April 5th: Rise up and say “Hands Off our Communities”
This week, I’m finding myself moving from confusion, immobilizing panic, and overwhelm into a place of righteous anger, rage, and readiness to fight.
Through the news on my phone, I’m seeing the Trump-Musk administration continue to gut social services like Medicaid, Social Security, public education, water and air quality monitoring, postal services, and more. And in my neighborhood, east of Los Angeles, I’m seeing local residents show up to serve as witnesses by standing in the street filming, as ICE, local police, and FBI intimidate our neighbors. I’m hearing from friends with student visas that it has been hard to find jobs because many companies don’t want to risk hiring someone who might get deported. I can feel that the attacks on poor and working class communities of color are coming closer and closer to me and my loved ones, and I know none of us are safe until we are all safe.
At this moment, I’m calling on all of you, my fellow young people with wealth and class privilege, to speak out, show up, and fight back – we cannot let it be business as usual. While billionaires alongside Trump are waging a war on poor and working class communities while putting money in their own pockets – we as RGers say, like we did many years ago, “We’re the 1% fighting for the 99%” and “Hands off our communities. Hands off our future.” Whether you’re like me, feeling stuck and overwhelmed, or you’ve BEEN in the streets fighting – we’re going to need all of us to rise up.
I am ready to show up to fight alongside our comrades now and in the future because I see my own stake in organizing for a world where we all have enough! I am fighting for a world where my family relies on their community for support instead of just paying for it, and a world where my family doesn’t feel the urge to hoard wealth to secure reliable healthcare in their old age.
So as RGers, we’re inviting folks to join our campaign partner, Popular Democracy for a national mass activation in defiance of the Trump-Musk billionaire takeover and the assault on our freedoms and our communities – this Saturday, April 5. Here’s what to do:
- Find an action near you & show up on April 5th: https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/
- We encourage you to coordinate with other local RGers to show up together! If you’re not seeing a local event, you can start one here! https://www.mobilize.us/handsoff/c/hands-off/event/create/
In solidarity,
Katie W.
Chapter Organizing and Leadership Development Director
