Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them. Deuteronomy 23:16
I was the third person to arrive that day at the ISAP protest (Intensive Supervision Appearance Program) – the ICE presence in Framingham. The sidewalk where we usually stand had not been shoveled after the weekend’s 2 feet of snow. The first person had sensibly brought a shovel and had started digging a trench for the protesters to stand in. A former pre-school teacher dressed as a penguin (EVEN PENGUINS DON’T LIKE ICE!) took over the shoveling for a while and then it was my turn. As more people arrived for the protest, others took a turn shoveling. Soon there were more than 20 of us standing with our signs, waving to the passing cars and trucks, most of the drivers being very supportive. Some people were there for the first time, others had made this Tuesday morning protest a regular feature of their week. “I love watching you work the line,” said my friend with whom I do this. She meant she appreciated the way I talked to the people either side of me and introduced people to each other. Being naturally gregarious, that’s an easy thing for me to do. How else would I know the penguin was a pre-school teacher?
Soon we were joined by a “news team” from Framingham High School. A young man who works as advisor to the Framingham Flyer News, as well as for Access Framingham, along with a colleague with a video camera, explained that students at the High School had heard about this protest and wanted to have it filmed for the Flyer news program. They came down the line asking if people would be willing to be interviewed, and if so, could they come to the camera at the front of the line. I might be gregarious, but I’m shy about being interviewed, so I encouraged the penguin to do it. The kids would enjoy her costume. It wasn’t easy for her to negotiate the length of the trench, which was only the width of a shovel and filled with protesters. Had she been a real penguin she could have just flopped on her belly in the snow and slid to the end of the line with ease. As the news team panned a final shot of the protest and got to where I was standing, I made sure they got some footage of the shoveling. When they were done filming, the young man came back and climbed over the bank of snow left by the plow and helped us shovel a few more feet, because, as he kindly pointed out, he was much younger than most of us.
May we shovel and protest and stand together. Amen.
Jenny Allen