Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

April 5^th marks the beginning of a Solidarity Movement here in the States. Those of us who are older remember the nonviolent struggle against the Polish authoritarian communist government. The movement was a coalition of union workers, students, intellectuals, farmers, and the Church. On the streets of cities and towns of the United States, we witnessed the American version of the Solidarity Movement for defending Human and Civil Rights. The demand of the American people, as with the Polish people, is the demand for the end of an authoritarian regime.

We are only at the first stage of a struggle and do not know how the Trumpian regime will respond. In 2020, during the George Floyd unrest, Donald Trump inquired of General Mark Miley (Joint Chief of Staff), “Can’t you just shoot them (the protestors) in the legs or something?” Trump had no qualms about declaring an economic emergency that has turned the world’s financial order on its head. The Insurrection Act gives Trump the authority to deploy the military against citizens. Considering the abuse of presidential power to date and those who have egged him on, who is to say he won’t take this extreme step? 

Those of us who marched for Civil Rights, the ERA, Farm Worker Rights, Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, and LGBTQ Rights and protested the Vietnam War know the necessity of sustained unity and the cost associated with our actions for justice, equality, and human rights. We must be willing to stand firmly together. The Trumpian officials have no qualms about trampling on the Constitution, our civil liberties, the judiciary, and our economy for the benefit of the billionaire elite. They undermine our academic institutions, the free press, law firms, and our international allies. We are in a moral crisis. How will we respond?

April 5^th  was one small step. We need a nonviolent social movement plan that includes fielding candidates against those in Congress who have yielded their authority to the president. Labor Unions and agriculture workers need to challenge their leadership, which has voiced support for the Trumpian policies. Educators and their unions should plan teach-ins. Academic institutions need to stand firm in their values and policies. The religious institutions, both within communities and nationally, must, in ecumenical unity, raise their voices against antisemitism, Islamophobia, and violations of the human rights of immigrants. Shoppers can organize boycotts against those stores and manufacturers owned by Trump supporters. The list of the forms of protest can go on.

Lawyers can take more actions, as Jennifer Ruben writes in The Contrarian:

“… litigation must continue, and—where possible—go on offense. Additional tactics may include motions for contempt and sanctions against “Justice” Department lawyers’ frivolous filings, lack of candor, and specious arguments. Bar complaints should be filed against government lawyers violating their ethical obligations. More FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests and lawsuits (including discovery) will be needed to ferret out incriminating material to reveal wrongdoing. Plaintiffs will not win every case, but each win is another dent in Trump’s armor and further proof he is not invincible.”

 And, yes, there is a need for more mass nonviolent protests with varying degrees of intensity and tactics. April 5^th was only the beginning. Planning, organizing, and implementing these require the courage not to back down regardless of the Trumpian response. Our strength is in our numbers.

Poland’s Solidarity Movement took ten years to topple the authoritarian regime. We do not have ten years before the 2026 election. Acting NOW in a sustained, organized movement is critical. We are in a moral moment. As Cory Booker stated, “This is not a left or right moment…this is a right or wrong moment. Even if our voices shake, or our legs get weary, we must stand together…and bend the arc of the moral universe that is America…more toward justice.”