Recently, I recorded an incident unfolding in our city, one that mirrors events occurring across the nation. It is heartbreaking to know that when we often read about in headlines is happening right here in our own community.
After learning that ICE operations were taking place locally, I make a quiet promise to myself: If I was available, I would attend as a witness. That day I was.
When I arrived, I saw two ICE vehicles parked on the street. I saw trained observers monitoring the scene. I saw activists will bullhorns, calling out loudly and demanding the vehicles to leave. I saw allies holding signs and blowing whistles. I saw bystanders standing further back, some with arms crossed and some with hands covering their mouths in disbelief. Others recorded on their phones.
I pulled out my camera when it appeared one of the vehicles was preparing to leave. I thought I would capture a final moment of a car driving away without having detained anyone. I remember thinking that perhaps the presence of activism, of witnesses, and community members paying attention, had made a difference. What happened next is now widely known.
When I uploaded the video, I did not fully grasp what I had captured. The response was immediate and overwhelming: Messages poured in, phone calls from unfamiliar numbers, and social media messages from people I had never met with assumptions about who I am, what I believe, and what my intentions must have been.
The attention was unsettling. I was simply the person who captured the video. I can’t imagine what the response has been for the people directly involved and the impact on their families. The experience forced me to reflect on my role, and the role of each of us.
Here is what I have come to understand.
Regardless of our political beliefs, regardless of where we stand on immigration reform or ICE operations – we are all participating. Even if we believe we are not or are neutral. Even if we believe we are uninvolved. We are part of the story.
The activists with bullhorns are activating awareness.
The allies holding signs are demonstrating solidarity.
The witnesses documenting events are preserving history.
The bystanders watching in disbelief are confronting something that reveals deep divisions in our nation and in our community.
And those who are not physically present are not exempt from participation. We participate through conversations with friends, colleagues, and loved ones. We are participating in what we choose to read and share. We participate in the assumption we make, and in the questions we are willing or unwilling to ask ourselves.
Radical advocacy takes many forms. So does civic responsibility. Some people stand in the street. Some document. Some deliberate. Some volunteer. Some donate. Some show up and speak in from of city and county leaders. Some reflect quietly. Each of us contributes to the tone, even when we think we are not playing a role — we are.
Since we are all playing a role, participate consciously. Choose your role with intention rather than default. Show up if you can. Listen if you cannot. Speak thoughtfully. Question yourself as rigorously as you question others. Support what aligns with your true values and do so with integrity. This moment, like so many before, will become part of our community’s history. The only real choice we have is whether we engage with awareness and courage, or drift through it passively. We are already part of the story. So decide, deliberately, who we want to be within it.
