EVENT UPDATE: Solidarity Healing Night Moving to Virtual 

Dear supporters,

We want to start out with how incredibly excited we’ve been to gather with you at our Solidarity Night on 9/18. But after learning more about federal plans to enforce violent disruption and deportation efforts in the coming weeks, as well as survivor-leaders voicing concern for their safety in gathering publicly at this time, it is with a heavy heart that we share that the Solidarity Healing Night as planned will no longer occur in-person in Pilsen on September 18th. 

Sowing fear strong enough to prevent community members from coming together to heal is its own act of violence and retraumatization. At a time where our leaders need to be in the presence of their communities and access tools to take care of themselves, they are being deprived of that opportunity by actions from our own government. This is shameful, and we must resist these actions by finding safe ways to continue healing in community and in solidarity with one another. 

The current threat of deployment of federal agents and the National Guard create a moment where not all people are experiencing the same reality. The reality for our survivor-leaders–who come from the communities in Chicago that are most impacted by gender-based violence, including immigrant and BIPOC communities–is that many are fearful to leave their homes, go to work, or even take their child to school. True solidarity means that no one gets left behind and everyone’s safety matters. 

While we are incredibly saddened that we cannot safely gather together in person at this time, we are committed to preserving the original intention of our event: to build solidarity among the HTA community through healing and collective action. 

Here’s the new plan: 

*We will meet virtually September 18, 6-730pm for Solidarity Healing Night on Zoom to:

• Virtually enjoy some of the healing activities we planned for our original event

• Hear from HTA survivor-leaders about the impact of ICE raids and the deployment of the National Guard on survivors

• Engage in political education and learn about advocacy opportunities to protect survivors right now

• Kick off a mutual aid drive with opportunities to support HTA survivor-leaders as they navigate safety and survival concerns in this moment of state repression 

With this pivot, we hope that those who are registered for the in-person event will keep their registration and join us virtually, and we hope that this allows folks in the HTA community who couldn’t attend in person to join us online for Solidarity Healing Night. New attendees can register for their ticket here. Currently registered guests will receive an email with the Zoom link later this week. 

Showing up to this event is a way of giving survivor-leaders a sense of community as they are being forced into isolation. Thank you for your continued solidarity with survivors and for your support of Healing to Action. We look forward to connecting with you on 9/18! 

In solidarity, 

Karla Altmayer and Sheerine Alemzadeh

HTA Co-Directors