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yvens Alex saintil 🇭🇹

@alex_shootz

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Actively listening and consciously separating the voices from the noise.

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The Trump administration’s use of the guise of law is the same old way the federal government and tiny municipalities used it to terrorize non-white people since the slave catchers became law enforcement officers.

Legality does not inherently equal morality or fairness.

ICE is a terrorist organization.

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#photography #street
#documentary
#35mm
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Super chill at MAM tonight. I caught up with some old friends and met some new ones. It’s going to take me a few weeks to get used to the time change because once it gets dark, I am ready for a nap. My friends at the pet tent started a Pets of MAM collage. Come by and check out the many pets in the community.

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#protest #MAM
#documentary #humanity
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Last week was especially emotional for me. A second auntie lost her battle with cancer. Yet, when I talk to a friend about the loss, they, like almost everyone else, know someone who has died from cancer. This post is me massaging the lump that’s been in my throat.

I wish Black women didn’t have to die from cancer so much more than others tho!

Our friends and neighbors are still being hunted in the streets like criminals. People cannot afford necessities, yet our focus is on giving taxpayer money to private companies to create concentration camps and data centers.

Fuck ICE!

The military wants to livestream an execution. They want to make a spectacle of it, just like they are pushing religion into our schools while they directly and indirectly separate families and children, and murder people. The death penalty is a crime against humanity. I don’t believe that any person or entity has the authority to take a life—legally or illegally. It does not deter murder. It only shows how much we don’t know about what it means to be human, and how broken and dangerous some of us are.

I have rarely felt so ashamed to be human.

We (society) can do better!

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#photography #street
#documentary
#35mm
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What does activism look like to you?

Usually, it’s just showing up, sharing space, and building a consistent community. Today, our agenda is solidarity.

Jeanette needs us!

Not because she can’t hold her own, but because what she stands for is bigger than her.

Will you show up?

Tuesday October 6th, 2026
7:45AM
ICE Field Office
12445 E Caley Ave, Centennial

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#community #solidarity
#documentary
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#alex_shootz

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Even from the mountains.

Fuck ICE.

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#photography #mountains
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I will never be convinced that it is normal for people to be houseless and on the streets while so many places remain empty. There’s really no city in our country where people aren’t visibly lacking physical and mental resources. Believing otherwise is a social disconnect.

Society’s attempt to desensitize us to the effects of our actions and decisions requires full-time attention.

A privilege.
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#photography #street
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The universe works in mysterious ways. Vulnerability, I’ve learned, is integral to being an artist. Experiencing rejection doesn’t make us stronger or thicker-skinned; it only heightens our sensitivity to the art world’s bureaucracy.

At least, it does for me.

We are often told that rejection is a necessary trial by fire that refines our work and prepares us for the reality of the market. And sure, we need the market for practical things: supplies, exhibition space, and a livelihood. But must we accept institutional rejection as a measure of our artistic worth?

I don’t believe so.

David Driskell curated Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750–1950, an exhibition featuring both known and unknown artists who worked ‘in the absence of light.’ Watching the HBO documentary Black Art: In the Absence of Light years ago made me realize that while institutions control access, they do not hold a monopoly on meaning. The work itself matters far more than the recognition or the rejection.

Let’s return to the basics: we separate church and state, so why not art and the market? Use the system when you must, but never let it define the work.

Back to work, folks!

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#humanity #blackart
#documentary
#35mm
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I am crossing my fingers that today was the last warm day before fall. The cloud cover and wind kept it cooler, but I am over this summer heat. I think many of us are ready for hoodie weather—or as some call it, pumpkin spice latte season! I met so many new friends today, and once again, someone on vacation somehow found themselves at MAM. I love it! Our friends at @thrive.bodyworker.collective were back to provide their services, and they were certainly missed.

The Kleenatap Waterwagon was also on hand to provide fresh, filtered water for free. There has always been a water station but never of this magnitude, where people aren’t limited to small cups, but can fill up full water bottles or jugs while having plenty left for others. I briefly spoke to Joerg, the founder, who was thrilled to be there. I hope I see him again. A quick tour inside the wagon showed just how simple yet intricate the system is.

Lastly, the donation tent was the emptiest I’ve seen it over the past year. With the weather turning colder, no one should be left without warm layers. Jackets, pants, sweaters, or anything warm and clean will help.

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#protest #MAM
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Activism is work that sometimes requires you to helplessly watch another human being experience a moment where they have no control over their own body. It is a moment that requires tact; otherwise, our activism can do more harm than good. The de-escalation team at MAM is on it. However, I wish our society treated de-escalation as a social norm. I wish we normalized recognizing when someone needs a moment or two, or a cigarette.

The extreme highs and lows of humanity are still being studied, but we have centuries of lessons to teach us compassion and empathy. It gives me hope to see a ton of new faces at our orientation meeting tonight. But the work continues! Some folks came by late looking for men’s clothing, and there was none left. Men’s clothing, and clothing in general, is urgently needed. Please consider donating what you can.

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#protest #MAM
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If you want to love people, you have to love all of them, including the parts of them when they didn’t know better. I don’t believe growth absolves us of accountability; I believe it requires us to face ourselves honestly, acknowledge the harm we’ve caused, and become better because of it. Our past is part of our story, but it isn’t the entirety of who we are. If you can only love me when I’m easy to understand or agree with, that’s not love.

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#life #denverco
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Reflecting on it now, it seems intentional that MAM happened to fall on Overdose Grief Day this year. I unexpectedly took a last-minute assignment from longtime Denver VOICE editor Elisabeth Monaghan, not realizing it would be my last with her. She will be dearly missed by many, including vendors and contributors like me who worked with her directly. Even as community members, harm-reduction workers, and loved ones gathered on the steps of Denver City and County, I felt sad to be the only member of the press covering the event. Yet, covering it also reaffirmed my belief that I am exactly where I need to be.

I’ve learned that Overdose and addiction are as American as apple pie. We manufacture, distribute, regulate, and consume drugs, then punish people for the ways those drugs have shaped their lives. We can be our own greatest enemy, but we are also our greatest ally.

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#protest #MAM
#documentary #denver
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