From a young Refuse Fascism activist
The night before the scheduled Refuse Fascism action in opposition to the Trump administration’s Muslim Ban 2.0, the ban was temporarily overruled. Rather than cancelling the action, Refuse Fascism activists and others rallied together in New York and took to the streets.
The impassioned but relatively small group of participants and spectators listened to a Refuse Fascism leader speak address the importance of continuing to be engaged in the resistance. Although the Muslim Ban 2.0 was struck down by a federal court ruling, this is by no means the end of the struggle to protect Muslims from discriminatory restrictions on travel into and within the United States. Solidarity was a key theme of this action. Another activist (movingly referenced pastor Martin Niemöller’s poem, “First They Came…”, but with topical adjustments. “First they came for the Muslims…”: the implied question: though you may not be Muslim, will you speak out?
Other actions were held in several other cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Houston, where protesters at the upscale Galleria built a “wall of solidarity” with NO! signs in half a dozen languages”, and Atlanta, where people caravanned to the airport in vehicles covered with NO! In Los Angeles, people protested at the downtown Federal Building, which houses Homeland Security and ICE.
