Initiators and Others Speak Out:
NO! In the Name of Humanity, We REFUSE To Accept a Fascist America!
Updated January 11, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Here are words from some of the initiators of Refuse Fascism and others, at the Emergency Meeting in NYC, December 19, 2016:
"Imagine if people, in the tens of millions, filled the streets, powerfully declaring that this regime is illegitimate and demanding that it not be allowed to rule! The whole political landscape would be dramatically transformed, every faction within the established power structure would be forced to respond—and all this could well lead to a situation in which this fascist regime is actually prevented from ruling. This is not some idle dream but something which could be made a reality if all those who hate what is represented by this fascist regime translate their outrage into firm determination and massive mobilization to create the conditions which make this possible."
Pianist/composer Arturo O’Farrill:
“We’re gathered to usher in a new era; a new era of strong, powerful resistance; an era of cooperation and communication”
January 20, 2017
The night before Trump’s inauguration, there was a Musicians Against Fascism concert at Symphony Space in New York City featuring outstanding jazz musicians. This was a benefit for refusefascism.org. The host for the evening, five-time Grammy winner Arturo O’Farrill, made these opening remarks:
Interview with Revolutionary Artist Dread Scott:
J20 Art Strike, Other Stirring of Resistance in the Arts, and the Fight to STOP the Fascist Regime
January 9, 2017
Revolution: A call has come out from prominent artists and critics calling for a January 20 Art Strike against Trump’s inauguration. You are one of the signers. Talk to us about this call.
From Dave Zeiger, Displaced Films:
It CAN’T happen here? Don’t become Kurt Gerron.
January 12, 2017
Carl Dix, of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, and one of the co-initiators of RefuseFascism.org, speaks at New Year's Eve protest at Columbus Circle, NYC. Carl lays out the vision and plan for taking the "No Trump! No Pence! No Fascist 2017!" message to every corner of society in the coming days and building massive resistance culminating in people coming to Washington, D.C. before the MLK holiday. Carl Dix is heading to DC, and calling on people to join him there, and to stay in the streets and disrupt business as usual to prevent the Trump-Pence regime from ruling.
Bonnie Darves: Professions (and Confessions) of a Reluctant Activist in the Time of Trump
I missed the protests of the 1960s because I was too young. I was on the sidelines of 1970s activism because I was working and trying to get through college. In the 1980s I had young children. In the 1990s I was working a couple of jobs and did little more than sign the occasional petition. I have no excuses for not doing more to support or protect what I believe in, during the aughts and beyond, other than complacency—I am a journalist and I am well read, so I have absolutely no excuses.
That’s the mea culpa part. And that chapter is over. It ended effective Nov. 9, 2016, when I woke up, read the election results, and first stumbled around in a daze for a few hours, then began fretting, weeping, reeling and railing.
Sound familiar? Read on.
Gregg L. Greer: “A growing number of American Citizens now see this man's agenda as dangerous”
Pastor Gregg L. Greer, of Freedom First International-SCLC and one of the signatories of the Refuse Fascism Call to Action, wrote “An Open Letter to America—Why opposing the Trump Regime must be the clarion call of the moment,” dated January 7. He says in the letter:
We the people can no longer sit idle and allow the constitutional rights of our citizens to be taken for granted and so easily dismissed.
Msg to those protesting in front of Trump Towers in Chicago from Grammy winner @lalahhathaway #NoFascist2017 #DegenerateArtists pic.twitter.com/GLqxTDg4Xk
— #DegenerateArtists (@DegenArt) January 1, 2017
I just signed this Call to Resist Fascism and so should you! Stop Trump! https://t.co/jH3UZxGS6q #nofascistUSA via @refusefascism
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 31, 2016
Upon adding her name to the Call to Action to Stop Trump and Pence Before They Come to Power, Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker observed:
"A Southerner, Fascism was well known growing up. So this “new” fascist America is a redux. All the more unbearable for being so. Who wants to go back there?"
Revolution Interview
Yusef Salaam of the Central Park 5, An Innocent Black Man Trump Campaigned to Execute in 1989:
We Can't Wait 4 Years, We Must Change the Course of History Now
December 28, 2016
Interview with Sunsara Taylor
Emergency Meeting Confronts the Danger, Reveals the Potential, Makes the Plans to STOP a Trump/Pence Regime Before It Starts
December 20, 2016
From the Faith Committee of RefuseFascism.org
An Urgent
Message to all Faiths—
The
world cannot afford a fascist America.
Why
we must do whatever we can to stop
it!
In 1937, Martin Niemöller, a German pastor and theologian who initially welcomed Hitler’s 1933 appointment as Chancellor of the German Reich. However, after publicly renouncing the regime, he was arrested and imprisoned in German concentration camps. The powerful and poetic statement (below) expresses Niemöller’s deep regret for not having acted sooner to take a decisive stand against the rise of fascism in Germany...
LISTEN: Andy Zee and PZ Myers on The Michael Slate Show, KPFK in Los Angeles
Listen HERE
Interview with Musician, Ted Sirota
“If people speak their conscience, especially in a situation as morally outrageous as this one, others will follow suit.”
December 24, 2016
Pastor Gregg L. Greer: Appeal to people of faith!
December 24, 2016
Pastor Gregg L. Greer is President of Freedom First International (SCLC)
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