An important opinion piece appeared in the Guardian yesterday, along with the urgent appeal to journalists, which it parallels in some ways, covered in this diary on Daily Kos. As Keeanga-Kamahtta Taylor notes, some have complained that last Saturday’s marches, undoubtedly among the largest protests in US history, were too mainstream, or not inclusive enough. Others have tried to dismiss the protests as unfocused and vague in their goals. Although admittedly the immense crowds could have been even more diverse than they were in some ways, the level and breadth of participation in last Saturday’s marches are unprecedented. Rather than being a weakness, the multiplicity of mainstream participants represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or something even rarer.
I am nearly 60 years old. I remember the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Viet Nam, the “Reagan Revolution,” Iran-Contra, the Bush-Cheney administration, 9/11, and the Iraq wars. I have never seen energy like this. People turned out in vast numbers across the nation, even in small, conservative towns and Republican-dominated states, not to mention other countries. At the Boston march, I observed women, men, LBGTQ individuals, singles, couples, parents with kids, millennials, elders, people with disabilities, military vets, immigrants, professionals, service and construction workers, people of color, white folk, artists, intellectuals, scientists, and hippies. This stupendous grassroots energy has been building for a long time; it has the force of a long pent-up river seeking to cut a new course.
We are responding to a Code Orange emergency. Many factors are responsible for this emergency, but I believe it has come about in part because the evil forces that have ridden the trump train to power are now attempting to shut down democracy in the US in reaction to this movement, our movement, which until now has remained largely hidden, even to ourselves. The authoritarian radicals and oligarchs now in control of the federal government and many state governments have seen the writing on the wall and decided to take a drastic course of action before they themselves could be swept aside or overwhelmed. We cannot allow them to succeed.
Progressives, lefties, liberals and Democrats (however you define yourself) need to stop bickering and start focusing on building alliances. This is indeed a terrible crisis. It is an all-hands-on-deck moment. At the same time, the opportunity is mind-boggling. We have a chance to forge, not only an effective Resistance, but a truly transformative, paradigm-shifting Movement.
I am not an experienced organizer. Still, it seems to me that at least for now we can simply continue as we have started, as individuals, or gathering locally and online in small groups of shared focus, perspective, and style, with the understanding that we are part of a larger coalition and remain ready to come together for mass protests and actions on a regular basis. As members of this larger coalition, we may not agree on everything, but we would agree to share certain values, goals, and commitments—including, especially, protection of our democratic rights, freedoms, and institutions. This coalition can (and I believe should) reach out to conservatives, libertarians, and former Republicans who are alienated by the current administration and the radical, corrupt authoritarians that have hijacked the GOP. Such well-intentioned people do exist, and may be more numerous than we realize. A few may even have marched with us, and some are at least discussing the possibility of allying with the left (see for example this blog post, Resistance on the Right, especially the comments section; also this diary now up on Daily Kos).
We are all Americans. We should all value our democratic institutions and the Constitution, not to mention our neighborhoods, towns, cities, or states. We are all human. We need clean air and water and healthy food. Many of us share interests and hobbies. We have jobs, businesses, professions. We may share health concerns or disabilities. Some of us are religious. Some of us are veterans. We care for relatives, friends, and pets. Whenever possible, we can use our activities, identities, hobbies and beliefs to build bridges rather than walls, and as tools of resistance. Penzey's Spices has been doing this quite effectively. Moral Mondays and the Water Protectors are two examples of organizing around local issues that have achieved national prominence and influence. At the very least, we can get together with friends, neighbors, and like-minded relatives to keep track of what is going on and offer mutual support. If you haven’t already done so, refer to The Indivisible Guide. If our access to the internet is cut off or obstructed, the small groups will become all the more important. But we must not lose sight of our broader allegiances, no matter what. If we splinter, the forces now in power win.
We don’t have to figure out everything in advance, or all at once; that’s not even possible. We learn by doing. In the process, we get to know and understand one another’s concerns, and sometimes change our own and others’ minds. We can’t wait for the perfect leader. We have to lead ourselves. And we are doing it.
What happened last Saturday terrifies those who want to keep us divided and down.
Here we go.