Dallas says “Hands off” to Trump repression

Dallas TX – On April 5 organizers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, DFW Anti War Committee and the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression joined the DFW Indivisible and 50501 groups in a rally to say “Hands off” to the Trump administration’s attacks on labor, public services and government infrastructure.

The Dallas, Denton and Tarrant County communities met at historic Dealey Plaza off Elm Street in downtown Dallas on Sunday afternoon to a crowd of about 2000. The event featured a wide array of voices. The Texas labor movement had speakers from American Federations of Government Employees and teachers and Starbucks Workers United. Trump recently signed an executive order to cut collective bargaining rights for federal employees while his administration continues to target students and workers across the country.

The 50501 and Indivisible groups alongside the DFW area’s many other diverse movements have seen a dramatic influx of people looking to get involved wherever they can, starting with modest afternoon crowds just weeks ago to a diverse and galvanized crowd today that nearly filled Dealey Plaza. Cars honked in support as a train passed overhead, its own horn nearly drowned out by the crowd’s accumulating cheers.

Organizer Jo Hargis of the DFW Anti War Committee told the crowd, “When we come together to defend one another’s movements, when we see one another’s destinies as tied up with our own, when we come together across movements and across borders and across every division to unite in action against our common enemy, then we will build a world that no billionaire could take away, and I don’t know about you, but I’m here to fight for that world.”

The crowd took to the streets chanting, “This is what democracy looks like” and “We will not be silent,” as Dallas police looked on. The crowd flowed its way past the historic red courthouse and once around the city before the crowd returned to Dealey Plaza across from Dallas’ landmark Grassy Knoll for a second round of speakers.

Xavi Velasquez of Dallas’ National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression as well as Legalization for All continued, “We working-class people have a rich history of struggle in this country. Your rights were not given to you. They were won with bloody struggle.”

Velasquez continued with a call to action: “I want you to get involved in your communities. I want you to join an organization doing the work, to make this country ungovernable.” He called for an event at Fort Worth City Hall, May 1 at 3 p.m. in observance of a Day Without Immigrants and International Workers Day.

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