40 people protested Jeff Sessions’ appearance and speech in Philadelphia July 20. The protest united many different people, most of whom had come out for the July 15th protest demanding that Trump and Pence must go, making clear that the July 15 demonstration was not ‘one and done.’ The protest came together with only 39 hours between when we found out about the speech and the speech itself.
A couple of days earlier we had stumbled upon a screencap going around social media that detailed Sessions’ planned visit to Philadelphia. Despite (or because of!) being planned so hastily and on such short notice, the demonstration had many positive aspects. New opportunities and perspectives have opened up since J15, and this was a big part of the basis for calling this protest and making it happen.
Sessions, flowing from his thoroughly racist worldview, is a proud crusader in the effort to wipe the (already extremely limited) protections that sanctuary cities offer completely off of the map. A round of I.C.E. raids in Philadelphia arrested almost 250 people in February/March. In statements to the press after Sessions spoke at the Attorney’s Office, Democratic Mayor Kenney “pleaded the 4th” so to speak (referring to his nod to the constitutional amendment that requires a warrant to hold someone in custody), and police commissioner Richard Ross insisted the real source of crime was from (in his words) Philly’s own “young troubled men”. This is a part of the overall fierce contention going on among the ruling forces – the “struggle at the top” as we’ve formulated it – and how we fought on our terms from the perspective of ushering in a mass movement from below to drive the fascists out of power.
It was a huge source of strength knowing that a delegation from NYC was coming. This was mainly people new to this movement as well as a few veteran organizers who saw this as their own fight without letting small-minded localism hold them back This kind of sharing of knowledge, experiences, and understanding of what is best for this movement (and the interests of humanity overall) as setting the terms for what we view as necessary, needs to take place on an exponentially greater scale for us to draw more people in and ultimately, to win.
Our protest had about 40 active participants, and we kept the message clear as day so no one could mistake it: we are here in the name of humanity to build a movement capable of driving out Sessions, Trump, Pence, and their whole regime. What started as a picket rally with megaphones and drums outside the attorney’s office grew stronger and louder, which turned into a march, which turned into a sit-in blocking a major street for over an hour, which turned into another march, which turned into an open session of agitation (and struggle with some Trump supporters!) that engaged onlookers and tourists, finally back to a last march and rally.
All the while we were leading chants, opening up the amplifier system for speak outs, flyering to everyone, doing interviews with press, collecting donations, getting people involved right off the street and right away, interviewing people who had come on their motivations and various outlooks, and bringing in anyone from anywhere by corresponding with them and answering their comments directly on the livestream. We were joined by members of ADAPT Philly, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) who aid refugees from all faiths or none from all over the world, Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition (PPIC), a couple of immigration lawyers whose firm told them to come out, people who had worked on Bernie Sanders campaign, Revolutionary communists, high school students, and the owner of a local bike store who brought a sound system to raise the volume of our measly megaphones. But this is not because we are some cool group of slick activists that fell from the sky. Once again, our choices and expression were based on understanding that this regime has got to go. That is what we have been and are being forged in. Here is where we see profound ingenuity and creativity that is expressed by people even as they are in the midst of a deadly situation, once they really grasp what’s going on here.
There were not enough people who came out for this. Our presence needs to be more lively and creative. We need to be able to expose clearly in quick situations how this is indeed fascism that is being imposed and that this is an accurate scientific analysis of what we face. And some were quick to point out these needs. What is also needed is for more people who unite with this goal of driving out the Trump/Pence fascist regime to take responsibility for making all these things happen. Step forward and get involved yourself.
Help others understand that there is a vehicle doing this in which you can express your creativity, take bold initiative, to get into the meaning of how and why things got this way, what possible futures are most desirable, and so much more that we will discover together along the way. We have to do this now, especially while there is great struggle at the top over various scandals, and use that to our advantage. They’ll fight on their terms, let’s fight on ours. They’re playing tug of war, let’s break the chains they’re holding.