Over at the Texas Observer, I interviewed groundbreaking lesbian feminist theologian Rev. Dr. Carter Heyward. Her new book unpacks the deep historic and modern ties between Christianity and white supremacy, and explains why Christians—and everyone who benefits unconsciously from white supremacy—needs to act more.
Tag: Donald Trump
A friend that lives in Portland posted on his Facebook about the latest spasm of white supremacist violence that took place there.
Someone that I’ve a bunch of mutuals in common with responded. A sort-of-smug comment to the effect of “thank goodness we ran those people out of Austin, Texas!” And I’ll be honest, that comment shocked me: we did what?
The comment reminded me that this attitude is probably widespread in my city and across the country.
I asked myself, are there people in this country that go days without thinking about the rise of fascism and the collapse of the climate? What must that be like?
I keep thinking about the guy at the coup attempt who tried to murder a cop in uniform, because he thought the cop was ANTIFA.
When I think about the fury that the crowd unleashed on that cop, and the ready justification this guy had at hand, it makes me realize that we are all ANTIFA now. When Peter Stager beat Metro cop Michael Fanone with an American flag pole (symbolism, y’all), he wasn’t imagining the cop was “antifa.”
That is, he didn’t consider the police officer to be part of a political tendency loosely organized around opposition to white supremacy, genocide, and dictatorial power. No, he thought the cop was all caps ANTIFA, a much more nebulous, and dangerous category. And every one of us that’s even a little left-of-center can end up in that category, at any time, in 2021.
Taking Space Feels Like A Drug: Reflections On A Coup Attempt
Posted in Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street
After watching the coup, I keep imagining the feeling of breaking through. The rush. The giddy high of taking space.
Like so many antifascists, I saw something like this coming. I wasn’t surprised, but I was still shocked at the sight of a war-helmeted christofascist raising his fist in the air as he stood atop the heart of American political power.
And I keep coming back to how good they must feel. These nasty fucking fascists, white supremacists, and Qsuckers are riding one of the biggest highs of their lives. And that makes them even more dangerous.
There’s a lot of tension and anxiety about what could happen in the coming days, including the possibility of serious civil unrest of a type…
Earlier this week, I appeared on The Newsmakers, a show on TRT World, which is an international version of a Turkish government TV station. A producer from Newsmakers invited me to defend antifascism. They framed the episode around the recent threats by Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and other right wing fascists, to declare “ANTIFA” as terrorists.