Words matter. Precision of language and being impeccable with our words. Whereas the disinformation machine curates fabricated talking points. Those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear need to attest when we see lawlessness enacted by the true domestic terrorists. Masked unidentified and unnamed. Feeling helpless to act from Georgia, but there is a hearing in my county tomorrow on a resolution to demand the removal of ICE from our neighborhoods. I’ll be sending an email to support the resolution. These small acts of truth reinforcement must add up to something. We must also fight to have the will to do the things we have the power to do within our sphere of influence. They are trying to break our souls. We must endure.
It feels important to center our language around the actual videos that are surfacing.
I feel like we should relentlessly point to the videos as evidence of the truthfulness of witness accounts. Institutions do such a scary job of saying things that are counter to visual evidence. And people believe it!
I so hope we can learn from past moments in history when this happened (e.g., Virginia Giuffre had a whole photo and still, the Institution denied it - I know this is a separate issue. But patterns in history do such a creepy job of repeating themselves. Thinking that visual proof can be explained away).
Thank you for this post. As a narrative strategist working inside of social movements, it is incredibly difficult to get our communities to shift away from the language of the state to use language that is both more accurate and reflective of our material conditions, and that puts us in positions to build narrative power…which is at the core of all forms of power we need in the pursuit of liberation: electoral, cultural, political and social and economic power. Longstanding narratives can indeed change but it takes message discipline, increased commitments to media literacy (because mis and disinformation is out of control) and hope that the stories we tell about our real lives will chip away at the facade the right is trying to uphold.
Reading this makes me think about how much of what we call “truth” is actually filtered through someone else’s priorities. It’s unsettling to realize how easily language can redirect our moral instincts, quietly reshaping what feels obvious or urgent. I keep wondering how often I’ve accepted words because they sounded official or familiar, rather than because they described reality accurately.
It also makes me reflect on the small ways we resist. Paying attention to what we say and how we describe events feels like a muscle we have to strengthen. Each act of clarity, each refusal to repeat a phrase that twists meaning, adds up. It’s not flashy, but it’s necessary work, and it underscores that accountability begins with how we frame the world around us.
Finally, your words push me to see how exhaustion and overwhelm are weaponized. The pressure to tune out, to simplify, to follow scripts, creates collective anesthesia. I realize that vigilance doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be a daily commitment to noticing, naming, and speaking clearly. Ironically, it feels like this requires us to slow down. To let narratives simmer and to keep our nervous systems as regulated as possible as we sift the words and rhetoric.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. It matters so much. I will be pondering this . . .
I like how you think. And that you are here, taking the time, when it's hard to imagine you have any to spare. And that I can talk to you.
Reading this, appreciating the intelligence, thinking about this whole destruction of what we hold dear giving us an education. From people too disinterested to even get the voter turnout that wasn't suppressed, we are fired up now. Much the wiser, learning about things when they are taken away. Don't know what to do yet, but smart ideas are coming from all over Substack.
Thank you for your words. I agree that we must blatantly speak truth. We must call a spade “A Spade”. We need to stop soft-pedaling the truth of what is happening and what we are seeing. Stop saying things like “someone was unalived”, because platforms on which you are commenting doesn’t like it, or will block or delete your posts. We must call it what it is. A KILLING, a MURDER, or an ASSASSINATION has just been witnessed by everyone watching. Or legal and rightful citizens of this country being kidnapped off our streets, which they call being detained, and cannot be found, or never to be heard of again, or unlawfully deported. This is how we speak up and speak out truth to the powers and forces that are trying to dilute reality. To those who are telling us don’t believe your lying eyes: MY EYES ARE THE FIRST AND LAST THING I AM GOING TO BELIEVE!!!!! Because, I’ve seen it for myself. We must not let those who have the authority and position, “right now”, dictate what we should believe or accept as truth. We must stand on and exhibit our integrity, morality and ethical fiber. We must also STOP 🛑 giving up ground on the playing/battle field. Oftentimes, this does come with a price.
To those six (6) democrats who voted to re-fund, continue, expand funding for ICE & DHS you are a disgrace and very disappointing to your party and humanity and are no better than the “Band of Despicables” that are currently running the administration of our government and this country. If, not funding ICE/DHS means there might be a governmental shut-down then, so be it. We are being deprived of our rights, benefits, freedoms and (now) lives anyway. At least let it count for something: fighting for right, justice, truth, those freedoms that many of our ancestors already died and fought for. Stand up (get into Good Trouble), Speak out (get into Good Trouble), Pray (get into GOOD TROUBLE)‼️‼️♥️💜💛
I was a cryptographic language analyst in my 20s. In that work, I learned how narrative and propaganda work. From that day to now, I’ve felt that I have a responsibility for how I communicate. When we take what we say and what we listen to for granted, the disservice we can do has ripples that cross generations.
To get a federal warrant requires SPECIFICITY about the location to be searched and the items to be seized. That's why these fuckers don't have legal warrants. They have no specificity.
I heard Prof Nikole Hannah Jones calling it a "Narrative War" as well - I will be switching over to that from "Propaganda War not Policy War", which is how I'd been referring to it and I was so frustrated it didn't seem to be sinking in
Also I have been running around to all corners of social media telling folks they are a decade late seeing your documentary and you had made it in the first place in part so people would not make the same electoral mistake twice --
but that if they wanted to understand where and why folks are being disappeared right now that they still very much need to see it
Thank you for your clarity and for seeing through the haze of lies & distortions coming at us 24/7. Thank you also for making your posts free to all, a powerful paradigm shift. I intend to build awareness and attention to my language through meditation practice. Off the cushion, I'll (do my best to) pause before spouting off on a political rant, to notice whether my language is precise and accurate.
Words matter. Precision of language and being impeccable with our words. Whereas the disinformation machine curates fabricated talking points. Those of us with eyes to see and ears to hear need to attest when we see lawlessness enacted by the true domestic terrorists. Masked unidentified and unnamed. Feeling helpless to act from Georgia, but there is a hearing in my county tomorrow on a resolution to demand the removal of ICE from our neighborhoods. I’ll be sending an email to support the resolution. These small acts of truth reinforcement must add up to something. We must also fight to have the will to do the things we have the power to do within our sphere of influence. They are trying to break our souls. We must endure.
It feels important to center our language around the actual videos that are surfacing.
I feel like we should relentlessly point to the videos as evidence of the truthfulness of witness accounts. Institutions do such a scary job of saying things that are counter to visual evidence. And people believe it!
I so hope we can learn from past moments in history when this happened (e.g., Virginia Giuffre had a whole photo and still, the Institution denied it - I know this is a separate issue. But patterns in history do such a creepy job of repeating themselves. Thinking that visual proof can be explained away).
As the name of this forum goes . . . Onward . . .
Thank you for this post. As a narrative strategist working inside of social movements, it is incredibly difficult to get our communities to shift away from the language of the state to use language that is both more accurate and reflective of our material conditions, and that puts us in positions to build narrative power…which is at the core of all forms of power we need in the pursuit of liberation: electoral, cultural, political and social and economic power. Longstanding narratives can indeed change but it takes message discipline, increased commitments to media literacy (because mis and disinformation is out of control) and hope that the stories we tell about our real lives will chip away at the facade the right is trying to uphold.
Thank you, Ava. He was a friend to many of my Twin Cities friends. A wonderful man. My heart is breaking for my other home town.
Reading this makes me think about how much of what we call “truth” is actually filtered through someone else’s priorities. It’s unsettling to realize how easily language can redirect our moral instincts, quietly reshaping what feels obvious or urgent. I keep wondering how often I’ve accepted words because they sounded official or familiar, rather than because they described reality accurately.
It also makes me reflect on the small ways we resist. Paying attention to what we say and how we describe events feels like a muscle we have to strengthen. Each act of clarity, each refusal to repeat a phrase that twists meaning, adds up. It’s not flashy, but it’s necessary work, and it underscores that accountability begins with how we frame the world around us.
Finally, your words push me to see how exhaustion and overwhelm are weaponized. The pressure to tune out, to simplify, to follow scripts, creates collective anesthesia. I realize that vigilance doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be a daily commitment to noticing, naming, and speaking clearly. Ironically, it feels like this requires us to slow down. To let narratives simmer and to keep our nervous systems as regulated as possible as we sift the words and rhetoric.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective. It matters so much. I will be pondering this . . .
Yes. Our constant refrain should be "The Emperor Has No Clothes!"
I like how you think. And that you are here, taking the time, when it's hard to imagine you have any to spare. And that I can talk to you.
Reading this, appreciating the intelligence, thinking about this whole destruction of what we hold dear giving us an education. From people too disinterested to even get the voter turnout that wasn't suppressed, we are fired up now. Much the wiser, learning about things when they are taken away. Don't know what to do yet, but smart ideas are coming from all over Substack.
I like these lines:
"Upon this gifted age, in its dark hour,
Rains from the sky a meteoric shower
Of facts...they lie unquestioned, uncombined.
Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill
Is daily spun, but there exists no loom
To weave it into fabric..."
-Edna St. Vincent Millay-
Thanks, Sue.
You and Timothy Snyder both made this point of clarity about language in ways that I found really helpful. Thank you for calling a spade a spade.
Thank you for your words. I agree that we must blatantly speak truth. We must call a spade “A Spade”. We need to stop soft-pedaling the truth of what is happening and what we are seeing. Stop saying things like “someone was unalived”, because platforms on which you are commenting doesn’t like it, or will block or delete your posts. We must call it what it is. A KILLING, a MURDER, or an ASSASSINATION has just been witnessed by everyone watching. Or legal and rightful citizens of this country being kidnapped off our streets, which they call being detained, and cannot be found, or never to be heard of again, or unlawfully deported. This is how we speak up and speak out truth to the powers and forces that are trying to dilute reality. To those who are telling us don’t believe your lying eyes: MY EYES ARE THE FIRST AND LAST THING I AM GOING TO BELIEVE!!!!! Because, I’ve seen it for myself. We must not let those who have the authority and position, “right now”, dictate what we should believe or accept as truth. We must stand on and exhibit our integrity, morality and ethical fiber. We must also STOP 🛑 giving up ground on the playing/battle field. Oftentimes, this does come with a price.
To those six (6) democrats who voted to re-fund, continue, expand funding for ICE & DHS you are a disgrace and very disappointing to your party and humanity and are no better than the “Band of Despicables” that are currently running the administration of our government and this country. If, not funding ICE/DHS means there might be a governmental shut-down then, so be it. We are being deprived of our rights, benefits, freedoms and (now) lives anyway. At least let it count for something: fighting for right, justice, truth, those freedoms that many of our ancestors already died and fought for. Stand up (get into Good Trouble), Speak out (get into Good Trouble), Pray (get into GOOD TROUBLE)‼️‼️♥️💜💛
I was a cryptographic language analyst in my 20s. In that work, I learned how narrative and propaganda work. From that day to now, I’ve felt that I have a responsibility for how I communicate. When we take what we say and what we listen to for granted, the disservice we can do has ripples that cross generations.
To get a federal warrant requires SPECIFICITY about the location to be searched and the items to be seized. That's why these fuckers don't have legal warrants. They have no specificity.
Thank you for making this accessible for all 🙏🏼
Roy Cohn's three rules are: 1) attack, attack, attack; 2) admit nothing and deny everything; and 3) always claim victory and never admit defeat.
I heard Prof Nikole Hannah Jones calling it a "Narrative War" as well - I will be switching over to that from "Propaganda War not Policy War", which is how I'd been referring to it and I was so frustrated it didn't seem to be sinking in
Also I have been running around to all corners of social media telling folks they are a decade late seeing your documentary and you had made it in the first place in part so people would not make the same electoral mistake twice --
but that if they wanted to understand where and why folks are being disappeared right now that they still very much need to see it
https://youtu.be/In2lNmBuz94?si=V6vHjmCp401EsW2i
Ava I naturally hear your voice when I'm reading your words...so thank you for the audio version:)
First time trying it. Glad it worked for you.
Thank you for your clarity and for seeing through the haze of lies & distortions coming at us 24/7. Thank you also for making your posts free to all, a powerful paradigm shift. I intend to build awareness and attention to my language through meditation practice. Off the cushion, I'll (do my best to) pause before spouting off on a political rant, to notice whether my language is precise and accurate.
Completely agree. Thank you
Thank you for this.