In July of 1917, Civil Rights and literary leaders James Weldon Johnson and W.E.B. DuBois led the NAACP’s Silent Protest Parade, protesting the lynchings, white riots and terrorism of the time.
Up to 15,000 African Americans had lined up on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, women in white, men in suits, carrying signs saying “Your hands are full of Blood,” “Mr. President, why not make America safe for democracy?,” “We own 250,000 farms with 20,000,000 acres of land worth $500,000,000,” and “Race prejudice is the offspring of ignorance and the mother of lynching,”
The protest, conceived by Johnson, had to be absolutely quiet and disciplined in that time of terror, lest any excuse be given that there was a hair out of place, necessitating a police response. We are at that time again. And once again, it is the peaceful demonstrations that will win the day.
It’s only been six months, and already there are four thousand National Guard troops and 700 Marines on the streets of Los Angeles, guarding federal buildings in full battle gear. All the Trump administration needs now is an agent provocateur to provide the pretext for increased and even lethal force. Useful as a distraction from the budget bill now in the Senate.
This weekend could be exceptional. A long-planned national demonstration against the administration’s roundups of undocumented persons and those in the vicinity, even if they are citizens or legally allowed in the country, will be kicked into overdrive by the reactions to ICE agents removing friends, neighbors, coworkers, and families from communities across the country.
In a Los Angeles area composed of just a few blocks, we are seeing scenes of car burnings, graffiti, and protestors reacting to ICE actions and then to having militarized forces on urban streets, such as we have watched on television in totalitarian regimes around the world. It never ends well for those in power, as it signals the end of their ability to rule.
Trump has brought the nation to the edge of the cliff of full-out authoritarianism backed by guns, zip ties, and body armor. The only “card” he has left himself to play is increasing the pressure he feels necessary to control the millions of people rising up against him.
His anger at being told “No” is boundless and runs deep in his psyche, he is a child in this regard. And like a child, he’s throwing a tantrum with this deployment of troops in Los Angeles.
He will now be met with a very strong “No” delivered in protests across the country on Saturday, a day he has set aside for a military parade, celebrating his birthday. But there wlll be no Happy Birthday for him. This will make him even angrier because he hasn’t matured into any other way to cope.
And now the courts will have to step in with an even firmer “No!” If that fails to stop him, then we’ll have to call in the authorities, the congress, and have them repair as much of the damage as they can, and remove his powers to inflict more.
The problem with that solution are the MAGA Primary voters in tightly gerrymandered districts. They are in the thrall of Trump, and their representatives live in political and physical fear of them.
The only thing that can change the political calculations of just a few of the Republicans in Congress is voters in their districts telling them to.
Like James Weldon Johnson in 1917, we’re living in dangerous times, with a rogue federal government with no shame or boundaries, and it is capable of anything. Be careful out there. Just know we will win.