BETTY and Friends at the Arch:
An Evening of Celebration and Resistance in the Park

On Wednesday, July 27, the band BETTY hosted BETTY and Friends at the Arch, a celebration of music and resistance at Washington Square Park. Singer Felice Rosser of FAITH NYC opened the performances with a soulful call to stand up. Sophia Ramos unleashed ferocious fury and attitude that got the crowd dancing and cheering. Madge Dietrich led everyone to sing an old Woody Guthrie tune against fascism. BETTY brought passion and energy to the stage with their wit and wonderful harmonies. All those who gathered from different walks of life and all generations, including many who had just been passing by and got drawn in, were gelled together with a sense of rhythm and defiance. Aly Palmer, of BETTY, who curated and emceed the evening, interspersed the performances and speakers with deep history of Washington Square Park. She shared how 20,000 people are still buried under the park, mostly those who were destitute or enslaved. She shared of the public lynchings that took place in the park for many years. But she also shared the massive protests and rallies and freedom struggles that converged there—the famous walk out of women from the shirtwaist factory, more recent marches for Black Lives and against the overturning of Roe—connecting today's struggles with those of the past. Jasmine Logan, of Middlechurch, spoke of the need for revolutionary love and the reality that until all of us are free, no one is free. Antonia Kirkland, of Equality Now, spoke against the horror of losing abortion rights and of the need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Sunsara Taylor spoke on behalf of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and, after celebrating the diversity and unity of the crowd, challenged people to resist the pull to retreat into communities of like-minded people and into one's own life, but instead to gather our strength to face the fight of our lifetimes that is coming to defeat the rising forces of fascism and win a whole better future and world. She briefly invited people to tune into The RNL—Revolution, Nothing Less!—Show on YouTube that she co-hosts.

After the performances ended, people stayed and mixed it up with people they didn't know before. Many visited the table of Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights and got literature from the other organizers there. In these dangerous times, we need much more of this kind of unity and diversity, culture and community of resistance.

Thursday, July 29: Three people with Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, LA and Vets Rise 4 Roe were forcefully arrested for participating in a non-violent civil disobedience and performance art piece on the steps of Chris Burden's “Urban Lights” at the LA County Museum of Art.  Two activists chained themselves to the posts of the iconic statue amidst fake body bags, hangers, and fake blood. They were covered in blood in a dramatic action to bring attention to all the lives this decision affects. Read more.