AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

The Cold Civil War Has Started- Resist Trump: Jan. 20 Inauguration Day Protests

12/12/2016 6:33 PM

Kshama Sawant

SIsters and Brothers,

Donald Trump and the Republican Party are preparing to unleash a storm of attacks on ordinary people.

Trump’s plans to deport three million immigrants, establish a “registry” for Muslims, criminalize protest, and nominate a Supreme Court justice who would vote to overturn Roe v Wade and shred public-sector union rights are not just idle threats. His appointments of racists like Stephen Bannon and Michael Flynn, alongside a gang of conservative multi-millionaire and billionaire business people, point in the direction of one of the most right wing administrations in modern U.S. history.

While many are waiting to see how events unfold or hoping against hope that Trump will moderate his positions, hundreds of thousands have already taken to the streets and the mood to resist is growing.

Within hours of Trump's victory, Movement for the 99% and Socialist Alternative were the first to call mass protests in cities across the country. Within 24 hours, over 50,000 people took to the streets, helping to spark a nationwide wave of protest in the days and weeks following.

Now preparations are underway for what could be truly massive protests around Trump’s inauguration, particularly the Women’s March on Washington DC on January 21. Movement for the 99% and Socialist Students are focusing on building student walkouts across the country on inauguration day, January 20, which could become the biggest nationally coordinated student actions since the Vietnam War.

Please donate $25, $50, $100 or what you can to help build the largest protests and national student walkouts on inauguration day, January 20.

From Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter to Standing Rock, young people and women have bravely been at the forefront of recent movements. We also saw this clearly in the response to Bernie Sanders’ call for a political revolution against the billionaire class. Voters aged 18-29 supported Sanders over Clinton by a margin of 3-to-1 during the primary. The frustration of young people and search for an alternative has manifested itself through a myriad of polls. A recent nationwide study found that a majority of incoming freshman, for the first time, said they would join a protest or engage in campus activism. Recent polls also show young people have a more positive view of socialism than capitalism.

Movement for the 99% and Socialist Students have come together in an ongoing partnership to help organize a powerful youth and student-led movement. We can challenge and defeat the corporate and right-wing forces intent on rolling back the hard-won rights of women, labor unions, immigrants, and people of color by building powerful mass movements.

We cannot rely on the Democratic Party leadership to defeat Trump, anymore now than during the elections. The Democrats played a very dangerous game in backing a candidate widely seen as the epitome of the establishment in the midst of enormous anger at corporate politics. Both the corporate-controlled media and the DNC did everything in their power to ensure that Bernie Sanders’ campaign was stopped, and took their chances with Trump rather than allowing their corporate party to be further challenged by a “political revolution.” In the end, Clinton and the Democratic establishment failed to defeat the most unpopular candidate in modern American history.

History has shown time and again it’s only through mass social movements that we are able to decisively defeat the right. In 2005, during George W. Bush’s administration, “The Border Protection, Anti-Terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act” (H.R. 4437) was passed by the Republican-dominated House of Representatives. This infamous legislation contained a host of vicious, reactionary measures aimed at immigrants, including militarizing the border, criminalizing undocumented immigrants, and building a border wall. A true mass movement arose in opposition and succeeded in making it politically impossible for H.R. 4437 to become law.

United together, we can build a wall of mass resistance to Trump's vile agenda.We can shut down right-wing attacks on working people and attempts to scapegoat the most vulnerable among us. But we need your help. We aim to raise $25,000 by the end of December to organize mass student walkouts at universities and schools across the country. Already we have walkouts being organized in 13 major cities.

There is potential for a historic, massive mobilization to send a powerful message to the incoming administration on Inauguration Day. But we need your help to get there.Please donate $25, $50, $100 or more today. Your contribution will determine whether we can send students to Washington DC to participate in the historic demonstrations on January 20 and 21. Your contribution will determine whether we can print more fliers, posters, and picket signs.

Your contribution will determine whether we can hire student organizers to help organize citywide, statewide, and nationally.

The youth are our future, let’s support them in fighting for it.

In solidarity,