Cleo Silvers has spent her life fighting for social justice. According to The Nation, Silvers has helped in rooms like taking over the Lincoln Hospital takeover in the South Bronx to organizing door-to-door health screenings for tuberculosis and lead poisoning. She’s a pioneer in community organizing.
But her activism came at a high cost. According to The Nation, declassified FBI documents repeatedly mention her as a COINTELPRO target. For decades, Silvers alleges, federal agents harassed her, sabotaged her career, and pressured her employers to fire her.
“They continue to actively target us,” Silvers told The Nation.
She believes her phone is tapped, her apartment bugged, and strangers she encounters are potential informants.
“I think they do it to let me know that they’re there,” said Silvers.
The psychological toll of surveillance has left its mark. Silvers describes suffering from “surveillance PTSD,” a condition characterized by hypervigilance and anxiety. She even takes extreme measures, like pouring oil on sensitive documents before discarding them, to protect her privacy.
And yet, Silvers refuses to back down, telling the Nation:
“Some of them [activists] lost their minds because of that,” she said. “They’re afraid. More than nervous—afraid.”
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