The Fight to STOP the Fascist Trump-Pence Regime Is ON:

Night After Night, Hour After Hour. Stay in the Streets, Don’t Let Them Take Power!

January 15, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Washington, DC, January 14. There is a plan. There is a vision. For the best chance we have to STOP THE TRUMP-PENCE regime before it starts. It is up to the People, IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY, to refuse a fascist America. And on January 14, this was boldly manifested in the streets of Washington, DC. A determined chant of the night rang out in neighborhood after neighborhood: “Night after night, hour after hour. Stay in the streets, don’t let them take power!” And a big challenge was issued to EVERYONE—on the streets, in their cars, getting the tweets, watching the videos: Off the sidelines, into the streets... Join Us, Join Us, Join Us!

At 4 pm, 100 demonstrators gathered at McPherson Square to openly defy and kick-start a whole week of action to prevent the fascist Trump-Pence regime from taking power—with the goal of organizing hundreds, then thousands, ultimately millions to take to the streets, creating a political crisis that can prevent Trump from taking power.

A group of women from the We Shall network came all the way from Atlanta to be part of the Refuse Fascism actions in DC. One woman said: “Basically what we came down for is to let everyone know, not only is it that ‘we shall not be moved,’ but ‘we shall overcome,’ and we shall be triumphant in everything that we do, OK? It’s very important for us to know the power in our numbers.”

A journalist from Europe, speaking about the difference it makes for people in other countries to see this kind of opposition to Trump, said: “I’m sure people are noticing. Because obviously what happens in the United States has an impact on rest of the world. And what government, who’s in power makes a difference. It also makes a difference to what extent the government is supported by the population and what is the prevailing sentiment in America and which way is America tending. So I’m sure that people are going to be paying attention.”

For hours people marched IN THE STREETS, through neighborhood after neighborhood, blocking busy intersections all night, holding mini rallies before people gathered on the sidewalks. The overwhelmingly positive response from people on the streets, the connection with people was palpable. Many people taking stacks of flyers to get out. Some joining the march for a few miles. At one point some people came out of a restaurant and hugged people to thank them for taking on Trump, saying that this means a lot to them. Five Latino youths joined the march for a couple of miles, one of them said they were doing so because their mom was undocumented. A woman in her car, crying—said: “What you are doing makes me cry, I really appreciate it.” Lots of people thanking the marchers.

The demonstration blocked many intersections for various amounts of time in the city, the highpoint being at a Metro stop in Chinatown, where dozens of people of every nationality, sex, and gender joined in when the march stopped, taking over the whole street. Speaking to the people at the Metro plaza, demonstrators called on people to chant with the march and put their fists in the air. Many did, chanting and thrusting fists in the air. People took flyers, stickers to get out on their own, and were called upon to come to McPherson Square the next day at 4 pm—to continue to take to the streets to call on even more to join in.

This was all great—and shows once again the real basis for this struggle to get rid of Trump-Pence to grow by leaps and bounds in a very short time—hour by hour, day by day. But all along the way, the leaders of the march on the bullhorns put out a very sharp challenge to people: that they need to actually “step off the curb,” get off the sidelines, and go from cheering this on to actually JOINING those in the streets who aim to WRITE HISTORY. Nothing less is required, nothing less will actually give us the best chance of stopping the fascist Trump-Pence regime.

People were called on to confront the fact that the Trump-Pence regime IS a fascist regime. Those on the streets who united with the march, but expressed disbelief that Trump could actually be stopped, were challenged to look at how it IS actually possible, that there are examples, even recent ones where the masses of people have driven out dictators—like in Egypt or what is happening in South Korea right now.

Many people did join the march: A young woman who joined said: “I couldn’t think of a place I’d rather be at a time like this in history. It’s... I wanna say unprecedented, but it’s history repeating itself in a really evil and ugly way. And I can’t imagine being anywhere else, right around the corner from the Inauguration." An Asian woman who joined the march in Chinatown said: “I’ve been following other protests and unless we join together, that’s the only way for people to actually have their voice heard and make something happen. Trump is illegitimate. Because a man of his character should never even be considered to run for a position like that. But this needs to grow, much, much more—EXPONENTIALLY—in the coming days.”

 

 

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