An ancestral spell for care & protection

today and everyday.

In anticipation of election day, my co-creator Julienne and I were writing a message to our budding community of white people practicing anti-racism. When did racism become central to our society?, we considered. 1691, I thought: the year the word ‘white’ was first used to describe people in the law. Notably, it was a law forbidding marriage between people of European descent and people of African descent, which by the end of the century could result in punishments “up to and including death by torture.” I opened my calculator app, did some quick math, and realized that the government that would come to be the United States of America has been legally, forcibly dividing and conquering us in service of white dominance for 333 years.

The Libertroph Magazine post that Julienne and I shared on Instagram in anticipation of the election, @libertrophmag. Building white anti-racist culture is the work of lifetimes. How can we organize beyond four year election cycles?

333 years. Racism has been central to our society longer (we could look to 1619, when the first ship carrying enslaved Africans arrived on this land, or 1607, when Jamestown was established by the London Company to reap profit by any means possible, or even as early as 1493 when Pope Alexander VI authorized European nations to “colonize, convert, and enslave”). But it felt significant that I initially chose 1691, entered “2024-1691” into my calculator, and saw “333.” 

Ever since my beloved grandfather (aka Pops) became an ancestor on May 31, 2022, I’ve seen 333 everywhere. I had no reason to notice these numbers; before that day they carried no significance to me. But everywhere I looked, there were three 3’s, just as I was making my 33rd rotation around the sun. Their presence has persisted, and I’ve come to gratefully receive 333 as a sign of protection. In fact, I often see these numbers most when I’m in a risky or uncertain situation. A quick Google search suggests they are associated with growth, encouragement, and good luck. 

A soft, magenta flower with orange highlights, in front of a gray wall at an apple orchard in Warwick, NY

I know Pops would be glued to MSNBC, praying for the Democrats to win, if he were still here in human form. But I sense that in spirit form, he’s clear that something bigger is at play. That regardless of who is bestowed the title of president, our humanity rests on our willingness to practice–everyday–caring for ourselves and each other, despite what this violent, racist government has done to us. 

So no matter the electoral outcomes, may care flow to and from you today and everyday. May this election be a catalyst on our collective journey toward the END of white dominance in all its forms, from capitalism to the medical industrial complex to zionism. And may we receive everlasting ancestral protection and guidance along the way. 

With care,

Alyssa