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October 20, 2024

On defending our right to protest, climate delulu, a ceasefire and growing support for abortion access.

Do you find yourself in the kids section each Sunday morning, coffee in hand? Is this your classroom away from campus? Are you obsessed with the unlimited free books you can download on your Kindle? For an upcoming series, we want to hear your stories on the role that the public library has played for you and your community. Email us to share more!

On October 19, 1960, fifty-two people, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were arrested for challenging segregation at department store lunch counters. This act of civil disobedience was part of a larger "sit-in movement” unfolding across the South, a form of peaceful protest where protestors would occupy seats in spaces at establishments reserved as “whites-only”. It started earlier that year when four college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave a segregated Woolworth's counter. Their peaceful protest sparked a wave of similar actions, rallying tens of thousands to challenge the unjust Jim Crow laws that forced Black and white people to use separate facilities in public spaces.

Charges against 16 of the 52 protesters were dismissed at their first court appearance, but Dr. King was sentenced to six months of hard labor, and held on charges that his arrest violated a term of state probation. Although these charges were eventually overturned, this excessive use of force was intentionally designed to set an example and stymy other protestors from joining the movement.

This tactic is not new, and today, there are more legal threats against protestors than ever before, used to minimize any efforts to challenge the power of the state. Consider how the Patriot Act has been enforced to surveil and repress pro-Palestinian organizers and Muslim communities, or how the government has explored charging animal rights activists with bioterrorism. In Atlanta, protesters with the Stop Cop City Movement are facing years in prison on RICO and domestic terrorism charges, far more harsh than their actions should be applied. Despite real health concerns, states and cities are enforcing mask bans at public protests as a way to further identify and track participants.

As our struggle for justice continues to evolve, the core principle remains: the right to peaceful protest must be protected as a fundamental pillar of democracy, lest we risk losing the very freedoms our predecessors fought so hard to secure.

Take Action:

• The First Amendment protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. Know your rights.

• Research to see whether your city or state has proposed legislation on mask bans at public protests, a form of fearmongering and suppression (here’s an example from Austin, TX).

• Donate to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund to support Cop City protestors facing legal challenges.

• Read this overview on how governments are using facial recognition to crack down on protesters.

Join us next Tuesday, October 29 to hear from organizers about what’s at stake this election season, and how you can help. Tickets will support Proceeds Benefit Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Sistersong, and the Movement Voter Fund. If you cannot donate, a select number of free tickets are available by RSVPing here.

The hurricane conspiracies made it clear—we’re going climate delulu. The maelstrom of conspiracy theories that swirled after Hurricanes Helene and Milton exposed a dangerous rift between delusion and reality. Atmos > Stay tuned for a reflection this month on delusion.

Republicans are using old talking points to demonize abortion — but are they landing? Despite reviving “vintage” ideas on abortion, GOP candidates are struggling to sway voters as support for access grows. 19th News >

The aftermath of the Patriot Act continues to disrupt movement work. October marks one year of genocide in Gaza and the anniversary of the Patriot Act. For those organizing against occupation, war, and policing, challenging the power of the state remains dangerous work. Prism >

How tough would a President Kamala Harris be on immigrants? Democrats' immigration politics have taken a conservative turn since 2020. Would a Harris administration change that? Vox >

More than 210,000 trans voters could face voting barriers due to ID laws. An estimated 43% of transgender voters in states with primarily in-person voting lack identity documents that correctly reflect their name or gender, a new UCLA report finds. Prism >

“The Gaza Playbook”: Israel brings displacement, death and destruction to Lebanon. The UN estimates the war has already displaced 1.2 million people in the country, including 400,000 Lebanese children. Democracy Now >

There’s no ceasefire in sight for Israel’s Gaza war. Why not? A review of why ceasefire efforts so far have stalled, and the death of Yahya Sinwar is likely to propel a resolution. Vox >

Drug-sniffing police dogs are intercepting abortion pills in the mail. How the police and the postal service can combine forces to crack down on abortion by mail. The Intercept >

Trump’s proposed mass deportations could ‘decimate’ the U.S. food supply. If the Republican candidate carries out his immigration agenda, who will run America's farms? Grist >

Alex Consani and Valentina Sampaio are the first trans models to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The brand has been aiming to course correct after their chief marketing officer made exclusionary comments about “transsexuals” in 2018. them > Otherwise, the show used an old strategy to respond to current times, which many feel missed the mark.

The epidemic of missing and murdered black women and girls in Wisconsin. In 2020, bBack women in the state were 20 times more likely to be murdered than white women. This longform article outlines the growing investigation. Capital B >

Letter From Home. Author Kiese Laymon reflects on the brutality of our systems and juxtaposes power and vulnerability for this intimate essay in Bitter Southerner.

Who Walks With You. In this edition of Grist's ongoing climate fiction series, Ysolt awakes after a freak storm to find herself at the bottom of a ravine in the broken remains of the nomadic home that was supposed to protect her. Grist >

Project 2025 Roots Date Back Half a Century. In Deconstructed, Ryan Grim and David Sirota examine how a memo from 1971 laid the groundwork for enshrining corporate corruption in American politics. The Intercept >