On February 19, hundreds rallied and marched in Pittsburgh to continue the resistance against the Trump regime on its first month anniversary. Organized by the ANSWER Coalition, the rally and march showed solidarity with our local communities and to resist attacks against undocumented immigrants and their families, Muslims, women, LGBTQ and other oppressed groups.
The protest started with a rally with speeches from speakers representing a variety of communities under threat by the Trump regime, from undocumented immigrants to women to Muslims and people of color.
Speakers from various groups including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Women Organized to Resist and Defend and Veterans for Peace, as well as members of the immigrant community spoke about the need to protect undocumented immigrants, the continued failure of the government to keep capitalist corporations from ruining the environment, the destruction of healthcare and access to it, the never-ending imperialist wars and many more issues.
Jon Sterling of the Party for Socialism and Liberation electrified the crowd when he spoke of the“profit over people” ideal which pervades the U.S. government. Speaking of the imminent resumption of construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, he mentioned, “… when oil pipelines are diverted onto the land of Indigenous nations, make no mistake; this is extermination for profit, the faceless horror of finance capital.”He denounced the blatant destruction of our planet which capitalism is perpetuating, at the expense of human lives.
Paul Dordal, an Iraq war veteran and vice president of the Veterans for Peace, Western PA chapter said: “It is time to fight back against the rising fascism, the corporations, the Wall Street thieves, and even the duopolistic Republican and Democratic parties. These parties no longer represent us. The Republicans and Democrats represent and are owned by the bankers, the corporations, media conglomerates, and Wall Street thieves who benefit from all of this war and violence.”
Emily Hannon from WORD and AJ Wilson from PSL spoke of the growing issue of people having less access to healthcare. Hannon said,“Living paycheck to paycheck on $8 an hour with little family to turn to, I’m very aware that my dreams and ambitions are one disaster–or in this scenario, one broken condom–away from collapsing on top of me.”
Wilson, with PSL, the last speaker of the afternoon, made a personal appeal to the crowd as a healthcare paraprofessional to stand up and fight, cognizant of what the destruction of Medicare and Medicaid would do to poor working class communities in a short period of time.
Taylor Goel, the coordinator of ANSWER Pittsburgh spoke about Trump’s plans to build the wall along the Mexican border. Goel said, “Our enemy is the Trump regime building that wall, but also the millionaires running the Democratic Party. Trump’s wall is Democrat’s ‘Secure Fence.’ Obama, Clinton and many others all signed that nasty Secure Fence Act in 2006. That ‘secure fence’ has already cost the lives of thousands of Mexican people.”
Drawing a connection between the struggles of undocumented immigrants and the Palestinian people, Goel added: “I want to talk about another wall, one that is 5000 miles away from here–that racist, apartheid wall in Palestine. Palestinian people need our solidarity right now as the Israeli settler regime, with the full support of Trump regime, is escalating it’s brutal repression in occupied Palestine.”
ANSWER Coalition is currently preparing a March 26 demonstration against AIPAC to continue the resistance against imperialism and the illegal Israeli settlements encroaching on Palestinian land. The Pittsburgh branch of the ANSWER Coalition will be offering transportation from the Pittsburgh area to Washington D.C. and back. More details can be found here.
Following the rally, the protestors took to the streets and marched through downtown Pittsburgh, chanting slogans such as “No ban! No wall– human rights are for us all,” “From Palestine to Mexico, all walls have got to go,” “When women’s rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” and “Black lives matter!”
