Trump Inauguration

Women of color led the way.  This weekend we all helped to build the largest Jilien-emailmobilization against the inauguration of a President in the history of the United States!  From DC to Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, New York, Oakland, to countless cities and towns across the country and around the world, millions of people took to the streets.  While many of the marches drew broad participation from primarily white women of many ages, the majority of these mobilizations were multi-racial, led by women of color and gender non-conforming folks.

#ItTakesRoots to #GrowtheResistance is an effort led by women of color on the frontlines of racial, housing and climate justice across the country, which brought together over 100 grassroots leaders in DC this past week to grow our resistance, and organized translocal actions in 8 cities on inauguration weekend.  It is an outcome of years of organizing and relationship building across the Climate Justice Alliance, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, Indigenous Environmental Network, and Right to the City Alliance.

We came together as four national grassroots alliances immediately after the elections because we heard loud and clear from our membership that our priority in this next period should be to build a visionary opposition to the racist, misogynist and xenophobic politics and practices of Trumpism.  The leadership of frontline communities in the historic mobilizations of this past week are a testament for what is to come.

Within hours of taking office, President Trump signed an executive order to pave the way towards repealing the Affordable Care Act, and reinstated the global gag rule originated by Ronald Reagan in 1984 that prohibits US funding to any international organization that includes education about abortion in their reproductive health and family planning options. Today he signed executive actions to advance the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines–both of which have been the center of some of the largest environmental justice mobilizations in US history.

This President is intent on destroying our bodies, our communities, and Mother Earth. We will not let it happen.  Join us to Grow the Resistance.

Training Labs and Strategy Exchanges
Our delegation to DC spent a day and a half together in training labs and strategy exchanges.  Members shared models of 21st century Sanctuary Cities and rapid response collectives, discussed the connections between climate justice, gender justice, land, and housing fights, strategized around what a Just Transition will look like for our communities in this period, and trained each other on direct action tactics for strengthening our visionary opposition.

J20 Action at DOE and HUD
In the final hours before the inauguration of Donald trump, we led a two-part action starting at the Department of Energy and ending at the Department of Housing and Urban Development calling out the incoming administration’s picks for both departments and demonstrating the kinds of policies we want them to put forth that represent community solutions.

Learn more about the actions in this piece by Yessenia Funes with ColorLines

J20 Marches and the J21 Women’s March
On January 20th and January 21st, the #ItTakesRoots women of color-led contingent was on the frontlines of resistance to Donald Trump’s inauguration at #DisruptJ20 and the historic Women’s March on Washington. The contingent of Black, Latin@, Asian, Arab, and Indigenous women and gender nonconforming people are leading grassroots voices and organizers for climate, housing, gender, racial and indigenous justice.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS

Solidarity in Action
Marching-frontlone-NDWA-email.jpgThe #ItTakesRoots delegation was supported by the Ruckus Society and the Center for Story-Based Strategy.  On Thursday we supported an action by indigenous groups to protest outside a Trump gala with a flash round dance led by indigenous women and youth.  On Saturday, we marched with our sisters from the National Domestic Workers Alliance and other allies to be one of the liveliest contingents with our songs, drums, chants and dance.

The grassroots organizations represented in our Mobilization to DC and our Trans-Local Actions during the first 100 days of the Trump Administration are intergenerational, comprising a mix of youth organizers and veteran community leaders, who hail from Indigenous, African American, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander and rural white communities in the frontlines of movements for economic, racial, gender, and climate justice, including:

Where do we go from here?
You are not alone.  We have your back and we need your support now more than ever.  It Takes Roots to Grow the Resistance is our response to this moment.  We are committed over the next 100 days to translocal actions around the country, to continued conversations on longer-term strategy, and to developing our sector to fight together.

Join us to #GrowTheResistance and build a world with liberation and justice for all:

  1. Take the pledge at: www.GrowTheResistance.org

  2. Follow Indigenous Environmental Network for updates on how to support the continued fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL pipeline, in the wake of Trump’s executive order.

  3. Host an #ItTakesRoots strategy session and rapid response collective action in your city or region to #GrowTheResistance.  Contact Malcolm at  [email protected] to get connected.

  4. Support the #ItTakesRoots to #GrowtheResistance Movement.  Click this button to donate online TODAY

Mark your Calendar

  • Join our national call: Lessons and Next Steps from #ItTakesRoots to #GrowtheResistance on Wednesday, February 8th from 1-3pmPT/2-4pmMT/3-5pmCT/4-6pmET.  Click here to RSVP

  • Join us April 29 – People’s Climate Mobilization in Washington DC.