On the 8th of August, The Rio Grande Valley Queer Run Club held one of their events in protest of the current injustices of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In response to over a year of abductions and raids, the fitness group spent this meetup emulating a form of low risk protest growing in notoriety by spelling out “No Ice” with their route.
Run for Others
Starting at the Ponte Creative Studio, the route spelled out the words, “No Ice,” between North Main and 16th Street. In attendance to support were several runners, walkers, and bikers of all ages, backgrounds, and identities. Co-Founder of the RGV Run Club, Dani Marrero Hi, took point in representing the organization at the event, and for an interview. This practice of protest was inspired by bikers spelling out similar messaging on their routes and posting them. It is a known common practice for runners and bikers to post their route, garnering enough attention to reach the eyes of the club. Marrero Hi stated that runs for causes like these bring awareness and create safe spaces for those of the affected communities.Therefore, this practice creates a natural outlet for others to show support in something as simple as a community run.
The Rio Grande Valley Queer Run Club
The Queer Run Club is no stranger to steering events toward a common message of support for the community. It came from a group of friends and runners taking lead in starting the still fairly young club, and hitting the ground running as they planned for the Pride events of that year. With runs and rides occurring regularly, the Club dedicates a fair amount of their events towards causes in need of amplification. Although they usually focus on queer centered events, they are no stranger to running in honor of reproductive or immigrant rights. They also organize sober gatherings, making them family friendly. Marrero Hi expressed an empathy and awareness lost sometimes within the community, which shines a light on the importance of keeping intersectionality in mind, contributing to the club’s diversity of organizations and communities they work with. Continuing on to state how what makes the group more than a fitness club is how it would not be possible without parks, a breathable atmosphere, or the freedom to go outside.
“Running is political, because everything is.”
– Dani Marrero Hi during an interview
The Right Foot to Start On
The run offered an incredible first step for people who don’t engage in activism, to show clear support in a mundane way. The event also presented opportunities for second steps much like most of the Club’s runs and rides. Other examples include the market at the end of their Pride 5K, and invitations to the Club’s group chat where events are shared and discussed.
Most of the Run Club’s gatherings come with access to information and usually in collaboration with a local organization. Marrero Hi cited groups FronteraFund, LUPE, Democratic Socialists of America: Rio Grande Valley, the South Texas Environmental Justice Network from Brownsville, and the South Texas Equality Project, last of which were highlighted as the beneficiaries of their Pride 5K. They clarified that everyone knows their own situation best, and they get to decide what protests have manageable risk. However, they also noted that it is important to vocalize that there are several forms of protest including simple ones like a group walk. Regularly occurring events can be expected to happen from recently occurring Back to School Events to ones focusing on voter registration and education leading up to November.
