Nicky shares

This is Nicky, honored to share reflections from my time with friends & water protectors in Anishnaabe territory at the Stop Line 3 frontlines.

We had prepared for this trip for months and the medicines Karina offered kept us centered & grounded as we navigated difficult conversations and as we listened to climate catastrophe in the news – learning about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico catching on fire, the deadly heat waves in the northwest, the flooding storms. Our journey to Minnesota challenged us physically, emotionally, & mentally - it created pressure between our friendships & deepened our relationships with each other, it heightened our awareness as we crossed through conservative lands as outsiders, and required humility as we showed up as newcomers to the water protector campsite. 

Time slowed and stretched. The only way we could be was present. We were reminded constantly to self care: drink water, eat, what do you need? The community we stayed with shared kindness & abundance.

It was powerful to be immersed in a community with clear, material frontlines for a week. In the time we spent camped next to the Mississippi River we heard the massive drill getting closer & closer. The sound vibrated through the trees and across the water. They also drilled at night.

I offered support through painting canoes, making signs, refilling water for a handwashing station, checking on my friends, protesting at a town courthouse where water protectors were held, clearing branches from trails, sharing stories, laughter, & dance…the accumulation of small actions to support the collective. I observed & listened. Took in the sounds of birds, bugs, sunlight, concerned voices, distant thunderstorms, sounds of celebration & relief, breathing deep humidity, swimming & praying in the river, and hearing the massive drills coming closer.

I think my greatest offering was listening and it offered the most learning. I listened to my friends in our struggles & joy, to the leaders of the camp, to the elders who shared stories, experiences, memories, & wisdom. It was also important to listen to those who still had a lot of work to do in unlearning whiteness, learning humility, dismantling harmful cultural norms & mindsets. I listen to understand & listen to know what I can share as seeds of ideas that may grow later. These moments of listening, imagining, remembering, understanding I know will continue to guide me as I navigate solidarity work.

As a Pilipinx in the diaspora, living on Ohlone land, everything I do as an artist, an activist, a collaborator is centered around showing up for our collective community and moving towards our collective liberation. By embodying solidarity on the frontlines of climate catastrophe on this continent, I directly support my people across the Pacific in the islands known as the Philippines, who face super typhoons, rising waters, & other environmental devastation due to globalized capitalism & colonization.

Driving home we returned to wildfire smoke from the mountains in Montana, through Idaho, and the flat deserts of Nevada. I know this is long haul, lifelong work, the benefits of which I might not see in my lifetime, but I hope I do. We need everyone, every day, small & big actions. 

"the people are a river"