On February 9, 2026, my dear friend Abi Escatel stood up to speak at the Iowa State Capitol against yet another attempt to silence truth‑telling during public comment, over HSB 542 legislative session (now HF 2487, the “Stop Woke Act”). She was forcibly removed for going over her allotted speaking time. Nearly a month later, she was served with a misdemeanor charge of “disorderly conduct for disrupting and disturbing lawful assembly.” These are trumped-up charges on a Brown academic who dared to stand up to those who wield power. I am raising funds to support her legal defense and to push back against our state's “leaders” latest attempt to intimidate, coerce, and control those who refuse to comply with their agenda of white supremacist hegemony.

In Abi’s own words:

“A Human Rights lawyer, Qasim Rashid, Esq., recently charged the Trump administration with committing genocide—a direct violation of international law from the 1948 Geneva Convention. As I finish my book—the final step before I graduate as Dr. Abigail Escatel—I am writing about incarcerated migrant children’s experiences with the slow violence of detention. The gravity of this moment is not lost on me. This moment for me was already politically loaded because higher education IS my job and my profession. I do feel that I have a responsibility to speak up; to protect current and future students' right to a safe learning environment. The stakes of this legislation have a direct impact on my teaching, in my classroom for my students, and our community’s general safety and stability. I don’t think it serves anyone’s interests to maintain the white comfortability of state representatives—or any change agent–that irresponsibly uses their power to harm. Every state representative signing anti-DEI bills that gut our freedom of speech, and various other anti-civil rights/civil liberties legislation, are actively enacting predatory behavior via their policies and thereby building their careers around the targeting of my people. They then have the audacity to deny accountability by claiming victimhood and mobilizing the arm of the police to intimidate and coerce dissenting voices, like mine.”

We are living under an authoritarian regime that is working aggressively to silence marginalized communities, restrict access to higher education, and undermine our constitutional rights. In moments like this, it is not only appropriate but necessary to stand up to their cruelty.

As Brown women, Abi and I have been told our entire lives to stay quiet, to shrink ourselves, to “know our place.” We refuse. And we are no strangers to the backlash that comes when we dare to stand up for ourselves and our people. I understand the frustration and anger that’s felt when we are expected to remain calm amidst the genocide of our people.

So, I ask you to reflect: if federal forces targeted your people, if you watched your communities torn apart and demonized using propaganda talking points, if your children were turned into bodies to fill detention centers generating billions in profit—would you swallow your silence? Would you accept being pushed around, dismissed, or erased? Especially NOW, in this context? Or would you fight for human beings—especially children—whose lives and dignity are on the line?

Abi has devoted her life to illuminating and expanding upon the hidden horrors of history which set the stage for the current dehumanization of migrants, and many others. Our relatives. Today, you have the chance to stand with Abi and her commitment to fighting for the dignity of human beings. I know I will. I hope you choose to join us. Any amount helps.

In Solidarity,

Marie