Earth2Trump Roadshow Hits Chicago
January 16, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
As reported by revcom.us, the Earth2Trump Roadshow, organized by the Center for Biological Diversity, kicked off on the West Coast on January 2 and is headed east, in two routes, on its way to Washington, DC, for the scheduled Trump inauguration.
The northern route of the roadshow stopped in Chicago on January 15 on its way to DC to call on thousands to resist the “dangerous agenda” of Trump. The MC said, “What’s at stake is what we all hold dear—our planet and its protection and the equality and dignity of all people.” The MC said the only way to defeat this is to unite everyone and all the movements who share these values, that people must make the sacrifice and put their bodies where their values are. “We all have to rise. When ICE [Immigration Control and Enforcement] comes to get your neighbor, we have to show up.”
The Earth2Trump Roadshow’s Pledge to Resist was read. The point from the pledge of standing “in solidarity with those threatened by violence and intimidation because of who they are, what they believe or their opposition to Trump’s dangerous agenda” was emphasized with the news today from a Muslim woman who had spoken at the tour’s sendoff in Washington state that her mosque had been burned down, and that “the reason this is happening is because Trump has invited this violence.”
A local Chicago alderman, a member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said he spoke as a queer man, a son of immigrants, and a graduate of the Chicago public schools. He called on the need to strengthen sanctuary cities and said he was afraid of what would happen to immigrants—Obama deported more than two million people and Trump has promised to deport two to three million immediately, he said. And he was frightened of what will happen to the environment. But he said fear cannot stop us: “Don’t agonize, organize.”
A member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe as well as the American Indian Center and the Illinois Water Protectors, spoke about the horrific crimes against indigenous people over generations. He said one of the important lessons of Standing Rock was that when they stood up to the Dakota Access oil pipeline, they got support from people all over the world.
A writer and veteran of the Iraq war in 2003 spoke powerfully about the crimes of U.S. imperialism around the world and within the U.S. He talked about the 1,000 military bases the U.S. has around the globe and said, “The U.S. is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and it must be dismantled and opposed.” He said, “Humanity faces the greatest challenge in existence today with climate change and nukes.” He called out Trump as a fascist—to an outburst of applause from a substantial section of the audience—and said the power of the system “relies on fear and violence” and that has to be countered with “discipline, sacrifice, compassion, and love.”
I was struck by the broadness of mind of the speakers, their determination to identify the horrors that Trump will bring, but more than that their determination to unite all who can be united to resist them.
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