Maya (center, with “NO!” shirt) is facing seven years in prison for participating in this silent protest in solidarity with the 11 million immigrants targeted by the Trump/Pence regime
On May 22, a beautiful day, members of the Maya Defense Committee gathered at a cafe near the UChicago campus with an actor and member of the Maya Defense Committee who designed Maya face masks for several participants to hold in front of their faces. They also shrouded their bodies with mylar blankets, like the ones issued to incarcerated children held in cages on the border. Maya could organize with us at this cafe but not participate in the event that followed because she is banned from UChicago campus. .
For those unfamiliar with Diya “Maya” Cruz, Maya was arrested at UChicago and faces 7 years in prison for participating in a Silent Protest on March 1st, 2018. She and others held up signs asking that students lunching at a dinning hall on campus remain silent for 11 minutes to represent the 11 million immigrants that Trump was threatening to deport after his election win. University of Chicago Police Department aggressively threatened the peaceful protestors as they were leaving the cafeteria, grabbed Maya, physically abused her and then charged Maya with battery. Maya was the only one injured requiring a hospital visit.
The participants led by the artist moved silently through the quadrangle stopping, turning while engaging students through surprise and shock. One of the supporters passed flyers and engaged students and visiting parents. As we walked slowly toward and around the central quad of the campus, students came up requesting flyers. Some of the students wanted more information about Maya and the charges she faces; others were already aware of the case. Quite a few students and parents expressed shocked at how Maya’s rights of free speech were violated at a renowned campus like UChicago.
In conversation with students we described Maya as a member of the Revolution Club Chicago whose members are dedicated to the creation of a better world. We asked students: “Is this is a crime?” All answered with an emphatic “No!” Students were challenged to put the demand to university President Zimmer and the UChicago to drop the charges. Many of the students in the quad were sun bathing on a rare warm spring day and would not bother themselves to learn about why we were dressed in Maya Masks—we had the feeling that it might be finals overload or just conditioned aloofness to the important events in their world.
When we had finished the walk around the quad we regrouped in the cafe to review our experiences. All felt that it was very worthwhile and we had distributed flyers to many and peaked the interest of more students and support for Maya. We reminded all to pack the courtroom for the next Court Hearing on June 25th.
Trump lost the popular vote by almost 3 million. He won in the electoral college –founded to reinforce slavery, used since to embed inequality in voting. Trump has no “mandate”. More fundamental: Trump promises to inflict repression and suffering in this country, to deport millions, to increase violence up to the use of nuclear weapons internationally, and to inflict catastrophes upon the planet itself. He has assembled a cabinet of Christian fundamentalists, war mongers, racists, science deniers, and woman haters. His entire regime is illegitimate, and must not be allowed to rule. We REFUSE to accept a Fascist America!
Trump’s Twitter Assault on John Lewis and the Illegitimacy of the Trump/Pence Regime
John Lewis declared “I don’t see Trump as a legitimate president” because he said Russia interfered in the US election. Trump repeatedly attacked Lewis on twitter saying he should focus on fixing his district, and “burning and crime-infested inner cities”. Evoking stock-in-trade white supremacist imagery, Trump’s attacks on Lewis, a veteran of the historic 1965 Selma march for voting rights, is outrageous.
John Lewis is right: Trump IS illegitimate. But NOT because of Russian meddling in the election but because of the fascist character of the Trump/Pence regime and what they are planning to do. See the Call to Action for more on this. No election, whether fair or fraudulent, should legitimize this.
Trump refuses to allow CNN to pose question, calls them “fake news” for reporting the existence of a compromising dosier on him. Muzzling of any opposition, including critical reporting from the press, is a hallmark of fascism. A Trump-Pence regime must not be allowed to rule.
NO! Stop this fascist regime before it starts.
From the streets: sights and sounds of people moving to STOP Trump & Pence.
Voices of Resistance & Conscience Against Trump & Pence
Rev. John Beaty, Co-convener of Embracing Justice and Peace; Member of Akron Interfaith Immigration Advocates; Retired United Methodist Clergy active in Grace United Church of Christ of Loyal Oak in Norton, Ohio
My Fellow Americans,
This is why I believe that both Trump and Pence are not fit to be President and Vice President of the United States of America:
They have lied to the American people. They claim to be for the American worker, but have done everything they can to withhold fair wages, and not to honor our right to protect ourselves by collectively bargaining with our employers. They have claimed to represent the forgotten citizen, when they have tried to take away our right to healthcare, our right to breathe clean air, to drink clean water, to eat food that is not poisoned with pesticides and cancer producing additives, to know what they are doing in collusion with megabillionaires, mega corporations, megabanks, and mega polluters.
They have promised to make America Great Again, but they are destroying the America that is struggling to be a beacon of freedom, prosperity, inclusiveness, kindness, fairness, and equal justice for all.
They prey upon people’s fear, anxieties, and prejudices to divide us from one another and to provoke us to violent conflict.
They are utterly corrupt with secret deals with shady foreign and domestic influences that enrich the favored few at the expense of the unfortunate many.
They seem hellbent on destroying our climate, our environment, our wildlife, our national parks and monuments.
They are enhancing a system of taking from the many poor and giving to the richest few of our citizens.
They are criminalizing and incarcerating blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, the poor.
They are encouraging the most zenophobic, racist, misogynistic, homophobic elements of our society.
They are taking money from needed programs and spending it on unnecessary walls, prisons, weapons.
They are threatening the Constitution of the United States in a lust for power, privilege, and partisanship.
They are talking like fascists, looking like fascists, acting like fascists, entertaining white nationalist neo-Nazis in the highest echelons of government.
Do you think they just might be fascists?
This Nightmare Must End! The Trump/Pence Regime MUST GO!
Protests Must Continue and Grow! In The Name of Humanity Stop Terrorizing Immigrant Children!
“Suffer the little children to come unto me for of such is the kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 19:14
People of faith, of all religions, of such did we see torn from mothers and fathers during the brutal years of slavery in this nation.Of such did we see, in this nation, during the genocidal separation of Native American children, from their families, to deprive them of their language and destroy their culture.Of such did we see when Japanese children and families were torn from their homes and isolated in concentration camps across this nation.Of such did we see when children and families were taken from their homes to be incinerated in the ovens of the Holocaust during the monstrous Nazi regime of Hitler’s Germany.
Of such do we now see in this nation with immigrant, children crying desperately for their parents and locked in cages by the illegitimate, barbaric, Trump-Pence regime, that America must expunge for crimes against humanity.
If a nation, a society is judged by the way it treats “the least of these” then how will we, churches, synagogues, mosques, etc., how will we be judged?
A coalition of the faith community met in Los Angeles in January 2018 and resolved to call on people throughout the country to participate in a National Faith Weekend May 18-20, on the theme of: “I Am My Brother’s Keeper – The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go. We must do this for the future of humanity and the planet.” (See full call below).
The following video clips are from the Facebook Live broadcast—with over 6,000 views—of the event held in response to this call on May 20th at the St. Mark United Methodist Church, South Los Angeles.
***
It is an atrocity that people are being used as pawns to get a wall built;
That children, akin to the era of slavery in America, have been ripped from the arms of their parents; and moreover are being held in detention centers or transported across the country with little hope of ever being reunited with their parents;
That Trump’s new executive order has mandated military concentration camps — indefinite incarceration in military prisons —for immigrants and refugees. Children. Adults. All families.
And, to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the White House: Biblical scripture can be used by anyone to justify their twisted beliefs or deviant behaviors. Scripture was used by King George III loyalists. It was used to justify slavery in general and the Fugitive Slave Act specifically. There is little doubt that the kidnapping of more than 200 school girls in Nigeria was similarly justified. It is patently clear that all laws are not just. It is an absolute atrocity that any political figure in twenty first century America could justify the evil evidenced by the irreparable harm being done to more than 2000 children in these United States of America.
We are at critical mass. In the hope of justice and peace, it is time for our religious communities to join together in solidarity to oppose and stop the growing list of atrocities of the Trump/Pence regime and take immediate, positive action to protect humanity!
Protests Must Continue and Grow! Turn Up The Heat – Stay In The Streets! This Nightmare Must End! The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!
***
Faith Task Force of Refuse Fascism I Am My Brothers Keeper – The Trump Pence Regime Must Go!
Call from the Refuse Fascism Faith Task Force for Faith Weekend
Dear Religious Leader and Friends:
A coalition of the faith community met in Los Angeles in January 2018 and resolved to call on you and many others throughout the country to participate in a National Faith Weekend May 18-20 ~ “I Am My Brother’s Keeper – The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go.” We must do this for the future of humanity and the planet.
Recent weeks and months have seen serious developments in the consolidation of the Trump/Pence regime, including:
Threats of war – possibly even nuclear war – with Iran and North Korea;
The forging of a “war cabinet” consisting of John Bolton, Mike Pompeo and Gina Haspel;
The unleashing of a comprehensive and major escalation in assaults on Brown and Black immigrants in this country;
The mobilization of U.S. National Guard troops on the U.S./Mexico border; and
Plans for constructing military concentration camps for refugees.
Millions of young immigrant lives are in jeopardy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has targeted leaders in the movement for immigrant rights, conducted massive raids against individuals and businesses (such as 7-Eleven) in sanctuary cities, and threatened sanctuary churches. Additionally, Trump has ended Temporary Protective Status (TPS) for over a quarter of a million people, and has now ended DACA protections for millions who migrated to the U.S. during their youth. To paraphrase Pastor Martin Niemöller: “First they came for the Muslims, then they came for the immigrants…” We must say, “Not This Time!” The voice of the religious community – a voice of moral authority – is needed as never before.
AM I MY BROTHER’S KEEPER? The question rings down through the ages. Religious communities have traditionally responded with a resounding “Yes!” Caring for our sisters and brothers is a key component of what it means to be a person of faith and conscience.
Judaism: “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself: I am the SOVEREIGN GOD.” (Leviticus 19:18)
Christianity: “Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (1 John 4:21)
Islam: “None of you has faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” (Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 13)
Hinduism: “This is the sum of duty: Do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you.” (Mahabharata 5:1517)
Buddhism: “In this world hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” (Dhammapada)
Baha’i: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship.” (Epistle to the Son of the Wolf)
It is a consistent message in our world’s great religious traditions that we are indeed our brothers and sisters’ keepers. At its heart, this message minimally means at least two things: 1) that we will do our brothers and sisters no harm; and 2) that we will work fervently and tirelessly for their well-being.
So, what do we, as people of faith, do in a time when the powers of this world – especially the Trump/Pence regime in Washington, DC – seem hell bent on causing harm through:
Unjust and immoral immigration policies and practices,
legislative efforts to prevent people from accessing health care,
assaults against the rights and the integrity of women and LGBTQ persons,
attacks on our sisters and brothers in the Muslim community,
challenges against people’s rights to peaceful protest,
threats to use nuclear weapons against North Korea and Iran,
the coddling of white supremacists and the excusing of their racist behaviors, and
support for policing policies that inordinately target persons of color with violence and incarceration?
What do we do indeed? We are convinced that we cannot sit idly by and merely hope that everything will turn out right, or that someone else will do this. Too much damage has already been done.
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, dated 16 April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes these prescient words that are as true for all twenty-first century American religious communities as they were for the predominantly white Christian churches of 1963:
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.
It is especially crucial during this month when we commemorate the 50th anniversary of King’s assassination that we affirm the truth that he articulated elsewhere in this same letter: “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Now is the time when we must work together to build the beloved community of justice and peace about which King spoke and wrote so passionately and eloquently throughout his life.
Religious communities cannot stand on the sidelines in the face of the injustices and atrocities being perpetrated by the Trump/Pence regime. We must stand up and say NO! And, we must join with other people of good will who are rising up to stop the terror that threatens to engulf our nation and world, and to demand that the Trump/Pence regime must go. We refuse to accept the kinds of atrocities that are described above. In the name of humanity, we refuse to accept a fascist America.
Between May 18–20, religious communities around this country will be observing a Faith Weekend based on the theme: “I Am My Brother’s Keeper ~ The Trump/Pence Regime Must Go!” We encourage you, as religious leaders, to hold services and preach sermons on this urgent theme at your places of worship. Where possible, join with other religious communities to hold special events, such as ecumenical and interfaith gatherings. In preparation for May 18-20, convene meetings of religious leaders and others in your area to discuss the role of the religious community in the movement to stop the Trump/Pence regime and to make plans for the Faith Weekend.
History has shown what happens when people do not speak out and stand up for each other as injustice and terror are perpetrated by a few against the many. The time to engage is now, before this regime has a chance to fully consolidate its power and oppression. We are our brother’s keeper!
In the hope of justice and peace,
Rev. Frank Wulf, Pastor, Echo Park UMC
Ms. Ernestine Henning, Supervisor (retired), AME Church
Ramona Toliver, Ward AME Church
Rev. Luis Barrios, Pastor, Holyrood Episcopal Church
Rev. Lyda Eddington, Pastor, La Tijera UMC
Myrian V. Monnet-Cisneros, Pastor, La Trinidad UMC
Trump Doesn’t Give a Damn About Children and Babies
Donald Trump now cares about “innocent children, innocent babies”? The same Donald Trump who’s ripped innocent children and babies from their immigrant parents’ arms when ICE agents snatch and deport them? The same Donald Trump that’s condemned innocent refugee children and babies to a living hell by trying to block them from entering the U.S.? He says the horrific pictures of pictures of the children killed by the gas moved him, but where was his concern when a photo showed the body of a young refugee boy washed up on the beaches of the Mediterranean? The same Donald Trump who is creating a climate of terror and violence against Muslims, parents as well as innocent children and babies? What a sick, putrid lie! (more…)
This article originally appeared in Revolution Newspaper, revcom.us
The rule of law is under serious attack—and this is part and parcel of a fascist restructuring of society.
Trump and his cabal are packing high-level courts with fascists and fascist-enablers, all the way up to the Supreme Court. And they are discrediting, bullying, and whipping up their base against, and threatening to simply ignore, court orders that get in the way of their aims.
Trump’s assault on the rule of law is overt. After courts issued temporary injunctions against his ban on Muslim immigrants and refugees, his henchmen issued threats like “[O]ur opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned.” This is Hitler talk.
A Q&A with March for Science co-chair Valorie Aquino
Marcus Patrick Ellsworth 03/29/2017
On Earth Day (April 22), the March for Science will take place in Washington, D.C. Following the presidential election in November, many people started raising concerns on social media about federal budget cuts and other policies that could threaten scientific research. Hashtags like #StandUpForScience gained popularity and galvanized local rallies, like this one held in Boston in February. In the middle of this growing movement, an international coalition of scientists and advocates came together to make a national march to draw attention to these concerns. Valorie Aquino, co-chair for the march and current Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at the University of New Mexico, offered MTV News some insight into why this march is necessary, the importance of scientific contributions to society, and how science is connected to social justice movements.
MTV News: People are familiar with calls to action for causes like gender equality, LGBTQ rights, or racial justice, but what does it mean to protest for science?
Valorie Aquino: We’re protesting government policies that misrepresent, silence, or outright reject scientific evidence. Scientists also have a long history of speaking out about their work and actively engaging in civic debates: Einstein made efforts [to advocate for] peace and civil rights and researchers came to the aid of Flint, Michigan residents by testing their drinking water. Standing up for science includes standing up for how science is applied in society. (more…)
Jussie Smollett of his powerful, timely new video, “This song is for the oppressed. That’s why I feel like people will connect with it because it is very broad, because oppression is so broad”.
