The NYC Trump Resistance Group organized a Dump Trump Crawl through midtown Manhattan to protest President-elect Trump on the eve of the congressional count of the Electoral College votes and his confirmation. (Photo by Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
This post originally appeared at Common Dreams.
Progressive organizations across the US are joining together in the latest showing of widespread resistance to President-elect Donald Trump’s right-wing agenda, from climate policies to civil rights.
Dozens of groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, United We Dream and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights on Jan. 10 launched a campaign called United Resistance, pledging to “stand together in support of racial, social, environmental, economic justice for all and against Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, homophobia, sexism and all those forces which would tear apart a democracy of, by and for all the people.”
In a video accompanying the campaign’s launch, members of the organizations outline their call for collective action and litigation in the face of threats to civil and human rights.
“We are facing fascism right now,” says Eveline Shen, executive director of the advocacy group Forward Together.
Cornell Brooks, president of the NAACP, continues, “We have to affirm our common citizenship, and more importantly, our common humanity.”
Watch below:
The campaign, which follows several other recent efforts to resist Trump and the Republican Party, comes as Congress kicks off its Cabinet confirmation hearings with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), whose nomination to serve as attorney general has sparked widespread outcry over his racist, sexist and homophobic track record.
“As the chief law enforcement officer, the attorney generally has far-reaching decision making power over issues that impact every person in the US,” Forward Together policy director Kalpana Krishnamurthy said on Jan. 10. “He has a track record of disregarding civil rights, denying racism and promoting a radical agenda that would undo many of the laws that have given voice to communities of color historically shut out of our democracy. His values don’t reflect an America where all people can thrive and we are united in opposition to his nomination.”
Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of the advocacy group Advancement Project’s national office, added, “The blueprint for failure is division and ambivalence in the wake of a united conservative agenda that is intentionally undermining our democracy and threatening our communities. Our power to resist and reclaim our democracy is rooted in our shared commitment to dismantling interwoven systems of oppression. We are putting the new administration on notice: every day of the next four years, be prepared to confront powerful organized communities who refuse to be silenced.”
Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, said, “It’s time to get back to the basics: everyday people with a plan, through everyday acts of courage, will eventually make history.”
