A political request. An important one.

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

This will be political request. And important one. 

Y'all remember this photo?

It's what this place looked like after we lost our home to the predatory lender. It was a manufactured home, and after only ten short years, despite our stringent maintenance efforts, it was already falling part.  Even though the "principal" had grown by $20K.

And when the Republicans, in 2008, made sure the economy fell apart, too, so the Black man would get blamed? We were one of the early casualties.

In short order, we knew that we were going to lose. There are no ethics or morals involved in property law with regard to these kinds of situations. They deliberately seek out vulnerable people, focusing in particular on Indian Country, and it's one of the reasons there's so much homelessness in our lands. We were next to homeless; for seven years, our living situation was nothing short of hellish, and it's one of the reasons why I'm so ill now.

And the tribal court judge who presided over that repossession is now running for local magistrate.

We want you to help her.

Okay, I'll give you a minute to get the double-take out of your system. Yes, we're supporting her. Her name is Charlene Tsoodle-Marcus, and she's from the Pueblo. Wings spoke with her this morning, asking her to get us some yard signs. This morning we wrote out what is, for us, a VERY big check — by FAR the largest political contribution we've ever made. 

Why?

Because our community NEEDS her. And she's not getting ANY support.

That's typical. The people who run for magistrate judge here are local party big shots who look at this as both their due and their stepping stone to higher office and more "power," which is to say, more authority and control. Colonial white supremacy fundamentally misunderstands the nature of "power," and that's why this country is where it is now. But magistracies, in this state, need not be filled by lawyers (and indeed, usually aren't). They do tend to be filled by white folks (or Hispanics, here, too), and also tend to propel them upward.

There's never been an Indigenous magistrate. An Indigenous woman? You're joking, right?

And there needs to be. 

Charlene is many things: tough, no-nonsense, knowledgeable about the law and able to enforce and apply it with a sure and confident hand. She also understands that the law, as an abstraction, helps no one but those who wield authority by force over the rest of us. She tempers it with common sense, with wisdom, with empathy, and with a spine that brooks no bullshit from those who are accustomed just to getting their way.

It's because of her we're alive today. Alive to have built this:

Photo copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved.

Yeah, it only happened because of a LOT of help from a lot of people. It took three years to get to that point, overlapping the seven we spent in that toxic tin can of an RV, the one that caught fire twice. It's not finished. [And it's a LOT smaller than it looks, smaller in length than of our old manufactured home; the house's footprint is only 660 square feet.]

But none of it would have happened had we not been able to survive those early weeks of losing our home, and that only happened because of Judge Tsoodle-Marcus.

It was the week of the August ceremonial pilgrimage, and she presided in traditional dress, which frankly made her all the more imposing. Our lawyer was disinclined to engage in bullshit, but the attorney for the finance company, one who went and got himself admitted to Native bars precisely so that he could take away Native people's homes? He was beside himself. Because he thought three days was a lot longer than anyone deserved, and she made sure we got three months. Three months to get the RV up and running and connected, to get all of our belongings out and arrange for storage, to build some small semblance of a life, of survival, with a very hard heavy winter coming in fast, although none of us knew that last part for sure then, beyond the fact that winters here are always hard, always dangerous. In point of fact, it was SO hard that the people who haul the homes out? Had to wait two full months before they could make it up the winding highway safely, so rather than hauling it out on December 1st, they got it the following January 29th. So cold that the fixtures in it cracked and burst and blew apart after weeks of being disconnected from the water main. So bitter that, by November, temps were routinely plunging way below zero. And had we not had that ninety days to make arrangements? We wouldn't have survived the winter.

So, yes, we support her. We knew we were going to lose; everything was stacked against us, and no amount of trying, of pleading, of labor or money on our part would have changed that. She made it possible for the finance company to get their due by taking the house, but not by turning us out onto the highway and leaving us literally in the cold, which is what they wanted.

She doesn't have a Web site, at least not yet. No PayPal that I'm aware of, either. but you can write a check. We did. For us, a lot of money. But we need wisdom and compassion in office here. So please help us support this strong, wise traditional Indigenous woman become our first Native magistrate. Make your checks out to:

The Committee to Elect Charlene Tsoodle-Marcus Magistrate Court Judge
P.O. Box 621
Taos, NM  87571

Wings and I would be personally grateful for whatever financial help you can give her campaign. Tell her we sent you.

Thanks.


All content, including photos and text, are copyright Aji, 2020; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.