Feed the People

Hello friends,

In the US, it is Black History Month. As many of you know, the teaching of anything about Black history or Black cultural contributions to the US is being challenged in many states. So for all of us—especially white Americans—studying Black history is crucial.

I often return to the work of the Black Panther Party. In 1969, J. Edgar Hoover said that the Panther Party “represents the greatest threat to internal security of the country." We also know that the FBI targeted the SNCC, Martin Luther King Jr., and many other organizers and activists. They still do.

But why were the Panthers considered the greatest threat? It was not the guns. It was the unity. The Panthers fed people. The Panthers educated people. The Panthers provided free medical care and ambulance service. The Panthers provided escorts and other help for elders in the community. And the Panthers insisted on working with other communities, too. Asian communities. The Brown Berets. White working class people. Street gangs like The Young Lords. Students. Gay communities.

The Panthers fed the people, and encouraged community engagement. That community engagement fostered unity, autonomy, and power from the ground up.

And that was a threat.

I return to this lesson again, and again. Mutual aid. Caring for each other. Offering food, shelter, education, time… All of this makes strong communities.

And strong communities have power.

When we feed each other, we take back our power.

Wishing you nourishment today.

blessings — Thorn

Two things: All profits of my witchy gay urban fantasy By Flame through this Sunday go to benefit Heater Bloc, which designs, builds, and distributes tent-safe heaters for unhoused neighbors.

Second: Like alt-history with magic? I wrote a four book series about the Black Panthers going head to head with the FBI… using shapeshifting and sorcery.