You are the waves that deliver children safely to the shore and the currents that devour rafts of families. You are the earth that parts so that wee ones may tunnel al otro lado – to the other side – and you are the desert that transforms too many beloved bodies to dry bones.

You are the night that brings respite from the heat and the darkness in which all light is lost. You are wisdom who raises her voice in the streets and you are the one who dares not utter a word while creeping past the guarded arbitrary lines distinguishing this country from that one.

You are a mother’s prayer as she collapses on the journey, crying out like Hagar, “Do not let me look on the death of [my] child,”(Genesis 21:14-19) and you are the angel who hears her prayer. You are the well of water that appears in the wilderness, and you are the promise of greatness made to children on the journey.

You are the one who raises valleys, and you are the one who brings down mountains. You are the hands that post #notonemore, and you are the confident voice of a 12-year-old demanding to see a warrant from officers at her family’s door.

You are the crowds who will not disperse, thundering in unity, Aquí estamos y no nos vamos! We are here and we are not leaving. We are the deep from which all life rises.

Angela Davis is a mother, immigration attorney, and co-founder of Hagar’s House and Project Ishmael in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This article first appeared in Geez magazine Issue 59, Winter 2021, Powers and Principalities.