> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # How Quickly We Forget - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/how-quickly-we-forget/ - Published: 2025-03-13T12:00:01.000Z - Updated: 2025-05-30T21:46:02.000Z - Description: I'm back from California and deep in thought. - Author: Yessenia Funes **This edition is available to all subscribers (except the paid exclusives). Support my work and upgrade to paid** [**here**](https://possibilities-2.ghost.io/ghost/?ref=possibilities.news#/portal/account/plans) **for as little as $3 a month.** **This is your last week to respond to our first-ever reader survey. A lucky five subscribers will get either a free annual subscription or a collage mailed to them. Your choice! Take the survey** [**here**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhlqbgXL0DPnroFc-LhjH-6I1DRPsePyDBmPVuMREkuM6glQ/viewform?usp=header&ref=possibilities.news) **and throw your name into the raffle** [**here**](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfaFVgY4gCrCzDus6zHQ1BuWTXv%5FbQ5k-9D-qLRwxZ-x0Tdaw/viewform?usp=header&ref=possibilities.news)**.** --- **LISTENING:** *to the "Free, Free Palestine" chants still singing in my head* **FEELING:** *scared but never silenced* **SEEING:** *my cutie kitty clean his little butt* Oh, how quickly we forget. We forget how our ancestors fought — how the land bled — for the liberties we have today. We forget that the first enslaved people were forcibly brought to these lands in [1619](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html?ref=possibilities.news). We forget that, almost 255 years to the day, the [Boston Massacre](https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/boston-massacre.htm?ref=possibilities.news) happened. British soldiers fired into a crowd of Bostonians, killing five people. We forget that, five years later, Americans declared war, fighting for their freedom from British colonial rule. We forget that the freedom of Black and Brown folks came much later. America has always been racist. We forget how old racism is. We forget how long-lasting it can be — from slavery to segregation to the prison-industrial complex that keeps Black and Brown brothers and sisters in chains. We forget how quickly our freedoms can be taken from us in this capitalist, white-supremacist country. In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department [dropped a bomb](https://atmos.earth/move-environmental-justice-philadelphia-bombing-anniversary/?ref=possibilities.news) atop the house of Black organizers with the MOVE Organization. Eleven people died, including five children. We forget how violent the state has always been. We forget that they have disappeared and deported people before. In 2017, Chicago Palestinian activist and migrant Rasmea Odeh was [deported](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/10/detroit-activist-conviction-jerusalem-bombing?ref=possibilities.news) for an alleged terrorist attack in Israel that she says she was tortured into confessing to. We forget that we weren't always a nation of walls and division. The first solid barriers between the U.S. and Mexico were erected in 1991\. Until 2009, families could gather at [Friendship Park](https://www.friendshippark.org/?ref=possibilities.news) between San Diego and Tijuana to meet bi-nationally between borders. I visited the park this weekend. Not anymore. Oh, how quickly we forget. In January, [Los Angeles was on fire](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-03-05/l-a-county-sues-southern-california-edison-over-eaton-fire?ref=possibilities.news). People are still without their homes. They continue to dig through the rubble, but you wouldn't know that from the TV news. Everyone is too busy chasing the Donald Trump presidency. Here's just a quick run of some of his latest actions that are threatening the future of environmental and climate justice in this country: - The Environmental Protection Agency is [closing](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/climate/epa-closure-environmental-justice-offices.html?ref=possibilities.news) all its environmental justice offices. - The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is illegally [detaining](https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5325754/federal-judge-hears-challenge-to-mahmoud-khalil-detention-columbia-pro-palestinian?ref=possibilities.news) Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and graduate of Columbia University who helped lead some of the negotiations from pro-Palestine student protesters on campus last year. There's lots more, but this is what I'm watching. I attended a [protest](https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-protests-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-751fa0b4637f5600a8af061ba4ddf97b?ref=possibilities.news) in downtown Manhattan Wednesday morning calling for the release of Khalil. A helicopter flew over, watching protesters. I saw a DHS van and police officers. So. Many. Police. But I saw even more people fighting for the freedom of Khalil and Palestine and oppressed peoples everywhere. I left inspired. I left angry. I left scared and hopeful. One speaker said something that stuck with me, "We deserve the world, and we're going to organize to get it." I do this work because I know that we, the oppressed, deserve more. We deserve clean air and clean water. We deserve affordable housing when hurricanes or flames come for our shelter. We deserve safety and freedom. We deserve a collective memory that's stronger — one that doesn't forget. We can't afford to forget. History will remember. And history will be unforgiving. What side of it will you be on? 🌀 *I'm heading to Palestine in a few weeks to join a climate justice delegation and get some reporting done from on the ground. Consider donating to our fundraising efforts* [*here*](https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/climate-justice-delegation-community-funding-page?ref=possibilities.news)*. If you're an editor and want a story, let me know!* --- 🗞️ ****C L A S S I F I E D S** < Your short ad could go here. > < I'll make room for five ads. 200 characters or less. > ***C'mon, you know you want one. Buy an ad** [***here**](https://www.yessfun.com/store/p/possibilities-classifieds?ref=possibilities.news)***.** --- **DID YOU MISS MY** [**POSSIBILITIES PLAYLIST**](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27lNxsvB3DfEVOEd3Uk2b2?si=dbb1d14199964de8&ref=possibilities.news)**? SAVE IT & LISTEN. xx** #### Subscription FYIs You can always adjust your subscription [here](#/portal/account/plans). The newsletter has several tiers, so if you're able to give more or need to give less, please adjust it as you see fit. I'm also giving paid subscribers a first look into my children's book. I [wrote](https://www.possibilities.news/a-year-of-possibilities/) about this last year, but here is the [landing page](https://www.possibilities.news/childrens-book/) where I'm keeping track of all the editions where you can find what I've shared so far. Send agents my way! ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more frequent and/or stronger disasters like these.** In Argentina, extreme floods hit the Buenos Aires province earlier this week, [killing](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/10/argentina-flooding?ref=possibilities.news) at least 16 people. A cyclone has brought immense flooding to the east coast of Australia, [killing](https://apnews.com/article/australia-cyclone-alfred-brisbane-ec60b6f7b8658e9cdce954c7a47979f1?ref=possibilities.news) at least one person. Last week, extreme weather — from blizzards to tornadoes — struck the Midwest, [killing](https://watchers.news/2025/03/06/6-fatalities-and-over-500-crashes-reported-as-winter-storm-sweeps-through-the-u-s/?ref=possibilities.news) at least six people. ## Currently Reading I haven't been reading much because I was doing 12-hour days during the wildfire institute I was taking part in last week, but I did check out this piece by Kate McMahon for Atmos on [Palestine's first eco-village](https://atmos.earth/planting-seeds-of-freedom-in-palestines-first-ecovillage/?ref=possibilities.news). I love a zine, and Alex DeRoin, whom I quoted in [this](https://www.possibilities.news/indigenous-land-back-kentucky-prison/) newsletter, created [one](https://aimelissabalm.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/osage-water-zine-digital.pdf?ref=possibilities.news) with Aimee Inglis. There's so much lovely poetry and imagery. ## Collage ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/1a/0c1a1c44-c395-4236-a843-5697585f81d1/content/images/2025/03/031_poison-country.jpg) 031\. ****POISON COUNTRY** by Yessenia Funes using mixed media, 2025. ****What are you reading and seeing? Share in a comment.** **I'm starting to go through my survey responses, and y'all are so sweet. Your feedback fills my heart! I'll share some in the coming weeks as I close the survey and begin analyzing the data. LOVE YOU ALL! xx** \- Yessenia