“For the Trump voters, Trump’s racism may have been just part of the package deal, the Cinemax they had accept to get the HBO. For those who are the target of that racism (and sexism, and homophobia), however, it’s not Cinemax. It’s their lives.”
Month: November 2016
Not My President
Some like to remind you that the president has less power than we seem to collectively think, meaning less power to make and enforce laws, but the president still has a large symbolic cultural power that can’t be ignored. A president who does their job right should be standing up for those in their country who are disenfranchised, but Trump has encouraged violence through his rhetoric and example. As a queer woman and a survivor of sexual violence, Trump is not my president, not because I want to kick him out of office, but rather because he has chosen to act in a way that is hostile to me, people like me, and those with less power than me.
There has been a lot of misinformation about the Protests, and I can’t speak to every single person out on the streets, but I would like to point out that the group Portland’s Resistance is meant to be a place for those of us interested in protecting the already marginalized communities that are further threatened by Trump and his rhetoric. The platform says nothing about throwing Trump out of office, or even dismantling the electoral college (which btw we need to do already, but now’s not the time). In fact the platform of the group begins with an implicit acceptance of Trump’s presidency: “In order to survive President Trump there needs to be a strong resistance.” Yes we’re saying that we’re going to fight against what Trump stands for, but we wouldn’t be talking about surviving his presidency if we meant for there not to be a presidency. Following I’ve copy-pasted from the facebook page Portland’s Resistance’s platform.
In order to survive President Trump there needs to be a strong resistance. Our group believes that Portland has an opportunity to become a beacon of light for the rest of the nation. We can show the world what a progressive city can actually look like. However, for this to be done we need drastic changes now. We do not have time to spare.
Our organization is demanding in Portland:
– Rent control and an end to no cause evictions
– An end to police brutality
– An end to racial disparity in policing
– Citizen oversight of the police with real power
– An acknowledgement of Portland’s racist past and concrete steps to rectify that sad truth – No new fossil fuel infrastructure or support towards the fossil fuel industry
– Clean air and water
– Transparency in city government
– An acknowledgement that we are living on stolen land and efforts to rectify that fact
– Open and accountable elections
– Safe streets
– Continued sanctuary city status
– Full LGBTQ inclusion
– Well funded schools for ALL our children (No lead in the water!)
– An affirmation of women’s rights including free and safe abortions
– More funding for sexual and domestic violence prevention and better policing on these issues – A safe and welcoming place for immigrants and refugees
– Increased mental health funding and accessible services
– Safe locations for the houseless population
– A houseless bill of rights
– The right to free and safe abortion
– Get Nestle out of the gorge
– No More tax break to major corporations such as Nike, Comcast etc
and much more.
– Guaranteed living wages
We entirely support and endorse the movements of Black Lives Matter, Don’t Shoot Portland, Portland Tenants United, PDX Trans Pride, Bernie PDX, Portland Clean Air, East Portland Air Coalition, 15 NOW, Health Care for All Oregon and more to come in the days ahead.
Gracetopher Kirk 