Over the last couple days I have been meeting with activists, and people from several immigrants’ rights groups. One of them is a newly ordained minister who has spoken up for DACA students. After I read the Call for Nov 4 to her, she asked me what is fascism? She didn’t know, so we got into that. She had a sense that bad things are happening, but didn’t see the whole picture, particularly the taking away of what have traditionally been people’s rights – that kind of clicked with her. I’m not sure if she fully agreed with all of that, it’s circulating in her head, but she much more confronted the scope and scale of what is in those panels – the Indictments. Off this, the minister signed up to endorse Nov 4.
From our conversation, she was thinking through “Who do I know.” She attends a church in a neighborhood with a lot of progressive people. Her minister has been published in national publications speaking out against things like Charlottesville. So, I went to the church and caught the minister on Sunday, between services. Maybe not the best day to go, but I didn’t want to let time waste, and I knew I could follow up. I told her about the 4th, and she said that it sounded like the right thing to do, but wanted to think about her role – like I said, she was basically on her way from one service to another. She connected me with the church’s social justice coordinator who is also a minister. I gave him the Faith letter on the spot, and followed up with the original Call from Refuse Fascism. And resent the faith letter – because you give people something and they put it somewhere… So I’ll go back and talk to them to follow up.
I also met with an activist in an immigrant labor center in a more suburban-type area. He’s from Chile, and he said he appreciated me pulling the lens back, because he said he gets very narrowly focused on the work he is doing, and doesn’t see the whole picture. He said, look, I know what this is about, I’m from Chile. He grew up under a fascist dictator, Pinochet, who was installed by the CIA. I put the challenge to him like Bob Avakian did to Paul Krugman. I said look, if you understand what this is you have some responsibility. He did endorse personally, and is going to the board of his organization to endorse.
It was interesting: these people know each other and network with each other. I found out his group is a member group of a national day laborer’s network, and people in that network have been involved with Refuse Fascism in different ways. So, we’re beginning to get some brainstorming going to make calls, open doors, and take this to another level.