Many in the Anti-vax space are those I love and serve / Brooke Fiafia

This ‘antivax’ space is packed with people from the communities I love and serve. And let’s be real for a moment, these are the people and families we’ve all left behind.

Many have never had access to the resources that they needed to be ‘informed’. They’ve never trusted the state (with valid reason), never been seen, or served by the institutions which were meant to serve them. If anything, they’ve been judged and punished by these very institutions.

For many it’s the first time they’re using their voices politically. But because it is they’re unaware of what the landscape is like. This isn’t their fault. People don’t know what they don’t know and we’re all seeing who is capitalizing and co-opting their power in this space.

Now that they’re beginning to rise, we continue to tell them they’re not valid. Do you know how that makes people feel? To further ostracize already marginalized communities? It’s dangerous.

They already have very little power and they’re exercising what little of it they have left.

These people can’t participate in this system. And the government saying they need to get vaxxed to return to normal everyday things like getting a facial or going on holiday, these are luxuries they can’t afford. They don’t care about returning to normal because their normal is fucked and has been forever.

They’ve been looking after their own the best way they know how. You think they care about doing something for other communities who’ve never done anything for them?

Generations of people and families have survived without being seen. And we expect them to keep being ok with the treatment they’ve received from the state, from us? We’re all complicit in this because we’re all connected. Always have been and always will be. These are trying times, but it’s where we’re at.

The violence has been top down, heavy, hard, but the lateral violence we heap on each other adds to it too. Many of us don’t care about people who are poor. This is on all of us who decided these people aren’t worth showing up for.

This all comes back to the government and how deeply fucked they are. And of course, it falls on us to do the work they should be doing. We all know what they could do to rebuild some form of trust, but for some they’ll never get it and unfortunately that’s on all of us to navigate.

For those of us who have connections to people in this space, please try to continue to stay connected. to guide them gently. To have love and empathy, understanding and patience. To listen to their concerns. To share yours.

I swear all of us are feeling anxious, upset, fearful and uncertain about where we’re at. I’m heartbroken this is where we’re at. But we can’t keep leaving each other behind like this.

A good sis told me a few weeks back that ‘love is so important to the mahi/Love is the mahi’ and she never misses.

Brooke Fiafia is an advocated for whānau expierencing poverty and the coordinator of Auckland Action Against Poverty. You can follow Brooke on twitter here.

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