A conversation that will give you hope

My interview with Mike Bonin on fighting state repression and lighting a path for democracy, even in the depths of darkness

When I spoke to Mike Bonin about fighting political repression on his podcast, What’s Next Los Angeles?, at the end of May, the new ICE raids hadn’t yet begun in earnest in LA. Donald Trump hadn’t dispatched the National Guard or the Marines, and the US Secret Service hadn’t wrestled Alex Padilla, California’s senior senator, to the ground for attempting to ask a question of the Homeland Security secretary. But by the time the interview went live last week, my hometown had been beset by a crisis of our government’s own design.

It is hard to convey the waves of grief, chaos, and trauma that are crashing over so many Southern California families and immigrant communities right now — though many journalists, including David Dayen and Jenny Medina, have helped make those stories more accessible. The federal government has kidnapped people from carwashes, farms, restaurants, bus stops, religious institutions, and off the streets. The raids have left families broken, often without recourse or even information about where their loved ones have been sent.

And yet the city has shown remarkable resilience and grit. Peep the interfaith vigils, the mass of Angelenos who denied masked agents entry Chavez Ravine, the restaurants pooling money so that street food vendors can stay inside, and the Mayor, who stood among the leaders of smaller cities in the region, and issued a forceful rebuke to the White House. All of that matters. “Where there’s widespread terror against immigrants and non-white communities more generally, there’s also astonishing solidarity,” Anna Merlan wrote last week in a striking portrait of the city for Mother Jones. “As occurred during January’s devastating fires, Los Angeles has been full of people and organizations trying to help.”

That Los Angeles is the one I’ve watched Mike Bonin work for years to build. I got to know Mike when he was a member of the City Council and I was working as a field organizer in the LA Mayor’s office. My job involved trying to persuade residents of wealthy Westside neighborhoods to support affordable housing and new beds for homeless families in their area. (Not for the faint of heart!) Mike was a voice of conscience, taking courageous and at times unpopular positions on housing, but also on poverty and community safety, that often had personal and political repercussions. He took risks, and sometimes paid for them, but always kept his eyes fixed on a vision for a fairer and more just city.

So it was especially meaningful for me to be interviewed by Mike on his podcast, and to talk about what I’ve learned from dissidents around the world about overcoming fear, fighting a repressive government, and finding strength among likeminded people. And fear not: I turned some questions on Mike, too, and he gave some great answers. It’s a 50-minute conversation and, I think, a soulful one. I hope you enjoy it.

Listen on: Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Mike’s website