By Grace Cowell
On the eve of Trump’s inauguration, amidst dropping temperatures and a looming snowstorm, over 300 individuals representing a variety of activist groups in Massachusetts gathered at Roxbury Community College to prepare for the political climate of the next four years.
Upon arrival, participants were greeted by a collection of tables from sponsoring and co-sponsoring organizations, providing information on current events, policy initiatives, and campaigns, as well as the opportunity to network with individuals and organizations.
The events began with an opening panel on Palestine and the U.S., during which insightful presentations were shared by Dr. Karameh Kuemmerle, Rami Khouri, and Dr. Lara Jirmanus. Dr. Kuemmerle opened by describing celebrations in Gaza following the ceasefire, while also expressing the need to reflect on the pain, loss, and devastation. She then transitioned to her work as a founder of Doctors Against Genocide and their fight against the structural injustice that allows a genocide to occur with widespread silence from the medical community. Prof. Khouri, a Palestinian-American journalist and academic, spoke about the transformation occurring in the Middle East and the “reassertion of colonial predatory power.” Dr. Jirmanus closed out the presentation portion by sharing organizing strategies.
After a brief Q&A, attendees joined a breakout group of their choice. Topics included immigration and the mass deportation threat; the genocide in Gaza and US politics; electoral politics; the labor movement as a bulwark of democracy; climate and ecocide; great power rivalry and the nuclear war danger; and war against the poor: Fighting back against budget cuts and tax cuts.
I attended the breakout titled “The genocide in Gaza and U.S. politics,” along with around 80 others. Once we were in the large group, we split into subgroups where we introduced ourselves, our organizations, and some of the current work we are involved in. We then began to share and write down ideas on how our different organizations can form coalitions and organize together around the Israel-Palestine issue. Each subgroup then had the opportunity to read what ideas the others had developed.
Following a catered lunch, participants were guided back into the auditorium for the second panel on domestic issues and other international issues. Presentations were given by Jamie McGonagill (Extinction Rebellion Boston), Harris Gruman (SEIU), Liv Santoro (ACLU of MA), Alexandra Piñeros Shields (Heller School at Brandeis University), and Khury Petersen-Smith (Institute for Policy Studies). Each panelist spoke about their different areas of activism and the intersection of these issues on both a national and global scale.
Audience members were captivated as Alexandra delivered heartfelt anecdotes about her experiences organizing and engaging in civil disobedience surrounding immigration. One story in particular has stuck with me over the past week: Alexandra partook in a 76-mile pilgrimage from Boston to Dover, NH, carrying a child size coffin, representing the migrant children who had died in U.S. detention. The dedication and tireless efforts that were shared with us were inspiring and a call to action for all.
Khury ended the presentations with a strong testimony about the need to continue to rise and defend our communities. He elaborated that “our communities have no borders,” emphasizing the importance of unity, solidarity, and resisting together.
As we re-entered our breakout groups following the second panel, I once again had the opportunity to converse in a small subgroup about joint organizing efforts surrounding Israel and Palestine. Ideas were expressed about forming a rapid response network, setting a series of collective goals and outcomes for many groups to rally around, and focusing on local and state level legislation rather than feeling defeated federally during this legislative session.
The separate breakout groups reconvened once more to end off the day with a plenary session. This final portion began with a share-out, allowing a representative from each breakout to share ideas and actions discussed in their respective groups. Audience members were then encouraged to express their final thoughts of the day.
As I reflect on my Arise and Resist conference experience, I am most impressed with the level of community building that went on around me. I watched people ask questions and genuinely listen to others. I saw contact information exchanged. I also viewed engagement in productive discourse.
At an event like this, where there were a wide variety of groups, many focused on different issues, it would be easy for individuals to remain caught up in their own work; however, that could not have been further from what happened. One of the main points that came from my breakout group was the need to find and organize around the intersection between Israel-Gaza and other domestic and global issues. It was uplifting to see that even in these highly divided times, there are people focusing on collective activism.
Moving forward, it is vital to continue the conversations started at this conference, but if we want to find success surrounding these goals, we need to work together to turn these thoughts and ideas into concrete actions. The conference organizers have announced a followup conference on Saturday, March 15. As Khury stated during his panel, “we got this, this is going to be hard, our work will be imperfect, but we can do this.”
Presentations:
Dr. Lara Jirmanus: Threading the needle, weaving the web, may Palestine free us all
Harris Gruman: Economic Justice
Jamie McGonagill: Climate and Ecocide talk and Slides
Alexandra Piñeros Shields: Immigration and Defense Against ICE
Mike Prokosch: What does it take to build alliances?
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Grace Cowell is a legislative intern at Massachusetts Peace Action and a pre-law student at Northeastern University