COLUMN, Greenfield Recorder, April 2, 2025
The Republican administration’s edicts — imposed by broligarchs President Trump and Elon Musk — are with us for the next two to four years. Who or what will defeat them? Not the inside-the-Beltway Democratic politicians. Most are supine and silent, or cautious and cowardly, or helping to advance certain Republican legislation.
This crisis prompted me to ask local activists about their personal and political actions that bring hope into the despair of these days and light into our national darkness.
What are you doing in your personal and political life to make your community kinder, fairer, more just and less militaristic?
Susan Triolo:
* I participate in weekly standouts on Black Lives Matter and ceasefire in Gaza.
* Participate in creating events, such as Our Project for 2025 on Jan. 18, Envisioning the World We Want and International Women’s Day, and town meetings with our U.S. representative Jim McGovern.
* Daily I listen to Democracy Now! and read progressive blogs to keep myself informed.
* I participate in demonstrations at our federal politicians’ offices.
* And I am a member of activist organizations, including my town’s Human Rights Task Force and chair Sunderland’s Democratic Town Committee.
Susan adds that she enjoys a good dose of activities promoting social and psychic health: walks, swimming laps, reading, naps, sleeping well and writing cards and letters to people she loves.
The Rev. Peter Kakos:
* For my part, I continue to hold, with others in the Valley, what is now a 400-dayplus daytime fast (Leahy fast for Palestine).
* Demonstrate with River Valley for Gaza Healthcare (RVFGH) every Friday at noon on the steps of Northampton’s City Hall and speak out at my church, First Churches Northampton.
* RVFGH team has recently demonstrated at every major hospital in the Valley, urging them to become informed of the categorical suffering of the innocent, unfolding upon all Palestinians.
Mary McClintock:
We can be lifeboats rowing up to a sinking ship, offering attractive alternatives for people to swim toward. Some of my “lifeboat activities”:
* Standing in Greenfield’s Weekly Peace Vigil (11 a.m. to noon, Greenfield Common) in my “Peace is Cheaper” apron.
* Organizing a “Cultivate Lesbian Joy” group for Franklin County Pride’s Parade.
* Serving dinner at free community meals.
* Organizing Conway’s Pre-Town Meeting dessert potluck and discussion with Jimmy Recore. Jimmy says if someone has a different opinion, they aren’t a bad person, just someone with different life experiences that led them to different conclusions.
* Organizing with others in her town’s Hands Off! Conway Stands for Democracy, one of hundreds of protests on April 5.
Knowing these aren’t “big actions,” I remember a story about a woman seeing a sparrow lying
on its back, feet in the air. She asked, “What are you doing?” The sparrow said, “The sky’s gonna fall.” The woman asked the tiny bird, “You’re going to stop it?” The sparrow answered, “One does what one can.”
I then sought insights from national movements, from cities to activist librarians, to broaden the base of advice and example.
Abolish Billionaires Campaign
On Saturday, March 1, Climate Resistance protesters dropped a massive banner “Abolish Billionaires” from the balcony of the Tesla showroom in Shepherd’s Bush, London, and occupied the showroom.
Less than one month later on March 29, Tesla Takedown organized protests at 500 Tesla showrooms around the world, the goal being to “kill the Tesla brand.” Tesla stock is plummeting.
Librarians for public office
Librarians fed up with censorship and defunding are running for office and encouraging others to do so. Why? “A capacity for deep listening and discerning eye for truth translate well for politics,” stated Ilana Stonebreaker, who won the 2018 election for Tippecanoe County Council.
LA is leading the way
On Inauguration Day, thousands gathered in East LA to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies and threats of mass deportation, joined by 60 organizations including Black Lives Matter and the Palestinian Youth Movement. They have protested every day since against ICE and in support of the undocumented community since Trump’s inauguration. “People want an end to deportation … they are not going to take this quietly.” The sign that spoke to all whose relatives were farmworkers was “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
March 8: International Women’ s Day
Rallies to “Unite and Resist” took place in cities and towns coast to coast to confront the “broligarchy that owns Trump … which seeks to obliterate [women’s] sexual and reproductive health rights.” Thousands and thousands expressed, “We are not backing down … we refuse to go backward.”
Economic populism
With Trump’s tanking approval rating and the fecklessness of the Democratic Party, we’re ripe for a third party to challenge leadership of the Democratic Party and “replace it with a forceful alternative to Trumpism,” as Jeet Heer wrote in The Nation on March 7. In the spirit of Bernie Sanders’ “economic populism,” major labor leaders could seize “the Democratic Party from its current leadership in order to return it to the working class … Two potential candidates are Shawn Fain (president of United Auto Workers) and Sara Nelson (international president of the Association of Flight Attendants).”
Resistance is alive and well. Pat Hynes of Montague is a board member of the Traprock Center for Peace and Justice.
H. PATRICIA HYNES
FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL