You, Me & Everyone We Know
To Stop Trump, We Must Flood DC with Art & Outrage
In less than two days, Donald Trump, an outright fascist who has whipped up a white supremacist base of support from the Ku Klux Klan to the ‘alt-right’ (see: actual Nazis) will be president of the United States. This will mean registries for Muslims, internment camps and roundups of Latino immigrants, women being denied the right to choose whether or not to be pregnant, and “stop and frisk” being national policy — in a country that already murders 102 unarmed black people annually. These are not normal times.
Yet still — artists and entertainers from Kanye West to Steve Harvey and Chrisette Michelle are lining up to ‘give fascism a chance’ — meet with Trump, sing at the inauguration, and basically audition for the guest role on the latest season of Orange Is The New Hitler. All over society, skeptics claim, it ‘won’t be that bad’ and ‘Trump didn’t mean all the things he campaigned on’ — or that as black people, we have endured suffering for our entire lives, and this is nothing new, so we need to find our way within it. This kind of thinking is not just disgraceful, it is dangerous — and has historical precedent.
For black people, this is not just ‘more of the same’, but a categorically different form of rule, fascism, that no one can say for certain will be possible to fight against once it’s in power. Sorry Kanye, there’s no maneuvering, through this — Hitler, too, could play nice and make friends when he wanted to. And even if you survive fascist rule — it’s at the cost of millions of lives. Fascism is characterized by extreme nationalism, the assertion of traditional values and the elimination of democratic rights for sections of people — and all of this and more were campaign promises for Trump, which are very quickly becoming post election policies. ‘Good Germans’ gave Hitler a chance, and lost their humanity in the process— we don’t need to be ‘good Americans’ and wait and see to give Trump a chance.
You don’t need to go much further than Trump’s attacks on Meryl Streep, the SNL Cast, or the Hamilton cast, and condemnation of free speech actions such as flag-burning, to see the historical parallels for fascists targeting oppositional artistic expression and creating a chill in society as groups are targeted one by one. With 3.1 million immigrants being targeted for deportation alone, literally millions of lives are at stake in the very real horror show that will be a presidency under this fascist system — and this requires ALL of us to act to act boldly and courageously — to stop it before it begins.
A powerful new movement has begun with the message — Refuse Fascism — calling forward a movement to stop Trump & Pence before they take power. In the past week, a full page ad went up in the New York Times boldly proclaiming: NO! In The Name of Humanity — We Refuse To Accept A Fascist America! and calls for millions to flood the streets of DC — night after night — swelling to millions and REFUSING to leave. In a few short days, thousands have signed the call, confirmation hearings have been interrupted, and thousands are expected to make their way to the nation’s capital. We need to do more than just register our protest and dissatisfaction— Washington should not be allowed to operate as normal, and should be brought to a halt. They should have to bring the tanks out to force him in. Now is the time to drop everything and organize, plan and #FloodDC!
In the face of this, more than ever need a culture of revolt against this revolting culture; a unified front of degenerate artists against fascism. This year I’m calling on all artists to join me in making this a reality. Imagine the days leading up to the innauguration filled with oppositional music and art — from huge displays and anti-fascist concerts, to theatrical direct actions and creative nonviolent civil disobedience pouring over the streets of DC . We don’t need to make ‘Peace’ with fascism, celebrate the ‘progress’ made under Obama, and prepare to dig in for the long haul. Artists everywhere should take up the NO! call, make NO! signs and throw NO! shows— to give sound, voice, expression, and inspiration to mobilize millions to get into the streets NOW to stop this fascist regime before it starts. The Refuse Fascism statement goes on to say:
“Imagine if people, in the tens of millions, filled the streets, powerfully declaring that this regime is illegitimate and demanding that it not be allowed to rule! The whole political landscape would be dramatically transformed, every faction within the established power structure would be forced to respond — and all this could well lead to a situation in which this fascist regime is actually prevented from ruling. This is not some idle dream but something which could be made a reality if all those who hate what is represented by this fascist regime translate their outrage into firm determination and massive mobilization to create the conditions which make this possible.”
It may seem daunting, it may seem impossible. But there are actually tens of millions who feel the same outrage — they need only know how to act. These are circumstances where what seemed impossible yesterday seems inevitable tomorrow — and artists have a decisive role to play. This is a historical moment, where our actions — and our inaction in the face of fascism and potential genocide — will define us for ages to come. It’s going to take all of us: you, me, and everyone we know, becoming organizers in this effort to mobilize millions. We can turn Washington DC into Tahir Square — it is actually possible.
We need only flood the steps of Washington with our determination and outrage.
See you in DC!
