She clung to a jacaranda tree.
“The jacarandas are in bloom,” my father said as we drove home. Blue and violet blooms arched over our neighborhood, defying concrete and sky.
She clung to a jacaranda tree.
“The jacarandas are symbols of beauty, resilience, and renewal.”
She clung to a jacaranda tree.
“All the jacarandas in LA are in bloom right now.”
She clung to a jacaranda tree.
When I was little, my father said to me: “If you ever get lost in the woods, hug a tree.” That’s what they teach us when we are children — that the trees will calm us, protect us, love us, when we are scared and alone.
She clung to a jacaranda tree.
They took her anyway, pried her fingers from the silver trunk, dragged her into an unmarked van. Bystanders shouted and cursed and cried for them to stop. But they did not stop. The masked men threw tear gas canisters behind them as they drove away, disappearing into a cloud of gas, like villains in a poorly written movie script.
I can’t get the video out of my head — the masked men, the bystanders, the cloud of gas, the young woman, and the tree.
Who do I want to be in the story?
Who do YOU want to be in the story?
I want to be the jacaranda, I want to make myself so strong, so steady, so rooted, that my neighbors can hold onto me — the neighbors I know, and the ones I do not know. I want to find the courage inside me to transfigure myself. To be braver with my love than I ever have before.
You might say: “What’s the use? They took her anyway.”
Here’s what I see in the video:
One jacaranda is not enough.
We need hundreds of jacarandas.
Millions of jacarandas.
So that no matter how hard they pry her away, another one of us is right there, ready for her to take hold.
We must all become jacarandas.
This is not pretty poetry. It’s a life and death call to risk ourselves for others. To become that strong. That rooted. That beautiful.
To become jacarandas…
1. Call the CHIRLA hotline for Know Your Rights and legal support: (888) 624-4752
2. Donate to legal fund: CHIRLA.org/donatenow
3. Donate to support street vendors: www.gofundme.com/f/support-street-vendors-impacted-by-ice-raids