The April 5 demonstrations across the country saw hundreds of thousands taking to the streets. Countless others were inspired by the numbers of people willing to take a stand right now against the Trump administration. At these marches were everyday people from all walks of life; workers, students, activists and families were raising their voices to demand change. There will be more of these kinds of actions ahead. They are a test for us. Will we step up to unite all who can be united against Trump and the billionaire class he serves? If we sit this one out, we lose by forfeit.
Revolutionaries should join up with these mobilizations, earn leadership and relevance, spread our message, and stand shoulder to shoulder with everyone who’s ready to fight back. We have to be there, not just to march together, but to boldly drive our politics into the rising tide of resistance. It’s a chance to win people over, so watching from the sidelines is not an option.
History teaches us that when revolutionaries are directly engaged in the people’s movements, we push things further. Movements grow more powerful, with more clarity, strategy and organization. We can rally people around demands that put people over profits.
Some pro-genocide Democratic Party leaders and politicians tried to erase Palestine from the April 5 protests. Our comrades rejected this and refused to stay silent. We stood firm in solidarity with the heroic struggle of the Palestinian resistance – and crowds cheered us on.
We also don’t blindly unite with each and every demand under the “hands-off” banner. “Hands off NATO” is a non-starter. NATO is no peacekeeper– it’s a weapon of U.S. imperialism that brings war, destruction and destabilization all over the world to protect corporate profits. We should engage with people and share our views. Many progressives are fed up with politics that are just ‘business as usual’ and they are open to bolder ideas. But those ideas have to be spoken for all to hear.
Of course, there are establishment insiders hoping to use these protests as a stage for their congressional election campaigns. But we have our own mission: build the broadest possible force against Trump.
As we speak, flyer, and make connections, we are finding more fighters: People radicalized by Gaza, by attacks on immigrants, mass deportations and targeting of foreign-born activists, LGBTQ rights, abortion access, and the labor movement, attacks on science, and by Trump’s green lighting of the most reactionary and racist sectors of the country. We’re building trust and pulling the best elements of this movement closer to a revolutionary way of looking at things. We can’t do any of that if we’re not even there.
The April 5 protests proved people are ready to fight. We’re going to stand up to Trump along with the forces of racism and reaction on the streets. We will show the enemy what’s possible when we refuse to back down. We need to make the United States ungovernable.
