This post was composed in late December. As of Jan 7th, the relationship of ICE to the protestors changed dramatically so I'm including it here, as well as some updates.
This latest incredible event of Renee Nicole Good's murder is shocking, and will be of ongoing concern for many of us.
"A parking lot just exposed ICE’s biggest weakness — and reminded us what real community care looks like. In Takoma Park, Maryland, people started noticing a pattern. The same unmarked vehicles idling for hours. No badges. No explanations. Just the low-grade fear that comes when enforcement hides in plain sight.
So residents did the most disruptive thing imaginable: they showed up for each other.
Every day, neighbors began occupying that parking lot. Not with threats or confrontation, but with presence. Coffee. Conversation. Music. Knitting needles.
The goal wasn’t to provoke ICE — it was to deny them the conditions they depend on: silence, isolation, and invisibility. When a space fills with people who care, fear stops working
This wasn’t a stunt. Montgomery County is more than one-third foreign-born. Parents walk kids to school wondering who might not come home. Workers worry about routine errands turning into life-altering encounters.
By occupying the lot daily, residents created a zone of watchfulness and care. According to organizers, once the gatherings became routine, the suspected ICE vehicles stopped using that location altogether
When people refuse to look away, enforcement built on intimidation starts to fail.
What makes Takoma Park matter is that it’s not an exception. It’s part of something spreading. Across the country, everyday people are stepping in where systems have abdicated responsibility.
Neighbors escort immigrants to court so no one walks in alone. Volunteers monitor and document ICE activity. Communities flood hotlines when unmarked vans appear.
Jurors push back against prosecutions tied to immigration crackdowns. Judges are limiting courthouse arrests. None of this is coordinated from the top. It’s happening because people are choosing to protect one another.
ICE’s strategy depends on people being separated — by language, by legal status, by fear. What these communities are doing is stitching those divisions shut. They’re saying: if you threaten one of us, you’ll have to face all of us. And you won’t get to do it quietly.
Takoma Park didn’t wait for permission or a press conference. No injunction told them to act. No politician led the way. A neighbor made a Facebook post. Others showed up. And then they kept showing up.
That’s the part power doesn’t know how to handle — care that’s persistent, public, and shared.
A parking lot isn’t supposed to matter. But when a community decides it’s a place where neighbors keep neighbors safe, it becomes something else entirely."
Published Dec 27, 2025 by The Other 98% on FB
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Current events this week demand that we also acknowledge the murder of Renee Nicole Good by ICE!
One description said Renee Good was a trained "legal observer." That isn't an accident; it's a choice. She and her wife Jillian Good were leftist activists there to disrupt ICE, though her mother says she was just going home from dropping her son at school. The truth will eventually be discovered.
Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed a US citizen Jan 7, 2026. There is not enough legal effort going on to examine his actions at this time.
SOURCE: Facebook posts
I saw many photos on FB from people in Minneapolis Wednesday and Thursday being in their streets. And their schools were canceled Thursday and Friday to protect the children and staff.
Facts. No AI about it.
Life. Death. Justice!
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Here are some demonstrations that were posted on social media:
The "Say Her Name" meme is kind of owned by Women of Color. But Renee Good's name needs to be spoken these days!
Asheville, NC
Asheville NC
Clintonville neighborhood, Columbus OH and next 4 photos
My family took part in the demonstration Jan 10, 2026
As I keep stoking the fires of women's anger, I'm reminded that this is the emotion which brings us to action. Of course men can also be angry, but our society has options for men which seem more acceptable than for women. Not going to argue that, because it's a great source of inter-gender discussions.
But anger is needed so much these days, to cause our government to back off, to stop the lying and abuses, and to get those we've elected in congress to actually do their jobs!
People power is what I'm relying upon. The laws that are meant to protect us, to guide our leaders, are being ignored daily. And the penalties for those infractions are not being prosecuted!
Any agreement which is broken must have repercussions. If there are no enforcers, or enforcement, then it's up to the people. Justice demands it.
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In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. In later times, she was identified with Selene, the personification of the Moon. She was often said to roam the forests and mountains, attended by her entourage of nymphs. The goddess Diana is her Roman equivalent.
Artemis - The Louvre
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Uniformity is not nature’s way; diversity is nature’s way.
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VANDANA SHIVA
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