The National Tour had our second full day in Houston today, beginning with group discussions of our plans and a lot of logistical work. We spent time working on our big projects for South by Southwest, as well as phone banking, creating videos for fundraising, and calling people to invite them to our Houston organizing meeting. The meeting, which was hosted by the local Refuse Fascism chapter, took place in the evening at a lovely coffee shop, where they generously provided food for all the Volunteers. Around 20 people joined us, including activists from several Houston organizations, people who had met Refuse Fascism volunteers at Super Bowl protests, local artists, students, and a professor. Our informal presentation began with one Tour Volunteer discussing some of the horrible recent actions of the Trump/Pence regime, explaining why it is fascist, and sharing the four points of action we all must take to rise up and stop them.
He explained what Trump’s “law and order” rhetoric really means; it is code for the promotion of mass incarceration of Black and Latino people—especially youth—and the acceptance and encouragement of their murders by police. Jeff Sessions, a supporter of the KKK and the Attorney General appointed by this regime, very openly wants to give law enforcement the green light to continue killing them. Racism in the administration is manifested also in the reigns of terror searing through immigrant communities across the country. Raids and violent deportations are tearing apart families, and “Build the wall!” sentiments are feeding the sharp rise of hate crimes. Trump has redefined what a “criminal alien” means to include any undocumented person, effectively carrying out the early stages of ethnic cleansing.
This regime, however, is worse than the sum of its parts. We do not use the term “fascist” as a pejorative. The administration has replaced the EPA with climate change deniers and oil executives, they’ve supported the global gag rule that will cause the deaths of tens of thousands of women around the world, and they have struck fear in the hearts of all Muslims, whom they seek to ban from the country entirely. But what is even more alarming is their movement toward concentrating power in the hands of the executive branch, and in Trump’s hands in particular. Trump subverts checks and balances by attacking the judiciary, saying only “so-called” judges would disagree with him, and packing his cabinet with military generals in order to execute his political agenda and purging all minorities to create his white supremacist vision.
The Volunteer concluded by delving into the ways to take action to drive out the fascist regime before it is too late. All separate acts of resistance—against the Muslim ban or the discriminatory “bathroom law” attacking transgender people—must unite toward the goal of removing them from office. We have seen the beginnings of our movement, as one woman was denied entry to Lincoln Center for refusing to remove a NO! sticker from her back, a moment which evolved into a New York Times story. These forms of resistance, like the Women’s March which drew millions on the regime’s first day in power, must grow and reject all aspects of the Trump agenda. We need to join together in mass resistance in order to see our strength. The people of South Korea flooded the streets every single day for over a month until only 5% of the nation was in favor of the president. The government could not ignore the visible, inescapable outrage of the masses, and they had to begin impeachment proceedings. South Korea completely changed the political climate, and their success in removing a corrupt president shows us it is possible.
Then, two Tour Volunteers described our plans for South by Southwest in Austin this week. We are planning to have a major presence there, passing out tens of thousands of Calls to Action, NO! stickers, and posters to the crowd of over half a million people from around the world who will be present at the festival. We want the image of NO! manifested around every corner, in every concert, art show, restaurant, and store. We want to see artists wearing NO! t-shirts and playing with our stickers on their instruments. There will be vast media coverage, as well, so we can reach mass audiences if we have a significant visual presence at the festival. In order to accomplish this, we need a great deal of financial support. We asked for contributions on the spot and encouraged all in attendance to share our online crowd rise campaign link. We also encouraged everyone to join us at the festival throughout the week.
The meeting was then opened up for discussion, and we received many constructive comments and interesting questions. One woman asked us if there was a concise definition we could provide to anyone who doesn’t understand what fascism is. We shared with her how she could break it down more easily using the Call to Action, particularly the following lines: “Fascism is not just a gross combination of horrific reactionary policies. It is a qualitative change in how society is governed. Fascism foments and relies on xenophobic nationalism, racism, misogyny, and the aggressive re-institution of oppressive ‘traditional values.’” The elimination of democratic rights and movement toward open dictatorship are two of the core elements of a fascist regime.
A lot of our discussion focused on the importance education for our movement; as one Houston activist said, “Education is essential. For the most part, people still aren’t fully understanding fascism.” This is an accurate assessment, as many haven’t yet grasped that Trump and Pence are fascists and what the implications of fascism are, and this is why we need to spread tens of thousands of Calls to Action across Texas, bringing this truth to the millions who are already concerned about the actions of the regime. It is important to note, though, that when Refuse Fascism first started a few months ago, we were some of the only people using the term “fascist.” Now, it’s much more common in protests, discussions, and social media. Part of this is because of the tremendous efforts of our organization, and part is because of the actions of the regime that refute the “wait and see” approach many people had taken—assuming this was all drama and rhetoric and not expecting Trump to actually enact these horrors after the campaign concluded. The growth of the explicit use of the term “fascist” is indicative of our power. We have made significant progress and have the potential to multiply until the millions are in the streets shouting NO!
In extending this subject of discussion, a Tour Volunteer spoke of the amazing strength and example of the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance. People put their bodies on the line and refused to leave. These are the actions we all need to take—day after day and night after night. One main way of mass re-education is through presence on the streets in protest. We need to change the whole society, and movements of mass protest in the streets can dramatically shift how people look at reality.
One of the Tour Volunteers then shared that she was initially drawn to become involved with Refuse Fascism because of our consistent message directed toward real action and because the group is not at all exclusive. We are a movement of diversity and of unity, and we work to protect all of humanity. One community activist who attended the meeting also spoke of the significance of bringing humanity into our conversations and outreach. Even if people aren’t immediately in agreement with us when they hear our message, he said, they will have a “wake up” moment at some point, and in that moment we will have planted this seed of resistance and refusal in their minds.
By the end of the meeting, people were eager to get organized. Everyone present signed up and donated as much as they could, and many were excited to continue the discussion at the next Houston chapter meeting. Two people made plans to join us at South by Southwest to help bring the NO! to Austin and far beyond. Everyone who attended was inspired to take the next steps toward driving them out. We met some wonderful new leaders and received a great deal of support and encouragement that will help us as we move forward. Thank you to the incredibly welcoming Refuse Fascism Houston chapter! As we set out for the SxSW festival, we are planning to expand on these methods of organizing on the spot and helping people learn to mobilize others. It will take millions to drive them out, but we are now seeing how real that possibility it. The enthusiasm of the people we’ve met on Tour, even in “red” states, is empowering. If everyone who cares about humanity comes together under one single mission of removing Trump and Pence from office, we have the strength to accomplish it.
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