WELCOME

After 28 years of service in Arlington County’s local government, first on the School Board and then the County Board, I have stepped into a new role and life chapter: Private Citizen. My career has equipped me with extensive experience, valuable connections, and an unwavering passion for fostering good local government in Arlington and in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia (DMV) region, an area I call home.

August 5 Blog: Trojan Horses, the Golden Rule & Getting Ready

Dear Friends:

For my readers in Arlington, ICE terrorism is here in force. Recently there have been numerous ICE agents snatching people especially along Columbia Pike from grocery stores (MegaMart), bus stops, and parks. Buchanan Gardens apartments were occupied by ICE troops all day on Monday, the 17th causing people to leave in the wee hours of the morning so they could get to work without interacting with ICE. Those who stayed locked themselves in their apartments. As the news makes clear, no one who looks like an immigrant is safe, even if you have documents or are an American citizen. One father was beaten horribly after fleeing, as readers may have seen on the news. Kudos to Congressmen Beyer, Walkinshaw and Subramanyam for demanding consequences for unnecessary force by ICE agents.

I found myself remembering a statement I read not too long ago: “If you wonder what you would have done during the holocaust, look at what you are doing now.” As distressing as the ICE terror is, I am heartened by the number of people and organizations that are working hard to help our immigrant friends and neighbors and mitigate the harm done. If you would like to do more than you are doing now, you might sign up for the Indivisible’s virtual training: “Immigrant Justice Summer # 5: How to Use Signal for Rapid Response Organizing in Your Community.” It’s this Thursday, August 27, 8 – 9pm ET (5pm PT) or check out WOFA’s website or connect with local churches that are doing this work.

Usually I’m feeling fairly relaxed for the last weeks of summer, but this year there is a sense of a closing window of time to get ready for whatever comes with this fall’s election season, and we have the ICE occupation and daily headlines of Republican horrific corruption and incompetence to make clear how important these mid-term elections are. This is a good time to start reviewing your personal preparedness for storms, power outages, cell phone and internet disruption which may, or may not, be connected with election chaos. Have you a family plan for if cell phones don’t work? A battery operated radio (and batteries) to get information? I’ll talk about this more in September, but this is the time to review supplies and plans before you (and everyone else) need them.

For the Indivisible and the No Kings movement, the focus for this fall will be creating a massive early voting campaign. Early voting is an important form of election protection. The next “No Kings” event will be announced in a few weeks and the focus will not be on creating a few large events, but on creating the largest early voter turnout ever with lots of events across the country all supporting early voting. It should be exciting and fun. And effective. The mass mobilization efforts and preparation by resistance groups across the nation are amazing. The resources keep coming. If you text 59798 and put “Voter” in the message, Indivisible asks you for what state and then

sends a link to the state website where you can verify your voting status. For those of us in Arlington, I doubt there will be any trouble with being improperly removed from the polls, but if you have friends or family in other areas where the election officials are less trustworthy, let them know about this resource. I tried it and it worked well.

This coming Friday on August 28, there is a march/gathering led by Reverend Al Sharpton to commemorate the 1963 march on Washington. Titled: “March on Washington 2026 | Defend the Vote.” It will be at the Lincoln Memorial. Details are not as clear as they might be. If you are interested, I would advise joining WOFA, which will be gathering at the Women’s War Memorial. Or check out what is online from the organizers: https://marchonwashington2026.com/

Finally, for some late summer reading, I recommend the new website: “American Dreaming: Inheritance, Responsibility, the Future” and substack articles by my friend Evan Burfield. Evan is a very smart man with a lot of diverse experiences.

He has been thinking deeply about how we got to this point where, for most people, working hard and doing what you should does not provide a decent life any more. His analysis of the economic and political system we have created that rewards a few rich people while impoverishing most everyone else is a different perspective from most. It’s about who owns and who gets to decide. I’ve learned history I didn’t know and now see history that I did know from a different perspective. Once we get through this time of difficult and transition, a deep understanding of how we got to where we are will be crucial to building the future we want. A lot of the “how" has

been pretty hidden and insidious, even caused by those with good intentions. Of the articles on the website, I recommend you start by reading “MayDay” first and then “The Residual Claimant and The Algorithm.” Then you can decide if you want to read more or subscribe.

Yours in peaceful and patriotic resistance,

Libby