Time to speak out
Editor, The Commercial:
I have grieved for Renée Good and Alex Pretti as if they were my own neighbors. I saw the videos of their massacres, and all I could picture was my best friend, my uncle, my professor. Renée and Alex were not terrorists. They were me, and you, and the people we love. They are not the first innocent people killed by ICE, or by this administration. They will most likely not be the last.
Decades from now, our grandchildren will be horrified by the events we lived through. They will read about state-sanctioned executions of innocent people, and they will ask us what we were doing during that time. We have an obligation to ourselves and to our future, to speak out against the killing of our own. And make no mistake, “our own” means ALL of the community members who make this country great, including those with a different native language.
I urge anyone and everyone witnessing the collapse of our democracy to peaceful action: write, create, protest. I urge my community members to allow yourselves to feel, to empathize, and not to fall into the apathy that allows enemies of our democracy to thrive.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Arkansans are resilient; we are fighters. We have come together after tornadoes, floods, and droughts to protect and uplift each other. If there is one thing I know my community can do well, it is love fiercely. Protect each other, pay attention, and do not lose hope. Right now, we are all Minneapolis, and we are all suffering at the hands of our government.
Erica Kriner,
Rison