Next time you're really in need of some perspective to remind just how good you've got it right now, even though it might not always feel that way, just think back to the time you read this thread from Climate Defiance and learned what real hardship looks like:
Statement from Climate Defiance founder Michael Greenberg, who was recently locked up by DHS under false charges:
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
"This is not an easy thing to write about but I just got out of jail. I was trapped in a 35 square foot cage. I slept on a bare metal shelf." (1/15) 🧵
"Denied a sleeping pad, I resorted to using my Brooks Adrenaline running shoes as a mattress. My shirt was my pillow. I was desperate for sleep and also unable to achieve it. I understood for the first time why 'sleep deprivation' counts as a torture technique."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(2/15)
"Roaches swarmed every surface. Anguished cries from mentally ill people rang through the halls. One man, removed from reality, spent much of the night bellowing about the 'hundred sheep' he owns."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(3/15)
"I got locked up because I confronted the venture capitalist Commerce Secretary, who is complicit in our nation's fossil fuel buildout. Serving on the board of the Export Import Bank, she sat silently by as, days ago, this bank insured a $400,000,000 loan to a gas titan." (4/15)
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
"She did nothing to stop the Alaska LNG project, which would ship so much gas to Japan that it would have a bigger footprint than Willow. How on earth does our country's top commerce official have nothing to say about such a disastrous deal related so closely to her work?" (5/15)
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
"You can see the video of our encounter with the Secretary here. Please watch. I want others to see this. I want others to make the choice to stand up in their own communities" (6/15) https://t.co/DGkxPjBCdF
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
Recommended
"I was scared for my safety in jail. At one point, I was left alone in a hot van, handcuffed and unsure whether I would be forgotten in there. At another, I worried one of the inmates was about to get violent."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(7/15)
"One of the other Climate Defiance members who got arrested with me was denied lifesaving meds for two days - it's a small miracle he survived what could have been a lethal situation."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(8/15)
"Mostly what I experienced was boredom. Utter, utter boredom. Not 'lazy Saturday afternoon' boredom but boredom so profound I questioned how long my mental sanity would hold out. Minutes dripped by like hours."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(9/15)
"Time - ordinarily our most precious gift in this world - turned into a torture device. There were no phones. No magazines. No tvs. No books. It was just me and metal surrounding me."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(10/15)
"Jail was isolating. 'What am I doing with my life?' I asked myself that question more than once while stewing behind those metal bars." (11/15)
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
"I was miserable and I was also reminded of how lucky I was. My stay was nothing compared to the people who spend their whole lives in and out of prison - often because they have been denied access to legal economic opportunities."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(12/15)
"I wondered if I'd be dumped out on an empty sidewalk at the end, alone and sad. And yet when I got out I saw a big crowd of Climate Defiance activists waiting for me. I am not alone in this fight, I learned. We have community here and we take care of each other."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(13/15)
"Going to jail was not easy but it was needed. I am more resolved than ever. I will continue make good trouble until our politicians enact the solutions we need."
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
(14/15)
"If you are ready to stand with me, please comment here. Climate Defiance is working to welcome new members so we can scale up and win changes at the speed and scope this moment demands. We will respond to as many comments as possible!" (15/15)
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) July 30, 2023
It's just like when Texas Democratic Rep. Greg Casar went on a nine-hour strike without food or water, only even more stunning and brave. Michael Greenberg had to spend 36 whole hours in a D.C. jail without his phone or iPad. Thank God he had his Brooks Adrenaline running shoes to sleep on! (Hopefully he gets a portion of all future sales of Brooks Adrenaline shoes for that clever bit of product placement, at least.)
Seriously, though. Poor Michael. What an ordeal. Can you even imagine how it must feel to go through the humiliation of barging into a room and chanting only to have the people you're protesting laugh at you? And then get put into a jail cell for 36 hours with nothing but time, you wandering mind, and your Brooks Adrenaline running shoes?
And then you and your Brooks Adrenaline running shoes get released from jail and people on Twitter are laughing at you, too?
🧵 if you need a good laugh before bed. https://t.co/MYkgZUZSBC pic.twitter.com/JGyivtYZ4p
— Magills (@magills_) July 31, 2023
Shocked that this guy barely made it out alive after a day and a half. pic.twitter.com/CJMKFlWt7z
— Magills (@magills_) July 31, 2023
Gosh, if we were in Michael Greenberg's position, we'd rather go back to jail than show our face in public, on Twitter or otherwise, ever again. Maybe Michael should seriously consider lacing up his Brooks Adrenaline running shoes and taking off Forrest-Gump-style for someplace off the grid.
— Milton Friedman Stan Account (@AndIllWhisperNo) July 31, 2023
Womp-womp.
***
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