No Justice, No Peace: Resist, Rebel, Revolt
Photo credit: Julio Cortes/AP
This week protestors took to the streets across the US, demanding justice for George Floyd and an end to the system of brutal racial violence that permeates the fabric of American society. On Thursday night, I watched as the Third Precinct police station in Minneapolis burned. Minneapolis is a city that holds a lot of personal ties for me. I lived there for five years while attending graduate school at the University of Minnesota. The last apartment I lived in was located just a few blocks away from where Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin took the life of George Floyd. My friends who live there are currently under siege, not only from the police and national guard who are more concerned with protecting private property than human life, but also from white supremacists who have seized on this opportunity to target communities of color for intimidation and violence.
We are deep into retrograde season (more on that here), which offers us the chance to reflect on what is and isn’t working. Significantly, Pluto is currently retrograde in Capricorn (April 25 - October 4), a transit that brings up deep-seated issues of power, authority, life and death. This cycle is part of a longer transit that began when Pluto first entered the sign of Capricorn in January of 2008, at a moment in which the subprime mortgage crisis was illuminating the dysfunctional tenets of racial capitalism. It will remain in Capricorn until 2024, suggesting that over the next four years we will continue to collectively work through the systemic issues that are now coming to light. Worth noting: the last time Pluto was moving through Capricorn spanned the years 1762-1778 when the American Revolution took place. (Also, the Rodney King riots happened last time Saturn was in Aquarius. Just saying.)
We are at a turning point. There is no going back.
We cannot return to the status quo of state-sanctioned violence against black and brown communities. Because let’s be clear. Police violence is not an aberration. It’s not about lack of training or lack of diversity. From vigilante slave patrols dating back to the early 1700s to the overt and covert participation of law enforcement in extrajudicial lynchings throughout the Jim Crow era, policing in the United States has always been intimately linked to the control of black bodies through violence. The system has always been rotten to the core. But now it's finally starting to crumble. Under its own weight. Under the knee of officer Derek Chauvin. Fascism is not sustainable. Crushing humanity under the boot of a militarized police state is not sustainable. This world is not sustainable. We must do better. We must burn it down, to the ground if necessary, in order to build something unimaginably more beautiful in its place.
Deck: Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road
This is Tower card energy at its most intense. The police state is on fire. In the Next World Tarot by Cristy C. Road, the Tower card is renamed "Revolution." An oil pipeline has been set on fire by a crowd of protestors whose banner reads "Defend the Sacred." In the foreground, an elder and a child kneel in front of a watering can and blooming flowers, a testimony to the immense strength and fragility of life itself.
This card reminds us that we do not need to fear the flames of the Tower. Fire is alchemical, and we are experiencing an intense energetic shift. And yes, one of the ways it is manifesting is in destruction. (And here I do think it’s vital to differentiate between the destruction of cop cars and giant corporations versus the destruction of homes and POC-owned small business, which by the way are not primarily happening at the hands of protestors). But this destruction is also life-giving. Like a forest fire that clears the way for new growth and activates the germination of new seeds, the literal and metaphorical fires that we set to the institutions of violence are themselves catalysts. Rather than meeting this moment with fear, what would it look like to open our arms to the destruction of the systems that perpetuate violence and deep inequity? What new forms of life might be able to thrive once we clear away the rubble of the existing institutions?
While the mainstream media has been discrediting the protests by focusing on “violent” acts by protestors (let’s keep our critical thinking hats on when discussing what counts as violence), less attention has been paid to the outpouring of mutual aid and community-led efforts to share resources, rebuild, and protect those who are most vulnerable. In Minneapolis, local organizations like Reclaim the Block and Black Visions Collective are working to create alternatives to policing that involve investing in healthcare, housing, and transformative justice. Our task is to follow the leadership of those who are most impacted in envisioning a collective future that values justice and liberation for all.
The collective energy right now is signified by Judgement, the twentieth card in the tarot (2020 can be understood as a "double Judgment" year). As a society, we are facing a profound Judgement moment. We have come to the point when we need to confront the violence, hypocrisy, and moral bankruptcy that govern our nation (and yes, that means #BunkerBoy but also the larger structures and institutions that all of us participate in: schools, corporations, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, and yes even spiritual communities. Ruled by the planet Mars, Judgement calls for action: now is the time to act. We can no longer ignore the injustice that is embedded in the fabric of white supremacy, of settler colonialism, of capitalism, of heteropatriarchy. The reckoning is here. In the end, what did you stand for? What did you fight for?
These are not metaphorical questions. The time has come to take a stand. The time has come to fight for the future you believe in.
Because you better believe the agents of state violence and the alt right are fighting for their world. The only options now are complicity or resistance. Our invitation is the Seven of Wands. Designated "courage" by Cristy C. Road, the Seven of Wands reminds us that we have the choice to exhibit courage in the face of difficulty, much like the figure who sits steadfast in front of a line of masked riot police. It takes a great deal of courage to be an activist, to be the one to refuse to go along with the crowd, to be the one who points out injustice and demands change. It also requires faith in your own light, your own inner knowing, your own sense of right and wrong and your conviction that you can make a difference. This can be the hardest part, especially in a culture where we are taught to believe that we are powerless. This card is an invitation to be courageous, to stand up for what you believe in, to go against the grain, and to shine a light into the darkness. Ask yourself: what resources can I draw on in order to find the courage to resist? What feeds my inner flame? How do I remain resilient in the face of overwhelming violence, fear, and intimidation?
The Seven of Swords can be a lonely and difficult journey, and it is imperative that we are surrounded by other people who are doing the work and who are committed to the same struggle that we are. Enter the Three of Pentacles. In the Next World Tarot, this card is represented as a group of community organizers working together. Nicknamed "The Team," this card points to the importance of building community and working toward shared goals. Each of these individuals brings their unique perspective and experience, and it is only by working together across difference that we can hope to tear down systems of oppression and build up our own alternatives. I want to stress that you don’t have to be a full time community activist in order to engage in this work. Think about: What communities do you feel most connected to? How can you develop/strengthen ties with folks who are aligned with your values? What kinds of work can you do in your office? Your church? Your group of friends? Your family?
Ultimately, of course, our movements cannot be fueled only by the desire to tear down systems of oppression. They must also speak to our desires for love, joy, and connection. The Two of Cups, often mischaracterized as a card about romance or romantic relationships, is actually first and foremost about our fundamental human need for connection and support. In the Next World Tarot, this card depicts two figures seated on a beach, holding one another with mutual love and respect. This card asks us to drop in and reconnect to the emotional nourishment that we receive through our relationships (including, but certainly not limited to romantic relationships). How do you experience the joyful giving and receiving of love: to yourself, to other people, and to all beings? What kind of nourishment and support do you need right now, and what support can you offer? How can you center love, joy, and connection in your social justice work, in order to make it truly life-giving and sustainable?
The card that is calling us forward is Justice, of course. Ruled by the sign of Libra, this card is uncompromising in its pursuit of justice in its purest form. The Justice card asks us to go deeper than surface level, beyond calls for arrests and convictions. At best a bandaid solution and at worst an investment in the same carceral logics that produced the violence we are trying to end, locking up a cop or four does nothing to address the root causes of injustice. This card invites us to dream bigger; to use our imagination to envision forms of liberty that are truly accessible to all; to enact practices of freedom in our daily lives as well as in society writ large. Things like: supporting businesses and organizations that are working toward justice, rather than corporations making banal statements about “solidarity” while continuing to engage in racist and unjust practices (including, but not limited to selling nazi paraphernalia). Demanding that your workplace take action to investigate racial inequality (I promise, it’s there). Using the privilege and power you have to amplify the voices of folks who are marginalized. Calling out people in your networks who are engaging in harmful rhetoric and doing the uncomfortable work of investigating your own internalized racism. Supporting the work of Black antiracist educators such as Rachel Cargle, Layla Saad, Ijeoma Oluo, Charlene Carruthers, and Brittany Packnett Cunningham, and so many others. The Justice card reminds us that justice isn’t an abstract ideal, it’s a set of concrete choices that each of us make every single damn day. Those choices are not easy. Everything about the world we live in is designed to keep us in familiar patterns. Everything about the world we live in is designed to make it extremely difficult to challenge existing systems.
Everything about the world we live in is designed to distract us, exhaust us, and lull us into a false sense of complacency.
But we know better. Our eyes are open. If we make the choice to look away now, we are missing out on an opportunity not only to dismantle systems of injustice and oppression — but also an opportunity to imagine something better. In that spirit, I’d like to share a manifesto written by a group called Third World Gay Revolution in 1971.
We want a new society — a revolutionary, socialist society. We want liberation of humanity, free food, free shelter, free clothing, free transportation, free health care, free utilities, free education, free art for all. We want a society where the needs of the people come first. We believe that all people should share the labor and products of society, according to each one’s needs and abilities, regardless of race, sex, age or sexual preferences. We believe the land, technology and the means of production belong to the people, and must be shared by the people collectively for the liberation of all.
Regardless of whether you are 100% on board with this specific vision, I hope that it will serve as a reminder that, as José Esteban Muñoz put it: “we must dream and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being in the world, and ultimately new worlds.”