Last night I set out on what seemed like a relatively straightforward mission for Refuse Fascism at Washington Square Park.I went to hand out flyers, sign up folks for an email list, collect donations, and raise awareness about the group’s mission: to drive out the Trump/Pence Regime as soon as possible by creating a sustained mass movement that the American federal government can not ignore.
My location was Washington Square Park located in the heart of NYU’s Manhattan Campus and constantly filled with young skateboarders, families and their small children, as well as a plethora of folks reading and chatting with friends in the park.
As you might expect there were a fair amount of people who were fiercely against the Trump/Pence regime who were eager to sign up, take flyers, or donate what they could. I hope to see some of these folks at Refuse Fascism events in the future. However, I was surprised at some of the things that I heard when I asked folks about their feelings on Trump.
First of all, it was the last place I expected to hear the phrase “I love Trump” in utter seriousness. I did,however, hear this phrase uttered a handful of times with complete sincerity. I was floored that, here, in a place I believed to be extremely liberal there were folks who would be openly supporting Trump.
Perhaps worse than the fact that some folks expressed direct support of the regime was the fact that many folks seemed to be utterly indifferent stating that this was not there problem or that since I couldn’t accurately described fascism for them then and there they weren’t willing to do anything to help the many minority groups that are targeted by the regime’s policies. It was painful to know that these folks had not even started to educated themselves on what was going on.
But then I remembered myself, even a few months ago, frustrated and angry but completely unable to correctly understand what exactly was going on in this country. I realized that in order to help these people learn more about what was going on, I needed to become an expert myself. I could not be content in just knowing the “gist” of the situation. As a result, I am slowly building up a list of required readings recommended by fellow members of the group.
I also know now that I have to dedicate myself to taking to the streets to push out the Trump/Pence regime and to stop the targeting of minority groups throughout the United States and beyond. As a white person, it is my obligation to break what Bob Avakian refers to as “white silence” and end the violence that it causes. I do this by contributing to RefuseFascism.org and pledging to volunteer every moment I can to drive out the Trump/Pence regime and try to be a part of a movement to bring about a world free from the violence and ignorance perpetrated by them.
No matter who you are and where you come from, your mind/voice/body/donations/attention are needed to END THE NIGHTMARE and DRIVE OUT THE TRUMP/PENCE REGIME.