It was the Good, the Bad, and the Lovely in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend.
The Good was celebrating a long overdue ScottFree Wisconsin with folks who had been out on the frontlines of the struggle since 2011.
The Bad was a rally sponsored by the far right hate group the III% United Patriots which was met with a loud, lively, peaceful counter protest.
The Lovely was an open house at Wisconsin’s Executive Residence, aka the Governor’s Mansion, hosted by Gov. Tony Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
The Bad: Far Right Extremists
The hate-mongering, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim militia known as III% United Patriots . had scheduled a rally at the State Capitol.
There were actually two counter protests. The first was a silent witness organized by several local churches and peace groups from Madison.
A larger and much louder counter demonstration was organized by a broad group of progressive and left groups under the banner of “United Against Fascism.” The goal was to show the far-right extremists that their message of hate had no home in Wisconsin. While peaceful, the crowd chanted, marched, listened to speakers, and generally created a ruckus to drown out the small crowd at the top of the Capitol steps and let them know they were not welcome in Wisconsin.
The Lovely: Cookies with Tony
Our newly elected Governor Tony Evers graciously invited everyone over for hot chocolate and cookies and a tour of his new home for the next four years (and hopefully many years more.) A lovely Saturday afternoon excursion! The line went out the door but we are used to winter in Wisconsin.
The Good: Solidarity Forever!
It’s been a long, hard road since the massive protests against Scott Walker in 2011 & 2012, and we deserved a party! Saturday night we celebrated a ScottFree Wisconsin at the Labor Temple in Madison with speakers, singing, food, and of course some local union-brewed beer.
The Raging Grannies raged, John Nichols, a stalwart defender of democracy ad writer for The Nation and The Progressive, got the crowd cheering, current and soon-to-be elected officials celebrated Democrat victories in every statewide race last election, and the Solidarity Singers sang out the night with our own versions of This Land of Your Land and a soulful rendition of Solidarity Forever. There’s more work to do but this victory and this celebration was long overdue.
And keep scrolling, there are lots of photos!