With vast segments of American society feeling threatened by the agenda of President Donald Trump, protests and rallies opposing it have been popping up across the country like daffodils in the spring.
Now a local Sonoma County group is planning to take this resistance a step further by, as one of the organizers, Robin Latham, said, “building a coalition for the long haul.”
Working out of the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County, the group is calling itself Community United to Resist Fascism (CURF).
“We come together to safeguard the equal and inalienable rights, and inherent dignity, of all people, that is the foundation of the relationship between a government and its people, because we recognize that those rights and dignity are under threat from the Trump administration,” their statement of purpose reads in part.
In a few months, the fledgling group has brought together dozens of individuals from organizations around the county—everything from the more mainstream like the Windsor Democratic Club, to the more marginal like Rohnert Park-Cotati Pride and the bilingual radio station KBBF-FM.
Another participant in the effort is the Healthcare for All Working Group of Sonoma and Marin counties. A spokesperson for that organization, retired nurse Terry Winter, explained, “It is in the best interest of everyone to resist Trump’s agenda to dismantle the apparatus that provides healthcare for millions, because this will even affect those who support the Republican agenda.”
To reach out even farther into the community, CURF has been organizing five days of marches, rallies and other events, scheduled for May 1-5—International Workers’ Day through Cinco de Mayo. And because the long-term goal is to build a coalition, the group is incorporating some on-going events like the annual May 1 march and rally for workers’ and immigrants’ rights and the weekly Palestinian support rally, as well as creating a new event that will bring it all together.
One of the organizers of the May 1 event, Santa Rosa attorney Renee Saucedo, said the goal of that event is two-fold—to convince Sonoma County Sheriff Eddie Engram to agree to a “no collaboration” ordinance with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and “to send a message to the decision makers that the undocumented community is not going anywhere.”
Representing both Sonoma County for Palestine and Taxpayers Against Genocide, Sonoma State University staff member Tarik Kanaani acknowledged that coalition building is a perfect way to address a host of concerns.
“From the beginning, one of my goals was to build the coalition and solidarity that goes multiple ways. All of these issues are pretty much the same struggle, but with different details,” he said.
For a list of upcoming events, go to bit.ly/pjc-curf.
