By all measures of gathering people the Hands Off protest was thankfully successful. Over 100,000 people in each city showed up to the NYC, Boston, and DC demonstrations (Axios and CBS News). Los Angeles and Atlanta also appeared to have successful gatherings. But of course, the success is not limited to the cities mentioned.
If these events did a good job organizing people toward actions remains to be seen. Miami’s event did not appear to do so, but other demonstrations are far more hopeful on this front. But this all brings up an important set of questions, who do we organize with and toward what end?
Given the mass of people who showed up to the Hands Off protest it may appear that the left has their pick of the litter in terms of quality people to organize with. Especially as Trump stands with a 47% approval rating as of April 5th 2025, so the majority of people are against Trump (Newsweek). But 47% of the country is still a huge portion of Americans, to say the least. And how willing are the 49% of Americans who disapprove of Trump willing to act against fascism?
The Hands Off protest gives us an idea of who may be willing to act against Trump, but there may still be cases where “A few fascist supporters were hiding among the crowd” (@QDMacaw). We cannot just let anyone in, suspicion of me should be rightfully included. Yet, we cannot be hyper-paranoid and assume all people at organizing events are secret fascists. There is a balance here. Each organizational group must determine for themselves who they want to organize with them.
In terms of organization between groups versus niche solidarity, at the present moment it does seem we have the room to be disjointed. That does not mean we cannot critique the general left. But, “We must accept as allies Maoists, Tankies, Centrists, and so on” as allies against fascism (Socialists.US). This does not make the left beggars, there is simply a need for numbers against fascism. Where we go in the post-fascist future will be difficult, but we must make sure we have post-fascism in order to have a lefty future. Organize with everyone as long as they are anti-fascist. But being anti-fascist is not just an adjective but a verb.
The lefty future is the end goal, yet our current step toward that goal is sadly preventing or at least slowing down the actions of fascists. Yet, what do we do to slow down and even better yet prevent the fascists from going about their plans. Civilly disobey, now in stating this not everyone has the privilege to go about civil disobedience. However, civil disobedience slows down or even halts the functions fascists need to go about their plans. Being a conscientious objector prevents fascists from having another soldier. A general strike cuts off fascist industry and income.
To run a general strike, for example, you need a lot of people on board. The Hands Off protest could be seen as a practice run for a general strike. Would people be willing to do a general strike for more than a day? Certainly many do not have the privilege to strike beyond a day or even for a day. Given that 49% of the country currently disapproves of Trump, having even half of that 49% go about a general strike would be impactful on the economy. Yet, those who do a general strike should be willing to go about civil disobedience if they have the privilege to do so. Civil disobedience plus a general strike would show fascists that there is a mass that does not fear them and this could even give fascists fear.
But beyond giving fascists fear, a general strike (with or without civil disobedience) would remind people of the power people have to shape the future toward mutual benefit. Make leaders care about those they supposedly lead. There have been successful general strikes in the United States, the 1922 UMW General coal strike (Wikimedia) which led to the forming of the Federal Coal Commission and the 1835 Philadelphia general strike (journals.psu.edu/...) which created a 10 hour day which was lower than the standard at the time. A general strike will point the finger back to leadership and demonstrate which leaders are truly anti-fascist, if a general strike does not accomplish anything else. Will a fascist join a general strike, likely not. We just need to figure out a date in my opinion.
