Local groups organize ‘We Fight Back’ rally, march Jan. 19

Presenter: Eugene’s Resistance Radio KEPW will share live coverage from the Jan. 19 ‘We Fight Back’ rally at the federal courthouse. From the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), rally organizer Rob Fisette:

Rob Fisette: We’re holding an Inauguration Day rally and march Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Wayne Morse Federal Courthouse. Initial sponsors of the event here in Eugene are the PSL, Pacific Green Party, local branch of Extinction Rebellion, local branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

[00:00:32] And we have a growing list of a broad range of organizations that have endorsed the event: Springfield Eugene Anti-Imperialist Coalition, Planet Vs. Pentagon, CODEPINK, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and bringing them all together and saying that, you know, a problem for one of us is a problem for all of us.

[00:00:49] Presenter: From the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Eugene, rally organizer Kayleigh Bronson-Cook.

[00:00:54] Kayleigh Bronson-Cook: This event has everything and nothing to do with Trump. It has everything to do with Trump in that he is the incoming president, but it has nothing to do with him in that he is a symptom of the problem. He is not in and of himself the problem. He is a representative of a system that is the problem. And our fight is against that system.

[00:01:15] So in that sense, it has nothing to do with him. And in the sense that he is the incoming administrator with these unique in many ways attacks, and new developments, it has everything to do with him.

[00:01:26] With the inauguration coming, I think about these Cabinet picks. We have an unprecedented number of billionaires. There are 13 billionaires. I think that really shows us the mask-off nature of the Trump administration—just really showing us, the working people of the United States and the world, showing us the true nature of the system and who the system is built by and who this system is built for.

[00:01:54] As we think about the policy positions when it comes to tariffs, when it comes to the impact that those tariffs will have on the economy, which will therefore directly impact working-class people, when we think about how those tariffs are being used really as a divide-and-conquer strategy to escalate the war against China and BRICS nations, and cause economic devastation, mostly at home, but also abroad, we just really have to think whose interests at the end of the day are being served by the system.

[00:02:27] The only thing that is going to save us from this system is an independent working-class fight-back movement that is really capable of challenging the system and the political parties that continue to perpetuate that system and perpetuate the status quo that is literally killing millions of people across the globe.

[00:02:48] It’s not a new struggle. It’s a struggle that’s been going on for a long time, and I think people are really energized and mobilized in a way that I personally haven’t seen. I became activated in 2017 after the first Trump election and inauguration, and I’ve just seen in that time, the real fight-back energy that people have about building the world that we all deserve, and building a world that allows us to live dignified lives, that allows our planet to remain hospitable, and really just build a future where we are able to live lives of dignity, lives of justice and peace, a genuine peace.

[00:03:28] Presenter: PSL organizer Rob Fisette.

[00:03:30] Rob Fisette: We’re bringing these organizations together in this place at this time so that we can come together at other places, at other times as needed. We know there are policies that the Trump administration, the ruling class, the billionaire class generally has put forward, all of these divide-and-conquer type of strategies:

[00:03:50] Immigration policy, also trans health care, also the war on women, also the war on labor, you know, all of these policies, which are intended to divide and conquer the working people, keep us distracted, keep us busy fighting those individual fights, rather than directing a full-on fight at the system.

[00:04:10] We’re going to get together and be a little more clear that when we respond, we have each other’s backs. Our resistance does matter, and history has shown us it is the thing that actually gets wins for the working class. When we resist, when we fight back, when we organize, we actually get concessions, we get reforms from the system, which is not our end goal, by any means.

[00:04:33] But certainly they do alleviate the suffering of the working class when we get significant reforms, like the New Deal, Roe v. Wade, like the Civil Rights Amendments. These are things that the ruling class constantly is trying to take back from us. But while they’re in place, they actually do improve the lives of working people, and that they are things that are born out of organized resistance that the working class has organized historically.

[00:04:59] Not things that I guess as I was taught in school, there was just one nice president who, like, really decided we deserved that, which is, I think, an easy trap to fall into. But kind of the purpose of this event is to say, ‘No, we need to be organized in order for that resistance to matter and bear fruit.’

[00:05:18] Presenter: Kayleigh Bronson-Cook:

[00:05:19] Kayleigh Bronson-Cook: And as Rob perfectly illuminated, you know, any concessions, the things that make our lives livable in the United States were not granted to us out of the goodness of the hearts of the people in power. they were demanded, right? ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand,’ that’s Frederick Douglass. They were demanded by organized resistance, by organized working class people, by people’s movements.

[00:05:42] And so if we look at all of the ways in which capitalism is hurting our people and the planet, the way that we’re going to win is with an independent fight-back movement. And so we have study groups and educational events and demonstrations and actions on lots of different topics and lots of different areas of struggle. We have those pretty regularly, usually monthly, sometimes more often.

[00:06:08] Presenter: Rob Fisette.

[00:06:09] Rob Fisette: The best way to keep in touch with our ongoing schedule and events that we’re holding is probably our Instagram or being on our mailing list, PSLEugene.substack.com, to get on our mailing list at PSLEugene on Instagram. We are regularly hosting educational events, forums, study, actions around town.

[00:06:28] Our job as we see it is to help build that independent fight-back movement. And we’re doing that, you know, as a party, as PSL, nationally around Inauguration Day to actually create a coalition in every locality to hit the streets and say, you know, we are together in this and that we are centering our fight-back on something other than the Democratic Party. We’re creating an independent people’s movement, that anyone can join through any organization that has the same goals that we have—to create justice and a livable future for our people on the planet.

[00:07:05] Presenter: Kayleigh Bronson-Cook:

[00:07:07] Kayleigh Bronson-Cook: If people want to get involved in the Inauguration Day action, an easy way they can do that is by joining our upcoming volunteer meeting, which is on the 9th, so next Thursday. That will be Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. at Growers Market, and that is a place where folks can get involved. We have a committee structure that folks can get involved with, help us make signs and banners for the event.

[00:07:31] And get plugged into outreach and helping spread the word, and whatnot. And then obviously, to join us on the 19th, we’d love to have as many people there as possible. Tell your neighbors, tell your church congregation, tell your friends, your family members.

[00:07:45] And yeah, we as the PSL, we know that capitalism ultimately is the problem and socialism is the solution, socialism is the future. And to that end, fights against capitalism look different.

[00:08:00] Sometimes that manifests as the fight against imperialism and the war machine. Sometimes that manifests as wars on immigrants, on the planet, on women, on LGBTQ people, on working-class people (we’ve seen that even locally with the local labor actions, strike actions, the ongoing Bigfoot Beverages strike); the war on Black people, the war on Palestine, the war on China. This is the same fight, ultimately.

[00:08:28] Presenter: From the Eugene PSL, Rob Fisette:

[00:08:30] Rob Fisette: Also we know that in the coming period, bravery is required. We want to make it clear that when we say bravery, we don’t mean running headlong into any situation without thinking about it. We mean thinking about it carefully, what the risks are, how we’re going to respond to them and doing that in the best way possible.

[00:08:49] And then at some point, deciding it’s time to be brave and be together and together we can make each other safe and we keep each other safe.

[00:08:57] We talk a lot about the need for working people to come together, take power from the system, and it takes maybe a little bit of bravery to organize a socialist study group and show up. But to actually take power from the billionaires who run our entire country and the entire world and our whole system, that’s going to require a lot of bravery from all of us, and it’s always going to look different.

[00:09:25] And I think that showing up to a march with hundreds of other people where all of these things have been considered and been planned for and taken seriously is one way that we put that forward. That said, we are organizing a family-friendly march for anyone to come who wants to be there and wants to start the fight-back against the Trump administration.

[00:09:46] Presenter: Kayleigh Bronson-Cook:

[00:09:48] Kayleigh Bronson-Cook: This is a war where the wealth that is generated by working class people in this country is not being used to benefit the working-class people of this country. It’s being used to generate profits for the war machine. It’s being used to generate profits for companies, shareholders, CEOs.

[00:10:05] And we want a world where those needs of working class people will be met. And the only way we’re going to get that world is through socialism. That’s our answer. And so we want you to get involved. Follow us on Instagram, join our email list, join our 119 action.

[00:10:20] As horrific as the incoming Trump administration seems to be, we’re also very hopeful. Because we’re students of history, like Rob said, we know that this is how movements work. This is how history is made. This is how working-class people have been resisting for a long time, in a variety of different struggles in the United States and abroad.

[00:10:39] So we want you to join us, come get involved, join one of the organizations involved in organizing, co-sponsoring the event, and get plugged in. We’d love to have you.

[00:10:48] Presenter: A volunteer meeting Thursday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Growers Market, to help prepare for the rally and march Sunday Jan. 19 at the federal courthouse.