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I took American Jewish Literature and Music class in college (yes, I was THAT annoying liberal arts honors kid…), learning all about Gershwin, Bernstein, and Saul Bellow. When we covered the period of the Holocaust, and I don’t quite remember the context, but a classmate abruptly whispered over his shoulder to me, “Yeah, and IBM made billions from the concentration camps.” My mouth opened as I quickly mentally inventoried through anything I knew about the Holocaust, and no, I never learned that corporations made money off the genocide.
That comment led me down a rabbit hole into IBM and the Holocaust: The Strategic Alliance Between Nazi Germany and America’s Most Powerful Corporation, a chilling book about how the most powerful tech corporation of the 20th century—IBM—formed a strategic alliance with Nazi Germany. Their punchcard systems helped track census data, organize logistics for deportations, and schedule trains to death camps.
…and, cue the first week of the Tennessee legislative session. The opening night of the session is sponsored by the Miss Universe pageant, which includes corporations such as the private prison company and—currently being audited—CoreCivic. CoreCivic is ICE’s #1 sidekick in this dystopian feature film we’re living through… contracting with ICE to detain, house, and deport immigrants while also notoriously holding the honor for running the gang-ridden, with a decades-long track record of abuse and neglect, Trousdale Turner correctional facility. For those who haven’t visited the State Museum, the architectural crown jewel is a reception area with wall-to-wall windows. As lawmakers schmoozed with CoreCivic execs, protestors organized by Bless This Mess and other affinity groups gathered outside—chanting so loudly I could hear them in East Nashville.
And today? On the heels of ICE agents killing an American citizen in broad daylight, Republican leadership unveiled their Stephen-Miller-kissed immigration crackdown package. [ [link removed] ] And, let us not forget, last year’s special session when they passed an immigration package that created felony charges for local officials who support sanctuary policies, gave the state power to withhold funding from cities like Nashville that don’t comply, and created an “immigration czar”???? Really?? Are the Bolsheviks on their way to storm the Winter Palace?!?!?!? And, indulge me when I recall last year’s interaction with nazi-adjacent legislation that would force special licenses for non-citizens with a special yellow star (which went into effect January 1st) [ [link removed] ]. I believe I read an excerpt from the Nuremberg Trials on the House Floor in opposition to the bill, and the bill's sponsor, Rep. Lee Reeves, refused to make eye contact with me.
Things are really bad, and they are going to get worse, especially in states like Tennessee. Our state is collapsing in real time (more on this in a few weeks), and instead of doing anything, LITERALLY ANYTHING, to make our lives easier, the state legislature is feasting. At this year’s corporate homecoming, lawmakers shared the buffet line with CEOs and lobbyists from companies profiting off the detention, deportation, and death of our community. Yet, when the silver platter is lifted, we’re left with nothing—not even crumbs. Never thought I’d be living through such a “Let them eat cake moment,” but here we are.
And as I’ve said in many Substack posts: the world isn’t ending, but a world is ending—and we get to choose what comes next. That choice starts with showing up, again and again, one foot in front of the other. You can join Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights' call TONIGHT at 7 PM CT [ [link removed] ]and learn how organize locally against Tennessee’s Stephen Miller’s agenda; you can buy items on Music City Migra Watch’s Amazon Lis [ [link removed] ]t; or, you can read up on the 500 companies that have active contracts with ICE and do your part to connect the dots for others. [ [link removed] ]
Remember, the only way out is through, and the only way through is together.
Aftyn
P.S. I’ll send my newsletter out in two weeks with more legislative information, but for my House District 51 constituents, we’ve launched a new form based on Sen. Charlane Oliver ’s office form. You can complete this form to request a resolution for your special occasion, sign up to shadow me for a day during the legislative session, or sign your child up to be a Page for a day during Floor sessions.
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