50501 Iowa Coalition Newsletter October 8, 2025

Art by Indigo Zafar

OPSEC tips

By Echo

Wear Layers - Even if it’s hot, you want to cover your skin as much as possible. If chemical deterrents (tear gas) are used you’ll want to be able to remove whatever outer layer is contaminated as quickly as possible.

Bring Water - Seriously, water. You don’t know if things are going to go long or if someone around you is going to need it or if you're just going to be thirsty. (If you want to be extra helpful consider bringing hydration packs like Liquid IV or Gatorade powder.)

Emergency Numbers - Admit it, no one remembers phone numbers anymore. Write the number for your emergency contact on your arm in permanent marker, that way you can’t lose it.

Turn OFF Your Phone - Not airplane mode, not silent, OFF. And don't just turn it off when you get to the location. Turn it off when you're still a ways out, better yet, leave it at home.

Cover Yourself - Similar to wearing layers, wear a MASK, wear SUNGLASSES, and wear a HAT or SCARF that covers your ears. These are all parts of your body that can be used to identify you.

DO NOT - Wear makeup or contacts. Protect your eyes. You don't want tear gas fusing your contacts to your eyeballs, that stuff is painful enough already.

This is just a basic overview of how to keep YOURSELF safe. For more information consider checking out some of the great infographics created by

Friendly Neighborhood Street Medics, https://www.tumblr.com/friendlyneighborhoodstreetmedic, or

Frontline Medics, @frontlinemedics, on Instagram.

Art by Indigo Zafar

Book Review

By Indigo Zafar

“There are lessons to be learned from history — but generally those lessons are only known to those who read books, not to those who ban them.” ― Brian Dunning

1. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory by Tim Alberta - A look inside the evangelical Christian movement, a brief history of Christian Nationalism, and how this group has come to justify their support for Trump. Alberta provides a unique perspective as the son of an evangelical pastor.

2. White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller & Paul Waldman - Discusses the contradictions of rural America’s beliefs and the power of their vote. Rural America is angry and the most left behind voting group by both conservatives and democrats. If rural America placed their focus on clear goals, such as poor infrastructure, lack of jobs, declining education, etc, they could move the needle and improve their community as a whole.

3. Beyond the Big Lie by Bill Adair - Written by the founder of PolitiFact, Adair discusses why politicians lie, patterns of lying, what politicians lie about, and why Republicans lie more. This book weighs the importance of fact-checking in politics and to democracy as a whole. The author urges journalists to continue to call out politicians who lie, regardless of threats.

4. Why We Did It by Tim Miller - Miller is a former Republican political operative, working with Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and several other big wig conservatives. When it came to Donald Trump, he jumped off the train. The author attempts to untangle why “Never Trumpers” suddenly got on board.

5. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander - Highly recommend this book. This book discusses the criminal justice system and the impact it has had on the black community. A notable quote from the book, “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” This book discusses topics such as the War on Drugs and how the laws were designed to keep non-violent, first-time offenders in prison, in some cases, for life. This book also addresses the vicious cycle of poverty and how the War on Drugs can be directly tied to that cycle, predominantly in the black community..

How Much Wealth is Enough?

by Banner Man

There are so many things I would like , really need, to talk about in this moment. But the issue we are talking about today is the loss of food security, access to healthcare, housing security, and the stability of our rural hospitals and nursing homes.

I would like to add that the party in power hasn’t even shown up to work today. How many folks who live check to check can afford to do the same?

I want to preface my talk with this question – How much wealth is enough? I don’t mean this rhetorically. Literally, what is the amount? How much wealth is enough?

The tax cuts pushed through are decimating programs folks rely on because income in-equality is so disparate. How much wealth is enough?

How much wealth is enough so that we don’t take food out of our babies and children’s mouths?

How much wealth is enough so that we don’t have to take away pre-natal care for expecting mothers?

How much wealth is enough so that we don’t force our vulnerable neighbors to choose between medicine, food, or rent?

How much wealth is enough that we can still staff our rural hospitals and keep them open?

How much wealth is enough so that we can keep nursing homes open and staffed?

How much wealth is enough so that we can staff nursing homes so that workers can take the time to say hello in there to residents in their final years and give them the attention they deserve?

How much wealth is enough for the shareholders invested in the private equities that have purchased so many nursing homes, housing, and too many other fragile businesses to list?

I will close with some scripture from Isaia 10

Woe to those who make unjust laws,

to those who issue oppressive decrees,

2 to deprive the poor of their rights

and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people,

making widows their prey

and robbing the fatherless.

3 What will you do on the day of reckoning,

when disaster comes from afar?

To whom will you run for help?

Where will you leave your riches?

4 Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives

or fall among the slain.

How much wealth is enough?

The After (Take me to the River)

By Indigo Zafar

All alone

In the smoke and ashes

Skin to bone won’t hold up long

Had this feeling for quite some time

Guess it’s finally gotten to me

* * *

Take me down to the river

I know i’m not a saint

Am I really such a sinner?

Wash my sins away

And drown me

In this hell that I've created.

Take me down to the river

I know it’s gonna hurt

But the sooner I forgive her

Wash my sins away

And save me

From this hell that I’ve created

* * *

Don’t want to come out until I’m clean

Made it so hard to believe

That something beautiful

Could come from me

* * *

Take me down to the river

I know i’m not a saint

Am I really such a sinner?

Wash my sins away

And drown me

In this hell that I've created.

Take me down to the river

I know it’s gonna hurt

But the sooner I forgive her

Wash my sins away

And save me

From this hell that I’ve created

* * *

Ash to ash

Dust to dust

Take me back

Where I'm from

Cold hard clay

Lay me to rest

In the river bed

Oh

* * *

Take me down to the river

I know i’m not a saint

Am I really such a sinner?

Wash my sins away

And drown me

In this hell that I've created.

Take me down to the river

I know it’s gonna hurt

But the sooner I forgive her

Wash my sins away

And save me

From this hell that I’ve created

Take me down to the river

I know i’m not a saint

Am I really such a sinner?

Wash my sins away

And drown me

In this hell that I've created.

Take me down to the river

I know it’s gonna hurt

But the sooner I forgive her

Wash my sins away

And save me

From this hell that I’ve created

Take me down to the river….

* * *