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border, charity, detention centers, donation, emergency, families, family, funding, human rights, human rights violations, immigration, justice, movie review, save lives, stop fascism, stop injustice
One of my greatest fears, even before the events of 2016, was that one day my country would go the route of Germany in the 1930’s. In school we were told America was a land of freedom, equality and opportunity. Our teachers, comfortable in the routine of standard education, assured us it could never happen here.
But it’s happening right now.
Anyone who’s been on social media as of late has seen the stories of human rights violations at the border that recreate the concentration camp experience almost verbatim making the rounds, all of them perpetrated by those whose duty should be to protect and serve all people of this nation. George Takei is having flashbacks to his childhood in similar camps. The United Nations is actually trying to do something for once. It’s gone on record that the military is actively shutting out any attempts at press coverage because public outrage is the one thing that could shut down this whole operation immediately.
And guess who’s responsible for this nightmare scenario?
Like I told my parents, who both recently confessed they voted for the opposition because they thought the openly racist misogynist ableist homophobic xenophobic violence-encouraging war-mongering white supremacy-endorsing tax-dodging pussy-grabbing fake news-generating fast food-guzzling Russia-fraternizing blame-shifting North Korea-condoning wall-obsessed Twitter addict seemed more trustworthy than a woman with a slightly sketchy internet history, I’m taking the high road and not saying I told you so. As wrong as they were, please don’t hate on my folks. They’ve regretted it since, apologized, promised they would never doubt my political intuitions ever again, gave me some ice cream and a puppy and wished me good luck on my date with Chris Hemsworth that evening.
Okay, I may have exaggerated with the last two, but at least it’s not as bad as what the current administration has been pushing as “the truth”.
So you may be asking, “Shelf, what can I do? I’m just one person who can’t spare the time to rant at my senator or risk my safety by going to a protest or march. I just want to get my mind off of everything by reading funny movie reviews.” The good news is there’s plenty of charitable organizations working tirelessly to get as many detainees out of these awful conditions as possible. One of them is Fair Fight Bond Fund. They reunite them with their families and ensure they’re given their due process. It’s been proven that immigrants that are out of the cells and represented by a true lawyer have a substantially higher chance of winning their cases than those who are stuck in detention indefinitely. There’s also Freedom For Immigrants, Community Bond Project, LGBTQ Fund, Lawyers for Good Government, and Immigrant Families, all working towards the same goal of getting as many people out of these horrifying centers and to a safer place.
And that’s where you come in.
Donate anything, literally anything to this cause, and boom, movie review just for you of whatever you want that’s on The Shelf. That’s it. Even if it’s one fucking dollar. There’s no limit this time. And most of these organizations are tax-exempt. These people, these children, who are being starved and abused, more often than not to death, need whatever help they can get right now in any form, so who am I to hold anyone back from donating because they can’t give the price I arbitrarily demand in exchange for a reward?
However, if you care to donate $50, which by Fair Fight Bond Fund’s calculations is enough to free one person, then I will review a movie of your choice that isn’t on The Shelf. I do have my limits, of course, basically no porn or anything The Cinema Snob would recommend. Also it has to not be currently in theaters. But if it’s not on The Shelf then it’s fair game just this once.
And that’s it. Spread the word, please! Give multiple times if you’re able! And whatever you do, do NOT look away. As reprehensible as the truth is, we can’t afford to ignore it any longer. We…no, THEY deserve better.
Up On The Shelf 