Editors note 12/21/23

The Springfield Immigrant Action Network and its president, Veronica Espina, had the most helpful response to recently exposed divisive anti-immigrant rhetoric from Teresa Haley, Illinois NAACP president. "We need to stop using the lenses in which we see 'us' versus 'them,'" SIAN said in a statement. "What we need instead is an analysis in which we view communities as whole, fully human, deserving of our respect and assistance. ... When we lift one group, when we support and elevate communities, we are also lifting our neighbors and other marginalized peoples." We are all reminded to renew efforts to support the advancement of colored people, with an expanded definition that includes people of color immigrating from the Global South, as well as the rainbow-draped LGBTQ community. There are "many intersections of being and of experience among marginalized peoples," SIAN said. The divisive rhetoric "thus requires response and repair of these important relationships. We don't heal alone but in community." – Fletcher Farrar, editor