Despite below-freezing temperatures, over 100 people gathered on Monument Circle on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as part of the “We Fight Back!” national day of action that included over 80 cities. Some attendees were draped in rainbow and Mexican flags, while others held signs ranging from hand painted depictions of a world on fire to print signs demanding “No U.S.-Israeli war on Lebanon!”
PSL Indianapolis and IDOC Watch initiated the local protest but were quickly joined by a diverse range of organizations, including Indiana AID, The Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) of Indiana, Indiana Abortion Doula Collective, Central Indiana Democratic Socialists of America, Healer, and others.
The emcee set the tone for the rally, declaring that it wasn’t a vigil but a “celebration of workers’ rights won over the past 100 years.”
Eleven speakers represented a variety of organizations and their struggles, from labor to immigrant rights, prison abolition, indigenous justice, Palestinian liberation, the Korean peace movement, and more. One of the first speakers, Carolina Castoreno, who founded the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy (ALMA), spoke to the threat of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) raids in immigrant communities.
Castoreno said that ICE will not be allowed to terrorize our neighbors with impunity. “We have no idea when [ICE] will show up in Indianapolis,” she said, “but we need to be prepared and educate our community to know our rights.”
ANSWER Indiana organizer Eli Morey also mentioned the development of ICE courts opening in Indianapolis on January 27. “Trump can only deport immigrants if we the people allow him to” Morey elaborated. “They are currently recruiting thousands of new ICE agents and ‘judges’ in order to facilitate the deportation of immigrants. But we are also recruiting our own agents of struggle who can organize the fight back.”
Miguel Avila, representing Indiana AID (Assistance to Immigrants in Detention), addressed the coming economic impact of mass deportations of immigrants, as well as his own experience of being arrested and incarcerated by ICE for nearly 10 months. “They tried to break me down,” Avila said. “Morally, mentally, spiritually. But guess what? They could not do that to me, because I am stronger than that. We are all stronger than that!”
Indiana State Teachers Association member Noah Leininger turned to several new pieces of legislation in the Indiana Statehouse, including HB 1136.
“These despicable bills are attacks on our class, the last two to divide us workers against other workers because of their gender or their national background,” Leininger said. “We won’t let them split us apart! I have much more in common with my trans coworkers and students and my Haitian, Filipino, and Nicaraguan students than I do with the authors of these bills and their corporate bosses.”
Dani Abdullah, member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, wrapped up the protest by urging everyone to get involved in the struggle, emphasizing the need to join and stay involved in one of the organizations at the rally. “We will need our entire class when the revolution comes,” they said. “Our contributions will be invaluable because together is how we will win. And if being a leader sounds scary and intimidating, I recommend you link up with people you heard speak today. Ask them about how they got involved and remember that you don’t have to see the whole staircase, you just need to take the first step.”
While each organization highlighted a particular struggle, the overall message was clear: it is the billionaire class and their bought-and-paid-for politicians that are behind the right-wing attacks on working people, and that defeating these forces requires a united movement.
As the crowd left cold but empowered, Jok Huerta of FOCUS Initiatives, an organization that helps incarcerated individuals, shared his reflections on the rally:
“The rally was just that first initial cry to be respected and to let the oppressors know that we are not taking any of that crap that they try to throw our way. You know, we’re going to stand together. We are going to grow in number, and we are going to make our presence felt that we are not going to be handled any way these billionaires feel like they can handle us.”
Those interested in continuing the fight-back movement are invited to join PSL Indianapolis at the Liberation Center on Jan. 29 to discuss the “People’s Project 2025.”
Featured photo: The crowd gathers on January 20. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.