Stand Up, Speak Out, Fight Back

A call to action made on November 11th

The threats to our community took a dramatic form with the rise of Trump and the ideology of Trump. It is not just a matter of Trump taking state power. The attacks will come from legal and extra-legal forms involving all communities, starting with the most vulnerable.

Our strength is our unity. We need to express that unity now. The election was one moment in time. We won’t wait for the next election. We stand. We link arms. We defend. We fight back.

Unity is a hollow word without action. We know who will be attacked: immigrants, women, the environmentalists, the seniors, the low wage worker, the LBQT community, unions, the young. The questions are: will we seek stronger ties between and among themselves to defend ourselves? Does everyone affirm the necessity of for a broad-based resistance (and fight back) movement?

Why Immediate action

Already we have seen a rise in hate crimes. Trump will attack Muslim and immigrants with laws and directives. Alongside of those “legal” attacks will be the political/ideological fringe of right wing groups who will be empowered and will terrorize the isolated and vulnerable through forms of paramilitary actions (KKK, Nazis, white power). Muslims and their community will suffer more attacks and escalated terror. Trump and the right-wing terrorists are tethered together in like-minded racism and xenophobia, the terrorists won’t wait for the inauguration to attack, with the expectation that the embolden “right” will intensify in both numbers and severity.

Defend

Resistance is our first line of defense—we need to protect our existing freedoms and rights. Together we meet at the barricades--I mean that literally. We need be at the mosque or the Muslim community center, with arms linked in solidarity. Not next week, this needs to happen now. The struggle of the most vulnerable is our fight. Other immigrants will face similar challenges. Women will face increased threats to their safety, along with attacks on womens’ health clinics and economic standing.

We cannot wait

The Muslims, the immigrants, the vulnerable, the isolated are the targets. We cannot wait to defend those vulnerable communities. We must act now.

We cannot wait for further barriers to women’s advancement, or assaults on women’s safety, or women’s right to choose.

We cannot wait for the economic assault on social security (the government’s biggest piggy bank), workers ability to organize, the eradication of healthcare (Obamacare), rewarding the billionaires and penalizing the poor.

We cannot wait for the world to spiral into universal global warming.

What is to be done?

Express support and solidarity.

Reach out to the most vulnerable. Yes, contact local mosques and Arab social centers.

Organize.

Make calls, write emails, to fellow activists, friends and discuss next steps.

Link up.

Reach other to groups outside your immediate social and political circles to establish formal and informal links between and among the resistance.

Unify.

The success of one is the success of all. When a call to defend a mosque is sent, the movement responds. When a picket appears at a fast food location, the movement supports. When an abortion clinic is attacked, we defend.

Thrive

Look forward, we have a movement to build, a future we want to live in. Celebrate our unity. Honor the contributions of others. The unity we forge today honors our movement.  

Current Status:

One of the principle organizers of Women's March-Tucson. Tucson Solidarity emerged from those organizing meetings. See www.tucsonsoldiarity.org  

During the month of April we organized a series of over a dozen teach-ins. See:  http://tucsonsolidarity.org/calendar/

Presently working on continued educational projects and neighborhood organizing.  

We welcome all.