Politics

S. Priya

Assessing risk in pro-Palestine organizing

Art Hazelwood and the San Francisco Poster Syndicate, A Storm of Cops vs. a Sea of Tents . 2024, silk-screen print on cardstock, 19 × 12 5/8". Courtesy of the artist.

The checkpoint assembled before our eyes. One second the workers’ cars were pouring out of the factory parking lot; the next they were forming a snaking line, windows lowering. The union stewards outside were amiable as they talked to their colleagues: How’s it going? Long day, huh? Yeah. So what’s all this? Oh, you know, just some rabble-rousers. Protesters, like the other day. Best to just drive right by. Will do, boss. See ya tomorrow.

Or so I imagined. I was trying to read lips from the sidewalk, but the distance was too great, and the December wind kept blowing my union members for peace sign into my face so violently that I couldn’t see or hear much. All I knew was that we were in hostile territory.…