Essays by Melissa Walsh

#OUTNOW Protests Begin in Detroit

10/28/2019

Photos, video and audio by Melissa Walsh.

By Melissa Walsh

The movement that began October 19, 2019, in Los Angeles and New York City demanding the ousting of Donald Trump and Mike Pence from the White House spread to Detroit Saturday, October 26, in Eastern Market.

Activists involved in the nationwide #OUTNOW protest movement, organized by RefuseFascism.org, allege that the Trump/Pence "regime" is "fascist” and “won’t be bound by rules and will do anything to stay in power.” Believing the Trump/Pence administration is unjust and counters U.S. Constitutional order, the group only refers to the administration as a “regime.”

#OUTNOW movement organizers cite the policies of and statements made by the Trump/Pence administration as red flags of a political view that is fundamentally fascist. They're demanding grassroots and congressional bipartisan action towards getting the executive branch back in step with protecting democratic values and civil liberties. An indication of a fascist agenda, according to the group, includes the administration’s anti-immigrant policies, resulting in the rounding up and deportation of long-time foreign-national residents around the nation and the detainment of refugees seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border, resulting in long-term or permanent separation of children from their parents.

The group also stresses that the Trump/Pence administration “poses a catastrophic danger to humanity and the planet” with its obstruction or nixing of regulations that were aimed at protecting the environment and the favor Trump has gained among far right-wing political groups exhorting a white-supremacy platform.

The Saturday protests are scheduled through November in AnnArbor/Detroit, Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.

The goals of the #OUTNOW movement are:

Protest until the Trump/Pence “regime” is removed
Generate a single, unified demand that includes many voices and gains momentum in protest until Trump and Pence are removed from the White House
Resist forces that might divide the movement
Promote non-violent protest
Defend victim's of fascist policies of the Trump/Pence administration
Engage in #OutNowFridays to draw more into the #OUTNOW movement
Facilitate local #OUTNOW Wednesday Webinars to hear from RefuseFascism.org speakers and organizers nationwide.

Last Saturday's Detroit #OUTNOW protest was in Eastern Market, but starting November 2, protesters will meet at 4 p.m. at Detroit’s Grand Circus Park (Warren and Adams). The group says the protests will continue until the administration is removed from the White House.

A mass meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 29 at Cass Cafe in Detroit.
For more information about the protests in Ann Arbor/Detroit, call (313) 806-2531 or write to detroit@refusefascism.org. Those interested in volunteering can also find the group on Facebook.

#OUTNOW Detroit protesters marching through Eastern Market Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019.

Many onlookers cheered and requested fliers.

Others booed the protesters as they marched around Eastern Market.

What Detroit #OUTNOW Volunteers Say

From left, Kathy Garet, Vicki Edwards, Margaret Lanivich, Cindy Luiz

Cindy says

I think the unique thing here is that this is fascism. It’s not just the white supremacy and the misogyny and the imperial wars. Those aren’t new, but it’s actually a whole different kind of qualitatively more draconian rule that you’re talking about under fascism. The fact that (Trump’s) talking about treason and civil war for people who raise the hand that we’re raising, or even just impeachment, which is actually a legal process, it’s a more concentrated, I think, more dangerous time…. We have to deal with it as such. It can happen here. It is happening here. — Cindy Luiz

Vicki says

The rhetoric -- the misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic — the attacks on muslims and all the rhetoric around immigrants from south of the border, the going after your political opponents with ‘Lock her up,’ threatening to imprison people, who even from the most mainstream disagree with you, the calling of the media ‘fake news,’ those are all warning signs of fascism. They’re all signposts.
— Vicki Edwards

Kathy says

It’s not just what’s being done to our country; it’s also what’s not being done to protect us.
— Kathy Garet

Margaret says

To me the most important thing about what’s going on right now is that we build community, because, if we don’t get everyone together, we’re not going to make it through any of this…. We can all disagree, and we’re never going to agree on everything, but this is just not ok. This is not politics as usual. This isn’t business as normal. This is like our world is on fire and we need to put it out.
— Margaret Lanivich

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