. Against a backdrop of chanting, music and percussionists keeping the heartbeat of the movement, artists and creatives have flocked and covered a broad swath of available surfaces in luminous, soulful protest art such as we saw at the CHAZ/ CHOP barricades in Seattle and at and around the JusticeCenter and Federal Courthouse in downtown Portland and Eugene. As someone who has spent the better part of 2 decades as a foot soldier, organizer, journalist and reporter, I’ve found that behind every person that puts life and limb on the line for the betterment of humanity, there is often a story or watershed moment in their lives that changed everything. My overwhelming determination to join the fight was rooted in my experience as a civilian and Mother living in Kuwait and Iraq in 1990 and enduring the horror and trauma of the US-sponsored war I witnessed first hand. There are almost no words to explain how that changed me and my perspective on my country of birth, especially when confronted by a dominant narrative that directly contradicted my lived experience and sociopathic power brokers that sought to silence my witness. Faced with the choice levied by my own Embassy and State Department to shut up and go home with my family intact or risk criminal charges should I choose to stay and fight back with the power of witness and media, my 20 year old self chose to take 9 family members and head back to the U.S. With a heart heavy from grief and guilt from not having what I perceived to be the courage to stay in Iraq and face the imperial demons head on, I spent the next 10 years battling major depression and suicidal tendencies stemming from PTSD, a battle I very nearly didn’t survive until 9-11, when I finally arose from the ashes of my life and made a decision to devote what remained to the arduous work of activism. My efforts have since largely been focused on the anti-war movement, Occupy Wall Street and since 2015, Black Lives Matter. The journey has led me to put my body and life on the line numerous times as a human shield, in 24-7 vigils, hunger strikes, countless protests and even a 4,500 mile trek for Peace across the US in 2007 on my bicycle with my infant twins

REVOLUTIONARY WORDS BY | MICHELE DARR Y ou’ve seen them in the news and in the streets. The unquiet ones, the unabashed ones, the unruly ones, the ones who are not satisfied to remain silent and accept status quo answers to life and death questions. Protesters and activists are simultaneously ROAD

and 11 year old daughter.

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it,” wrote famed author and activist Arundhati Roy. “

Flossin Media has been one of the brightest lights of hope and inspiration on my path and if you have been following us, you know that we have been out there capturing the voices and stories of some of the most fierce, vibrant, loving, determined change makers of our time. In addition to being afforded the luxury of having a day job as a writer and activist, it has also been a profound gift to speak my mind and heart without being tone-policed or content-edited into oblivion. This has been especially important to the longevity of my career as a frontline reporter and journalist because I’ve neither the patience or the willingness to mince words and won’t hesitate to call bullshit on a gaslighting narrative that negates accountability on the right OR the left wing of this crippled nation. As literally all life hangs in the balance, I feel it is criminally irresponsible to bicker and squabble over which sorry-ass tyrant was worse in the wretched, blood-drenched history of this country. The blatant and unbridled fascism that is becoming our new normal didn’t start with Trump and Co. and will not end with them either. The bottom line is that our collective condition will never improve here or anywhere else until we unequivocally dismantle their institutions of oppression by any means necessary.

We who awaken to our purpose beyond passive obedience to the capitalist machinations of this dying Empire, know that our true power is in continuing to persevere and prevail while supporting each other at home and in the streets. In these times of kidnappings and disappearing of front-line activists, I cannot overemphasize how important it is be extra vigilant in looking out for each other. Most of us who regularly protest have joined in the chant “Stay together, stay tight” as a reminder to watch out for and protect one another when we are advanced upon and attacked by police and federal law enforcement and military troops. From exchanging phone numbers and contact information, to forming networks that regularly check in on each other, it is critical that we “stay together, stay tight”, for it is in our most vulnerable alone moments that we are most susceptible to being snatched and disappeared by these empirical forces that have been employing such tactics for hundreds of years around the globe and most recently witnessed on the streets of Seattle and Portland.

“Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it,” wrote famed author and activist Arundhati Roy. “To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe. The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.”

And I hear YOU still breathing, my Friends.The World needs you and your gifts now more than ever and you don’t have to be a front-line protester to make a difference. Anything done for the betterment of humanity, the earth and all of life, causes ripples that extend farther than you can ever comprehend, so stay strong, stay loving and stay true to fighting the good fight. Justice WILL prevail and we WILL overcome one day. See you in the streets.