Caffeinated Politics

Speaking with a longtime friend this afternoon, I again heard what many have told me over the past months. “I go two or three days without listening to the news, as it is so upsetting, as it makes me depressed.” While I respect that perspective, our home is tied much closer to the daily events that are just too important to ignore, even for mental health purposes. I well understand and appreciate the gravity of the moment our nation faces and the mental consequences that some are experiencing from the onslaught of absurd, crazy, and unconstitutional actions from the Donald Trump White House. But every now and then comes a story that is bound to lift the sails of the weary. Such as today, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Congressional candidate and digital creator Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh vowed Wednesday to fight federal conspiracy charges stemming from an immigration protest last month, saying the case reflects a broader fight against the Trump administration’s arrests of undocumented immigrants.

“For speaking up for these people and against this administration’s cruel policies, I have been federally indicted,” Abughazaleh told a throng of media members shortly after pleading not guilty to the charges at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. “I have been charged with conspiracy for protesting with others. But expressing your First Amendment rights is not a conspiracy, and dissent is not a crime.”

Abughazaleh, 26, who is running for the 9th Congressional District seat, was indicted last month along with four other Democrats who participated in the protests — Cook County Board candidate Catherine “Cat” Sharp, 29, 45th Ward Democratic committeeman Michael Rabbit, 62, Oak Park Trustee Brian Straw, 38, and Andre Martin, 27, originally of Providence, Rhode Island, who is Abughazaleh’s deputy campaign manager.

What this news story says to me, and what I trust my readers find hitting them too, is that we are increasingly unwilling to remain silent in the face of autocratic overreach by Trump. The Broadview protest, from which this story started months ago, was not an isolated act of defiance. Rather, it was part of a broader movement that insists immigration enforcement, as currently practiced by the Trump Administration, is not about law and order, but is instead about racialized control.

I know some of my readers are thinking that a congressional candidate should be running in the opposite direction from landing in a courtroom facing charges. I would argue the opposite at this time in our history. Here is why. What Abughazaleh is making clear for all to see is the serious threat to our democracy that is underway. Running for Congress while facing federal charges is a bold-faced declaration that, at this moment in our national narrative, politics must be rooted in moral courage. Today, we must come to realize that in the face of autocratic threats to our national government, the resistance must take varying methods and forms. Even risking being arrested.

My bottom line has been that over the past ten months that when the government funds and enforces policies that disproportionately harm Brown and immigrant communities, we have a moral calling to resist. This congressional candidate and the others have proved that point.

Like so many others, I reject how the federal government has tried to criminalize protest itself. The Trump Administration is trying to reframe defiance against federal overreach as a conspiracy or standing up for immigrant rights as a threat to federal authority. How many different ways can one say Hogwash?

My study of history shows that repression often sparks a strong form of solidarity. From civil rights sit-ins to anti-war demonstrations, Americans have always fought back against government overreach. Today’s protests against ICE are part of that continuing messaging from the citizenry. After all, Americans often pay heed to their conscience.

Congressional candidate Abughazaleh and the others are not alone. They are in a growing majority that says with moral force that equating brownness with illegality simply will not be tolerated. I think such a foundation is proof that, in light of what Trump is trying to do to the nation, we can be assured that the soul of American democracy is alive and well.

I like the tone and messaging of the Broadview Six as they are asking the rest of us to confront the values and foundations of our nation. I admire and deeply respect their courage.