Voice of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America

Uniting struggles for human needs and the planet with a vision of revolutionary change!

THE LEAGUE on Social Media

Available in the following language/s:

SPECIAL STATEMENT — In Defense of Democratic Rights to Protest and Free Speech

SHARE or PRINT

by the National Council, League of Revolutionaries for a New America

The intensifying repression and violence of the government’s response to protests are a warning to the American people. The Stop Cop City movement in Atlanta has been the most recent example. Twenty-six year old Manuel Esteban Paez Terán “Tortuguita”, an unarmed activist who was gunned down by police as he sat in protest, brought deadly violence to the repression. A raid was conducted on the Atlanta Solidarity Bail Fund which gave legal assistance to protestors. Fifteen hours of citizen testimony before the Atlanta City Council opposing Cop City was all but ignored: The Council passed the $67 million funding anyway. 

Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and even opinion, is also under attack. Months after a SWAT-style midnight FBI raid on the African People’s Socialist Party a few of the members were indicted, without any basis, as co-conspirators of Russia for their opposition to their own U.S. government’s role in the war in Ukraine.

Recent legislation has been passed to limit peoples’ access to public sidewalks and lands, city halls, and the courts. The latest assault included attempts to pursue domestic terrorism charges against some of the Cop City protestors. That set a tone for even more draconian measures to shut down and punish protestors in protection of its most valuable resource: corporate private property. 

The attack serves private and corporate entities, not for the public good or the well-being of nature itself. The motivation is clear: It is to demoralize, to normalize the inability of individuals and grassroots organizations to fight back. When the ruling class is unwilling and unable to meet the peoples’ basic needs silencing dissent serves to make acts of protest more profound and the measures to quash them more extreme and violent. Criminalizing public kitchens that feed homeless people and destroying tent cities as attempts to remove signs of poverty from public view is the reaction of a failing nation at all levels.

Democracy cannot exist without the freedom of speech and assembly. Our country is ruled by a powerful class of capitalists that sees as its enemies those who threaten its interests—both abroad and domestically. The ruling class begins its attack by targeting marginalized people—immigrants, political radicals, homeless—with limited or no resources. 

Anyone can be the next target. Defense of one is defense of all. Use every avenue available. Let’s call on our representatives to fight for the democracy they were elected to uphold, to assure the people’s voices are heard. This could mean spending sleepless nights at city hall. It could mean what people in Atlanta are now doing through a referendum to put Cop City on the ballot in the upcoming election. This is everyone’s fight.

Published on August 1, 2023
This article originated in Rally!
P.O. Box 477113 Chicago, IL 60647 rally@lrna.org
Free to reproduce unless otherwise marked.
Please include this message with any reproduction.

Featured

Working Families Unite

Trump’s vendetta against Chicago began in his first term, when its people repeatedly expressed their hatred for his policies with mass protests, actually forcing Trump to cancel his appearance at the UIC Forum. Now ICE raids schools as families drop off and pick up their children. Veterans for Peace called on Illinois Governor Pritzker to offer sanctuary if members of the National Guard refuse to go to Chicago.

Searise

From the Editors: This poem was submitted to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the...

The Fight Against Fascism in Oakland

By Oakland Basic Needs Electoral Committee (OBNEC) The current war on residents of Oakland, CA,...

The Attack on Immigrants and All of Us 

Fascistic ICE raids criminalize a section of the working class, turning us against each other instead of uniting against a government controlled by billionaires. As this drives up living expenses for everyone, public protests are forcing state and local officials to stand up against the federal government.

Youth Against Fascism Speak Out!

Among the 5 million Americans who hit the streets to oppose the Trump administration’s assaults on democracy, justice and morality, this 16 year old identifies what’s really underway

THE LEAGUE on Social Media

Read More from Rally!

Fascism Attacks Higher Education

Trump’s attacks on universities reveal how fascism operates with open criminality, facilitated by the politics of compromise of university leaders and corporate Democrats. Attacking equity and inclusion means that treating all people equally is formally rejected. MAGA offers only the rhetoric of white supremacy, since most working class whites won’t be able to afford higher ed or other “privileges.”

Reform and Revolution 2025

Automation is polarizing humanity into one camp possessing the vast wealth of society and the other without adequate means of survival. As this polarization becomes more extreme, the struggle for basic necessities must move from trying to reform the system toward revolutionary transformation.

The Fight Against Fascism in Oakland

It is time to go on the offensive by uniting unhoused people with tenants and the entire larger movement for housing.

Working Families Unite

Trump’s vendetta against Chicago began in his first term, when its people repeatedly expressed their hatred for his policies with mass protests, actually forcing Trump to cancel his appearance at the UIC Forum. Now ICE raids schools as families drop off and pick up their children. Veterans for Peace called on Illinois Governor Pritzker to offer sanctuary if members of the National Guard refuse to go to Chicago.

A New Urban Movement: Public Wealth For Public Good

In Chicago and New York the idea of “public wealth for public good” has led to calls for city-run grocery stores and fare-free transit. This challenges the belief that basic survival must be monetized. Can city government become a builder and provider – not to extract profit, but to deliver justice?

Searise

From the Editors: This poem was submitted to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Katrina disaster and the people’s heroic struggle.   Searise In a thousand years the...

The Fight Against Fascism in Oakland

By Oakland Basic Needs Electoral Committee (OBNEC) The current war on residents of Oakland, CA, is serving as a test case for the consolidation of...

Uniting Against Fascists to Defend Housing for All

It is time to go on the offensive by uniting unhoused people with tenants and the entire larger movement for housing.

The Attack on Immigrants and All of Us 

Fascistic ICE raids criminalize a section of the working class, turning us against each other instead of uniting against a government controlled by billionaires. As this drives up living expenses for everyone, public protests are forcing state and local officials to stand up against the federal government.

Octavia Butler Warned Us Of Fascism

Nineteen years after her death, the work of acclaimed writer Octavia Butler has been renewed by the publication of a graphic art version of her prophetic anti-fascist novel Parable of the Talents. Her words and image have also reappeared in Internet news reporting and at rallies against MAGA.

Youth Against Fascism Speak Out!

Among the 5 million Americans who hit the streets to oppose the Trump administration’s assaults on democracy, justice and morality, this 16 year old identifies what’s really underway

Fourth of July: The American revolution is not finished

Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, a member of the tobacco planter class and a delegate to the rebel Continental Congress, wrote the Declaration of Independence...
Verified by MonsterInsights