Dissent

Hola mi Gente,

Today, there will be a large protest on the steps of City Hall demanding the closure of the notorious penal colony, Rikers Island. It starts at 10 AM but you can still get there!

Later today, there will a Trump protest at the at the NY State Republican Gala at the Grand Hyatt, starting around 5:30.

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Activism and Fascism

When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.
-- Upton Sinclair

The streets of our country are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might, and the Republic is in danger. Yes -- danger from within and without. We need law and order! Without it our nation cannot survive.
-- [extra points for those who can correctly cite the source of this quote]

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Over the past several months, I have engaged with many Sanders supporters. I have had the opportunity to have discussions and to observe people at Sanders rallies. In my conversations both online and IRL, I have discovered that there is an aspect to being a supporter of Bernie Sanders that eludes the thinking of most Democrats and Republicans and almost all of the media. It is the perspective that Sanders’ campaign is really about fighting the ongoing war between corporations and the people. Unless you are in the process of fighting this war against, you cannot possibly understand how important it is to vote for the only person genuinely calling out the monied interests. Many of the Sanders supporters I have met are people who were on the frontlines of the Occupy movement and the Black Lives Matter movement, people -- many of whom are young -- who are politically sophisticated and engaged. To them, their involvement in the Sanders campaign is about creating a movement that is about fighting the real enemies: the multi-national corporations who are trying to control this nation and the world. To them, we ignore this struggle at our own peril.

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Which brings me to my last item… In discussing activism, the noted historian, Howard Zinn observed:

When Reagan announced the blockade of Nicaragua, 550 of us sat in at the federal building in Boston to protest, and were arrested. It seemed too big a group of dissidents to deal with, and charges were dropped. The official complaint against was: “Failure to Quit.” That is, surely, the critical fact about the continuing movement for human rights here and all over the world. From Failure to Quit: Reflections of an Optimistic Historian

My name is Eddie and I’m in recovery from civilization…