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Michigan’s Great Lakes represent 20 percent of the world’s surface fresh water supply. A major spill from pipeline 5 could contaminate all of it. Enbridge has already operated for five years illegally ignoring Gov. Whitmire’s order to shit down. Now Enbridge is proposing a tunnel construction to contain pipeline 5 under the Mackinaw Straights in case of spills. Let’s call it for what it is— corporate greed at the expense of our clean water and habitat.
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Hey there,
A city built for cars puts pedestrians, wheel chair users and bicyclists in danger. It suppresses our downtown economy and disproportionately negatively effects the lower income in our community.
This issue focuses on Strong Towns, a nationally org with an active Lansing chapter, working to create a city where anyone can feel safe on the road and have walkable access to a grocery store. Radical, I know.
Read on to learn more about the challenges posed by Lansing’s current infrastructure and how you can get involved to advocate for (often life saving) improvements.
We can do hard things,
Erin (they/them)
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Hey there,
This week’s issue is a summary of the rapid response training hosted here in Lansing by GR Rapid Response to ICE. They shared with us an incident in Grand Rapids where ICE was showing up a local elementary school to use children as bait in order to arrest parents.
ICE’s budget is now larger than most of the world’s militaries. We’re seeing them arrest without due process. We’ve seen them deport children. We’ve seen them opening defy our nations courts to illegally deport over 250 men to a maximum-security mega-prison in El Salvador. In our own state, we’ve already seen reports of inadequate food at North Lake Correctional Facility, the largest immigration detention center in the Midwest. If they weren’t doing anything illegal ICE wouldn’t need to cover their faces.
We’ve also seen that community organizing works. Showing up for our neighbors in direct action works. Organizing mutual aid to support families and arrested advocates works.
I fear things are going to get worse before they get better. How can we learn from the lived experiences of GR Response to expand on our networks here in Lansing while there’s still time?
We can do hard things,
Erin
they /them
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Hey there,
Imagine you have a disability that requires use of a wheelchair and makes it hard to work. You spend years filing and re-filing to get on either SSI or SSDI. When you finally get approved, you start looking for a home only to be unable to find one you can enter safely, let alone navigate in. This is because though 15% of Michiganders require mobility devices only 1% of homes are wheelchair accessible. Unable to find such a home, you are forced to buy a home you cannot even yet use the bathroom in and pay for the renovations yourself. Unfortunately you are unable to pay for these renovations on your $1,000 a month. That’s ok you think, you’ll just fundraise. Actually, you learn that you cannot fundraise in your own name without risking losing what little SSI funding you have. That’s ok, you think. Worst case scenario, you end up in a homeless shelter. Wrong again. Lansing currently does not have a single homeless shelter which accepts disabled folks. How can this possibly be legal you think? They are able to get away with this discrimination because all Lansing shelters are religiously affiliated. This would also be true if you were trans.
As Dawn says in her interview, the government is not going to take care of us. We have to take care of each other. Read this week’s issue to learn more about some of the challenges faced by our disabled neighbors and what you can do to help.
We can do hard things,
Erin
they /them -
Hey there,
If you are reading this you are probably already aware that Lansing intended to use the courts to sweep an encampment. Instead of providing with residents of Dietrich Park the very minimum to service the city of Lansing intended to sue the property owners to force the houseless of their land leaving the residents with no where to go and setting a terrifying precedent. This is all happening on the heels of Trump’s latest executive order to allow forced institutionalization of the U.S.’s homeless population into an already overfilled and under supported behavioral health system.
The people of Lansing showed up and won. Countless residents showed up at Tuesday’s City Counsel Meeting and demanded that Lansing officials took responsibility for the housing crisis instead of exacerbating the problem further. Schor has agreed to:
A 3-month pause on the lawsuit targeting the Dietrich encampment.
A commitment to creating a sanctioned encampment, with city support.
It is imperative that we keep him to his word. Mobilization has already begin for the next City Counsel Meeting (Aug. 11 @7) to support even more unhoused residents in sharing their stories. The City thinks they know more about what is best for the homeless than the actual homeless folks do. They’re running on assumptions and ignoring the real life cost.
If you would like to support transporting an unhoused resident to the meeting or to share their story on their behalf, please text Darren at (517)225-0779.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they /them
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Hey there,
The Lansing Primary for mayor and half of city council is August 5th. Last week’s issue focused on Mutual Aid, the practice of offering mutual community care to fill the cracks where systemic inequalities have failed us all.
Participation in local government elections is the best way we can directly combat those inequalities at their source.
While rights and protections are being striped away on a federal level seemingly on a weekly basis, it is more important than ever to have local civil servants in power who can advocate for equitable and just protections.
Through this very zine project, I have had the opportunity to share multiple mutual aid signal groups with Kelsea Hector (a 2025 mayor candidate). I have seen them show up time and time again for folks in need of support, both in person and in the form of using her ample community experience to connect folks with the best resources for assistance.
This issue features an interview with Kelsea where they explain what their priorities would be as mayor. It was beautifully said and most importantly, I have witnessed through their actions that we can trust them to follow through.
Kelsea has a great shot at the general election, but it’s up to us to get them through the primaries. Please email us at lansing.undersea@gmail.com to have a free Kelsea Hector yard sign delivered to you by yours truly.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they /them
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Hey there,
With the passing of Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, we know by design the poorest among us are going to suffer the most. Perhaps more than ever before, our leaders have made it clear they don’t give a shit about providing the most basic of human rights; the right to medical care, healthy food, housing, clean air and an education.
Now more than ever is the time to invest in Mutual Care. This doesn’t mean charity, but rather the praxis of recognizing that our society will only ever be as safe for any of us as it is for those struggling the most. How can we show up for the folks our government is systemically choosing to abandon time and time again? How can we form a community of interdependence so that each and every one of us can be safe in the dark days to come?
One such way, is through the Your Mom directory. This directory phone directory exists as a resource to connect our community with safe resources. It can be accessed by calling 517-299-0456. Read more about it and it’s founder in this week’s issue.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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Hey there,
In a striking turn of events Trump has dropped bombs on Iranian nuclear sites, thus confirming our government’s loyalty to Israel, a nation actively seeking the annihilation of the Palestinian people through the targeted execution of their children.
What’s more, they are using our money to do it.
Please consider joining Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids this week (6/26-6/30) in their March against Genocide to uplift the struggle of children, bring attention to the media and raise money for amazing and worthy causes.
The march with culminate with a rally at the Lansing Capital at 5:30 on Monday, June 30th.
Hope to see you there.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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Hey there,
I think many of us in the queer community have experienced abandoning the religious practices of our childhoods in favor of pursuing safer spaces where we could choose to be ourselves freely. This divide is so prevalent that we hear terms like "the religious right," but we know this is only a simplification of the full spectrum of the queer experience.
This issue highlights 3 queer community members who have held onto their faith, not as separate from but as part of their queer identities and the experience of a mom fighting to make her church inclusive.We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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Hey there,
Every person needs a place to live and despite the majority of us being just one emergency away from homelessness, the city would like us to imagine those without housing to be experiencing the effects of some kind of moral failing.
In reality, it is Lansing that is failing it’s constituents by failing to prevent our current affordability crisis. Similarly to a child moving the food around on her plate, Lansing would rather dangerously displace our homeless populations than actually offer any housing solution for them.
This failing only increases in severity when applied to queer community members. Though twice as likely to experience houselessness due to income discrimination, many queer folks do not feel safe going to our city’s religious shelters.
In this issue you will read interviews from The Rent is Too Damn High, Lansing’s tenant union, as well as A Place for Us, a homeless shelter currently being fundraised for that will function to serve the LGBTQ community specifically.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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Hi there,
I’ve noticed that for many of us, our daily jobs feel small and sometimes meaningless in the face of the current political crisis. “How can I be expected to do customer service while people are being taken off the street?”
Caregivers can’t afford to check out. They have to continue doing the seemingly mundane tasks of taking care of someone else all while living the news along with the rest of us.
This week I asked four caregivers “What does it feel like to be a caregiver right now? What feels especially hard? Where are you finding hope? What do you wish more people understood about the experience?”
They all answered with extreme honesty, power and generosity. I am so excited for you all to read their words.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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Hey there,
It’s impossible to ignore the constitutional crisis currently inflicted on our country in regards to the thousands of documented, undocumented, mixed status and even U.S. citizens being rapidly deported without due process.
It seems our leaders think they can get away with this by targeting our black and brown neighbors. Immigrants and refugees are human. Immigrants and refugees make our country better. Immigrants and refugees have been fighting for too long alone and it’s time for the rest of us to share the load.
Issue 6 shares some local opportunities to show up for immigrant families in our community. It also talks about Lansing’s current policies regarding ICE and highlights anti-immigrant bills in the Michigan house that must be resisted.
We can do hard things,
Doplis
they/them
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This zine was created to showcase community resources in the Lansing area to remind us all that we are not alone. It seems like every day that we’re seeing more and more scary things coming out of the White House. It is my belief that this is by design. The Trump Administration wants us to become disheartened. They want us to think Trump is so powerful that we shouldn’t even try. If you are subscribed to this zine, I think you’re the kind of person that can see that he’s full of shit.
The longer I’ve worked on this zine, the more I have the privilege of seeing what an incredible place Lansing is full of resources and magical people doing the work with love, care and commitment to sustained resistance.
This week’s issue celebrates Earth Day early.
Read on for opportunities to grow food in Lansing’s food desserts, a thoughtful and invigorating interview about the required intersectionality of environmental justice, and an anonymously shared poem about the beautiful work at Tender Heart Gardens.
We can do hard things.
Doplis
they/them
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If you’re new here, my name is Erin and I am the main curator of this zine. We distribute over 70 zines across 9 local Lansing shops with a new issue coming out every two weeks. If you don’t see one in the wild, you can always read the online version attached to this email :o)
In the best interest of keeping this zine relevant to the needs and happenings in our community, I rarely plan beyond the current issue. That’s why I was incredibly excited to hear about a student rally happening on MSU’s campus organized by suafmsu, a conglomerate of multiple student groups organizing against fascism.
This week’s edition was created specifically to be distributed at that rally as a means to connect isolated students to peers fighting for the same goals, promote student protest events and voices and most importantly to help students know they aren’t alone.
It did not disappoint. There was singing, there were chants and there were spectacular student speakers, some of which had been previously arrested for their protests.
Even if you yourself are not a MSU Student, there is so much hope to be gleamed from reading about their efforts and this week’s interview was a pleasure filled with empathy, clarity and honesty about how it feels to be a young student right now.
Thanks for reading and as always, email email us if you or your art would like to be included in our next issue.
We can do hard things.
-Doplis (they/them)
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It took three issues but this week’s zine is closer the form I dreamed of than any previous; that of a zine created for and by the community.
Issue 3 Spotlights:
Check out “It’s Worth It” to read excerpt of an anonymous interview by a community member about her experience living in Lansing as a Trans woman and what resistance looks like to her. Thank you again for your honesty and generosity.
You will also find a two page break down focusing on The Allen Center, a place-based nonprofit organization that has been serving Lansing's Eastside since 1999. For the last 24 years, ANC has pioneered and continues to offer successful programs in health access and education, food security, youth development, housing, economic development, and social connectivity. They center grassroots organizing and finding neighborhood solutions to systemic health and housing issues. Ethan was generous enough to share with the zine how the community can get involved with their impressive and invaluable efforts, whether by donating time or income.
Finally, you will notice a new page about CARE, a research conglomerate aiming to identify specific community needs and use a public health approach that prioritizes the community’s well-being and resiliency to address harms caused by those holding extremist ideologies. We met with them last week, and they offered the zine invaluable encouragement and advice. You can learn more about them at perilresearch.com/care
Have you witnessed extremists ideology in our community? Email CARE directly here: CARE_Michigan@american.edu
As always, I hope this zine strengthens and encourages you.
We can do hard things,
Doplis (they/them) -
When working on this week’s issue I hit a wall. The information was coming faster than I could update. I was grinding my wheels, setting aside more and more time to write, while meanwhile creating a zine that felt further and further from its goal; to help people, to connect them, and to aid in the fight against tyranny.
The truth of the matter is that this war is being waged by our attention spans. People learn what the government is doing through the media so if you overwhelm the media all at once no coherent opposition can emerge. Instead of circling back and identifying the wins, it keeps us constantly outraged, constantly afraid and oftentimes it seems, constantly exhausted.
Fear is an excellent motivator but an awful sustainer. Curiosity, truth and collective freedom on the other hand, remind us what we’re fighting for.
Lansing Undersea will continue to exist in two editions; its art zine curated by Alexander (he/him) and what had previously been named its news zine, now renamed its community zine, written and curated by myself.
What is sustaining your activism?
Where do you find your hope?
What does the world we’re striving for look like to you?
What does it feel like?
What steps can we take today to get closer to it?
This week’s community zine focuses on these questions and more.
This zine can be found out in the wild around Lansing or you can access the print version online here.
Reply to this email with your answers to be featured in the next one and as always contribute art of any kind to be featured in our art zine and lend your voice to the resistance.
Hold hands. Share water. Keep imagining.
Together we can do hard things.
Doplis (they/them)
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Online Art and Creative Writing
This zine exists in two parts, released bi-weekly.
Art amplifies our hopes and connects us. This week’s art edition features the diverse work of over 5 local artists.
We also strive to keep our community informed on national and regional news: no nonsense, no panic and in accessible language with our news edition.
Leave no room for doubt that Lansing is a city that opposes tyranny and protects its neighbors.
This week we printed and distributed dozens of copies of the news edition across several local businesses but we need your help to reach even more. Consider printing our news edition and giving it to someone who needs it
