Over the weekend of Feb. 4, leading up to and through Super Bowl Sunday, the people of Houston repeatedly took to the streets to express their opposition to Donald Trump’s recent executive orders targeting immigrants and his other reactionary policies. On Friday, hundreds shouted “No Ban! No Wall!”; on Saturday, Houston “Stood with Standing Rock” throughout downtown; and on Sunday, marched to NRG Stadium shouting “refugees are welcome here!”
Organizations involved included Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Lives Matter in Houston, University of Houston Muslim Student Alliance, Houston Stands with Standing Rock, and Houston Socialist Movement. Additionally, representatives from many other socialist parties and groups participated, including Socialist Alternative, Democratic Socialists for America, Communist Party USA, Worker’s World Party, and Party for Socialism and Liberation.
These actions follow up on the demonstrations the previous weekend, when Houston responded instantly to Trump’s outrageous “Muslim ban” executive order, taking to the streets of downtown and pouring into George Bush Intercontinental Airport—joining thousands of others who protested at airports around the country—to demand that the people detained there be released. This mass pressure resulted in a restraining order against the Muslim ban—a temporary, but important victory that shows the importance of sustained and energetic mass action against the Trump presidency.
At the Super Bowl Sunday march, demonstrators spoke out on behalf of Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and women’s rights. In the words of one demonstrator: “We need to defend immigrants, the LGBT community, and any other group that Trump is spewing hate towards.” A legal activist who works in Houston’s impoverished Third Ward also spoke of the importance of solidarity among oppressed sectors of society: “Being Black, being Muslim, I need to stand up for everyone else who’s facing stuff like this.” As the group approached NRG Stadium, it passed groups of fans of the Atlanta Falcons, many of whom hooted their approval with their fists in the air and some of whom briefly joined the march.
Some representatives from the Democratic Party were present at the beginning of the march, including Congressman Al Green and Jim Cargas, the Democratic candidate for Texas 7th Congressional District in the 2016 elections. These Democratic politicians all but said that there was nothing to be done about Trump besides trying to elect Democrats to the Congress in 2018. After the march to the stadium, the size of the group had diminished somewhat. Nevertheless, the energy of the demonstration had increased with several people breaking into dance in time to chants of “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!”
It is critical that the mass movement against Trump and his obscene reactionary policies not fall into the trap of Democratic party politics, which misdirects their energies towards empty electoral promises. To that end, the Party for Socialism and Liberation will continue to participate in mass action with the workers and oppressed peoples, and will continue to put forth our vision for independent working-class politics.
