There have always been concerted attempts by the state to destroy movements that challenge white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy, so in one sense what is happening isn’t new, but as we write this in 2025, political repression is escalating rapidly under this administration, and we need to be prepared.
The good news: so many people who were not politically active are now stepping up to resist the genocide of the Palestinian people and the vicious deportation of undocumented people in the US. All of this means that we have an opportunity – and an obligation–to build a solid, resilient community of resistance in order to be the kind of allies that people of the global majority and others need us to be.
It also means that each of us have a stake in this struggle, both to say no to the injustices and to say yes to a world we want to live in; taking action solely on behalf of other people won’t enable us to build that world. We hope participation in this study group will enable people to engage with each other about how the state and non-state actors use threats and violence to destabilize and disrupt our movements. Most of all, we hope it will help people find ways to resist political repression when it’s on our doorstep.