"Keep your fear small and your love big."

Editor’s Note: Y’all will remember our Lynne McFarland from the time she was carried out of our people’s house (the Tennessee State Legislature) and placed under arrest. For due process Tennesseans (That’s any Tennessean who believes everyone here has a right to due process despite what Bill Lee and his teammates say), she’s a local and international treasure. She recently stepped forward with words of advice. I share them here.

How to thrive when your community is attacked by an authoritarian force: What I have learned about this in the last year, thanks to an authoritarian attack on our community

None of this is new, all of this is tried and true stuff, demonstrated again and again all over the world in the face of unjust power.

Stay nonviolent. Nonviolence has the better track record.

Keep your fear small and your love big.

Call actions by their real names, e.g., arrests and detentions without due process are kidnappings.

Support both the individual AND the community: no one gets thrown under the bus.

Give people the grace to grow and change but don’t let their excuses drag you down or slow you down. When they grow and change, make room for their contributions.

Tell the stories. Follow the principles. Do the work.

Find your sweet tribe, the place that challenges your fears and encourages your courage and love.

Name the sources of your strengths (thank you, ReMix).

Celebrate the glories of your community. Say them out loud. Write songs and poems about them.

Remember that proximity matters. Stay engaged with the people of your community. Don’t go gated.

Got anymore to add?