I'M BACK

Gooood morning.

It’s been a minute! The stage adaption of The Lizzie McGuire Movie has consumed my life these last few months, but I’m back and more exhausted than ever. My friends and I sold out two nights in the Color Club ballroom (almost 400 total seats!) and wrapped up our beautiful, goofy show on September 27. It was amazing, hilarious, and everyone involved really popped off. I can’t wait to give you the whole breakdown.

Instead of wrapping up the show and resting our weary, pop-music-filled heads, we were immediately faced with ICE dangerously ratcheting up their tactics in our city.

I can’t help but feel furious that my friends and community are expected to keep living their lives, go to work, and make art while masked agents put everyone’s safety in jeopardy. 

So cracks knuckles Here's a brief rundown of what the heck is going on in Chicago. Forward this to your worst aunt who keeps saying stuff like “if they’d just stop resisting!!!”, I know I will:

Federal agents launched operations Midway Blitz and At Large in September, focusing on Chicago and other areas in Illinois. In Broadview, an ill-equipped facility that is meant to hold folks for a max of 12 hours has been turned into a multi-day nightmare for many immigrants. The facility has no medical staff, no beds, and is wildly overcrowded. Federal agents have teargassed and shot protesters with pepper bullets outside of the building. Oh, you’ve never heard of pepper bullets? Well they are sort of a combo of the worst parts of pepper spray/tear gas/rubber bullets and a good chunk of the ones that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are buying were made in Lake Forest! What a homecoming!

• You might have seen the video of IL congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh thrown to the ground by an ICE agent last month.

• Gianni, who took our Lizzie pics, has also been photographing some pretty unbelievable stuff at Broadview. Her instagram perfectly captures the vibe right now: gorgeous engagement pics, comedy show, police brutality, country two-step night.

Federal agents raided a South Shore apartment building in the early hours of the day last Tuesday while most residents were sleeping. DHS claimed they were targeting a Venezuelan gang, but zip tied children and destroyed residents' homes. On Wednesday, seven unmarked vans and SUVs pulled up to a shelter in Bronzeville and detained four people.

This past weekend in Chicago, ICE threw tear gas canisters outside of a grocery store near my apartment, handcuffed an alderman, choked a Black man in East Garfield Park after a car accident, and shot a woman in Brighton Park.

And I’m trying to make this short, but a lot is happening in Chicago right now and it is all moving very fast. A judge said Trump could proceed with his plan to send 300 National Guardsmen to the city, something he’s attempting to do in many blue states while his besties cheer on another Civil War. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott volunteered to send 400 members of the state’s National Guard to Chicago, there were reports that some of them were on a 4pm to IL yesterday. This morning CNN said they actually landed in Indiana. Ok! For context, Trump sent roughly 4,000 Guardsmen to LA in June, a judge said it was actually illegal to do that, and the administration is currently appealing it. 

• Mayor Brandon Johnson banned the use of city and private property for immigration enforcement yesterday morning. 

• Broadview sued to remove the fence that the Feds put up to keep protesters corralled in one area (less wasted teargas that way, I suppose). 

• A group of Chicago journalists also sued Trump over “extreme brutality” at protests. The paralegals of this city better get a hefty holiday bonus this year.

After spending hours glued to my phone on Friday watching horrifying videos of masked agents harassing and assaulting people in parking lots a few blocks from my apartment, I walked to an elementary school with two cases of water and stood with my friends on ICE watch. And btw, I hate texting the groupchat “heading over to the nearby grade school to stand around with the crew and keep an eye out” for many reasons.

The only thing that is giving me a small semblance of hope is that a lot of people showed up to stand around that grade school. Chicago is the best city in the world and people; not cops, not elected officials, not CEOs who always threaten to leave the city over crime; but the people who live here showed up to keep their communities safe. Investing in community and meeting your neighbors is a sentiment that has been repeated a lot over the last few years, but if you’ll let me be corny for a brief moment: it’s really epic.

Our best resource is each other. Organizers around the city are learning from groups in DC on how to best prepare for more federal troops and neighbors are handing out whistles to residents to warn each other about ICE.

I don’t want to overwhelm y’all with resources, everything feels chaotic and I’m sure if you’ve read this far you have been inundated with donation links and know your rights instagram infographics. But let me say that I’m so grateful for groups like Logan Square Mutual Aid who have continued delivering groceries and supplies to community members directly affected by these attacks. I know it can be intimidating to show up to a random warehouse by yourself and offer to help, but people are nice and, respectfully, nut up and go sort green beans for a few hours. Lmk if you want to get involved, I’ll connect you.

Want to do a little more? Groups like Block Club and The Triibe do really amazing original reporting. Cancel your Hulu and become a subscriber. They also cover fun cool stuff in our communities!!!! Hell, I just gave them both $100 yesterday. You can’t take it with you right!

And if you don’t live in Chicago. Wow, I can’t believe you made it this far. Chicago is a gorgeous, perfect city that I love very much. And it’s infuriating to hear the same people who make jokes about how dangerous and scary this city is stay silent at a time when the federal government is doing everything in its power to make it dangerous here.

That’s all for today <3 I’ll be back next week on a normal newsletter schedule once I sort through all the wigs piling up in my studio.

Please enjoy this clip of Jacob Cohen, who played Kate, singing an original song written by Jacob, Sage Huston, and Joey Chimes. I mean, they just really popped the hell off.

Next Issue: Forreal this time, I’m so excited for y’all to read my interview with poet, horse photoshopper, and insta icon behind horses_and_memories.

Thanks for reading and, as always, don’t tell me about any typos unless they are really bad.