Elias Cepeda and his team want to warn people in Pilsen, where many Mexican immigrants live, if they see federal agents. They plan to document every interaction.
Given the fact that every named person in this article was interviewed for this story I am pretty certain it was their own choice to disclose their names.
That being said, I definitely see where you’re coming from, but I think there’s need for two kinds of community protectors here - ones that everyone in the neighborhood knows on sight and are comfortable talking to who put their names in news stories and on posts and flyers so community members know who to pass information on to, and volunteers who keep a lower profile so they can do other stuff. This group is the former kind
[Last name] has been trying to recruit more volunteers for the Pilsen patrol. He’s been posting flyers this week. But [last name] is quick to make clear they are not vigilantes.
They might step in if they witness someone being assaulted or in danger or some way. But he insists they are not looking to start violence.
“We’re just eyes and ears in the community,” he said. “We want to help alert.”
There is a kind of power in being open with your resistance. The state doesn’t have the power to repress everyone. If you are the only one openly doing something, you may be in danger. But if enough people do it, then it makes everyone safer. It makes it normal, and it shifts the Overton window.
Given the fact that every named person in this article was interviewed for this story I am pretty certain it was their own choice to disclose their names.
That being said, I definitely see where you’re coming from, but I think there’s need for two kinds of community protectors here - ones that everyone in the neighborhood knows on sight and are comfortable talking to who put their names in news stories and on posts and flyers so community members know who to pass information on to, and volunteers who keep a lower profile so they can do other stuff. This group is the former kind
There is a kind of power in being open with your resistance. The state doesn’t have the power to repress everyone. If you are the only one openly doing something, you may be in danger. But if enough people do it, then it makes everyone safer. It makes it normal, and it shifts the Overton window.
Resistance needs many roles filled indeed.