“In the end, though, love is relationships, and that is why we are here: to build relationships of caring, durability, strength, and connection. Love is a participant.”
Emcees Moira Walsh, Cody Frazier, and Jordan Garces
“Welcome to ‘A Love Letter to Tomorrow,’” said Moira Walsh, one of the three emcees, after a terrific musical performance by B. Dolan opened the two-hour event. “Fascism is exhausting. We spend a lot of time protesting. We spend a lot of time rallying. We spend a lot of time being angry. We don’t spend a lot of time talking about what we are fighting for.
“I’m an activist. I’m a former state representative in Providence’s 3rd District. I used to identify as a Democrat. I don’t anymore. Now I identify as three things: a mother, a neighbor, and a fucking revolutionary. I’ve been doing activism for a long time… and one of the most important things is remembering why we’re doing this. As for me, my career in activism will end when my children and grandchildren have a world built on compassion, care, and cooperation.”
“I am also an activist, a little bit newer to the game,” said Jordan Garces, the second of the three emcees. “I am with the Rhode Island Democratic Socialists of America, and I am also a revolutionary. I want to say that loud. Today, we’ll be talking about what we need to do going forward, but this is also a space for us to heal together and build the solidarity to keep pushing forward.”
“I’m a worker, just like you,” said Cody Frazier, the third emcee. “I guess you could say I’ve been radicalized by what’s been going on, whatever that means. If you could indulge me in one thing: I need you guys to start stomping one foot.
“A funny thing happens with suspension bridges. When people march across suspension bridges and begin to step in time, slowly, but surely, the bridge begins to crumble. And that’s what we can do with the constructions of fascism. All it takes is one step. One step forward, and you fall in line with the next person, and then the person behind you falls in line with you, and joins your community to destroy the constructs of fascism.”
The Rally Against Fascism: A Love Letter to Tomorrow was organized for Valentine’s Day because that day, according to organizer Michael Araujo, “is about the heart, and a day when we publicly express our feelings towards those we love. For the organizations, performers, and speakers, it is because they want to express those feelings of care to you.”
“In our families,” continued Araujo in his welcome letter, “We all express love in a wide quilt of ways. Each small part, like making sure we can secure food, or helping change an elder’s sheets, or teaching a little one how to ride a bike, all provide comfort, and all require showing up fully for those we love. Since you are here, it’s safe to assume you care about, or even love, your neighbors and community. Maybe you are looking for the next way to show it.”
The event alternated between talented musicians and talented orators representing a wide variety of leftist activist organizations, including the International Workers of the World (IWW), the Rhode Island Democratic Socialists of America (RISDA), the Providence General Assembly (PGA), the One People’s Project, Counterpower, the Revolutionary Student Union (RSU), and Providence Worker’s Defense.
Here are a few excerpts from the speaking program [to view a complete transcript, visit steveahlquist.substack.com]:
Anthony Tinaro, Revolutionary Student Union (RSU)
“I work for my living. There are other details to my life, but you’ve heard them all from a thousand other friends. I’ve cleaned up parks, I’ve written essays, I’ve been in bars, and I’m young. I graduated from college last year. I’ve seen a few things a young man shouldn’t see. I’ve seen some things that the ruling class has tried to prevent me from seeing. Even if the powers that be try their hardest to blot out my future with their war on our climate and their war on our freedoms, despite everything, I can still see the future.
“When I think about the future, I think about the children… I think the reason I can still get up in the morning is that I’m trying to act like there’s going to be a tomorrow, a next year, for them.”
Daryl Lamont Jenkins, founder of One People’s Project, presented the Keynote
“I’ve never seen so much action when it’s this cold. They’re doing it at 22 Below in Minneapolis… I mean, maybe ICE is leaving Minneapolis, but they’re still here. The people we’ve been fighting, whether it is the government or their lackeys in the media, their biggest problem is us, because we showed them that we’re going to be fighting them. We also showed them that we’ll beat them and we’re in it for the long haul…
“That’s why they’re angry and made it a political cause to go after Bad Bunny. How the hell did they figure out a way to make Minnesotans enemies of the state? So yeah, I’m sure a brown man performing during the Super Bowl is going to be a problem for them. Every time I see them freak out over the halftime show, it shows that they’re scared of something. Let’s give them more of it… There have to be more of these events like this going on.
“I don’t think they’re prepared, but we’ve got to be prepared. We’ve got to make sure that we can get people out who never came out before, because that’s who were killed in Minnesota. When you talk about Alex Pretti, when you talk about Renee Good, they were just folks. They said, ‘We’ve got to do something.’ Encourage your neighbors not to wait until a victim of ICE or this government looks good enough to defend. Everybody in this room right now could have been in the exact situation as Pretti or Good… We will put an end to this, and one of the best ways to do so is to ensure we have more events like this.
Emeline, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
“We are a union, not just any union, but one of the longest-standing, most radical unions in the world… From the historic battles against Gilded Age tyrants to the ongoing battles at Starbucks, Amazon, and local institutions like Butler Hospital and Seven Stars, workers organizing against their bosses’ abuse have always formed an indisputable core of the push for progress, and everyone in this room today is better for it…
Mike, a member of Counter Power, a founding member of the Providence Organization of Workers and Renters (POWR), and active with the Providence General Assembly
“All of us have an obligation not to let the violence, dehumanization, and cruelty that we see every day persist, let alone get worse. The tasks at hand are daunting. The stakes are higher than any of us have ever seen, so the question is: How do we effectively and quickly build the new world in the shell of the old? How do we gather enough durable support to give birth to a new society while bearing the existing society?
“Members of POWR have been organizing coordinated national calls with over a dozen other cities that are holding people’s assemblies to build this model and learn from one another… Through consistent communication, solidarity, trust, and collective resistance, the groundwork for a feasible and meaningful united front might be born. It is our collective belief that that is what we’re all doing here today, and we look forward to struggling alongside all of you.”