Email from Political Research Associates Plus: Solidarity Events and Resistance Resources Statement on the 2024 National Election There were glimmers of hope as the national election results came in Tuesday night, such as the advance of reproductive freedom in five states and historic elections of transgender and Black women. Overall, however, the elections delivered a stunning victory to the nationalist and authoritarian MAGA movement, including the Christian Right. It would be premature to offer a full assessment, but some features focus our attention: As the 47th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump is prepared to order and immediately enforce a sweeping agenda prioritizing White minority rule, patriarchy, and retribution. We take seriously his declared intent to conduct mass deportations, concentrate power in the executive office, and pursue perceived internal enemies. It is in no way reassuring that the path to a second Trump administration cut through ballot boxes rather than a siege of the Capitol—neither is it unprecedented. Rather, this is the playbook for the current global surge of autocracy and illiberal democracies. As PRA noted in 2022, the scheme turns on several strategic components: State capture by an authoritarian coalition; erosion of democratic institutions; and formation and mobilization of a loyal mass constituency—a new nation to sanctify a new kind of state. We understand the stakes are astonishingly higher than four or eight years ago. As we write, it appears probable that all branches of the federal government will be held by MAGA allies. They are empowered and readying to implement Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership,” the authoritarian blueprint for the incoming administration. January 6 insurrectionists may well be pardoned and set loose to act with impunity. We face a powerful alliance of authoritarian forces in—and flanking—government that requires us to be open to different strategies suited to these conditions. It’s a moment, for instance, to consider the strategic possibilities of non-violent mass non-cooperation. The next administration’s broadening multiracial, cross-class approval and appeal is not a mirage. We will need to call in people from every sector of society to resist and ultimately defeat fascism and authoritarianism. Every victory against oppression in the U.S. and anywhere else—abolition, civil rights, labor rights, human rights, and gender justice—came from people rejecting isolation, refusing despair, and organizing to block supremacy and domination and build a more liberatory future. The defeat of slavery ushered in the multiracial democracy of Reconstruction. The defeat of Jim Crow ended the White monopoly on electoral politics and legal White supremacy. The defeat of MAGA authoritarianism will make possible a new, transformative era in U.S. society and politics. This is our organizing heritage and our collective responsibility to current and future generations. "We will need to call in people from every sector of society to resist and ultimately defeat fascism and authoritarianism." Over the last many months PRA has worked with a range of racial, social, and economic justice movements on scenario planning and preparedness for this potential outcome. We are now in motion with organizing, advocacy, legal, media, and other partners to inform resistance strategies and align the largest possible coalition around effective anti-authoritarian and pro-democracy action. Join us. Over the coming weeks we will offer a variety of resources and programs to our communities, including briefings and guides to keep our protest movements safe; continued analysis on the emerging moment; and opportunities to strategize and organize within our movement ecosystem. See below and subscribe here for developing event announcements and timely analysis. Here is how you can support our work at this critical time. Please take care of yourself and each other.  PRA Coalition Partners present a training: Harnessing Our Power to End Political Violence: Making Political Violence Backfire Nov 7, 2024 05:30 pm ET Join others who oppose political violence to assess the post-election landscape, awaken imagination about how to effectively respond to political violence, and plan strategic nonviolent actions to make political violence backfire. Register Here Join tonight’s mass call “Making Meaning of the Moment” with the Working Families Party, MoveOn Civic Action, Indivisible, Public Citizen, Political Research Associates, and more than 200 progressive organizations and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal as we move quickly to “Make Meaning of the Moment” for a Post Election Virtual Event. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 – 9pm EST, beginning tonight, November 7th. Come together with the progressive movement for a community-wide post-election mass call to get expert analysis of the situation and learn how you can take action in whatever scenario we find ourselves. Register Here Resources 10 ways to be prepared and grounded now that Trump has won by Daniel Hunter (Waging Nonviolence) The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation. An Annotated Directory of the Prochoice Religious Community in the United States by Fred Clarkson (Political Research Associates) A resource listing the current pro-choice and reproductive justice elements of organized religion in the United States. Glossary (Political Research Associates) PRA’s Glossary is a hybrid tool bridging the gap between definitions and contextual explanations of key ideas, movements, and political phenomena. It is not intended as a substitute for a good contemporary dictionary or usage guide. Rather, the purpose of the glossary is to identify and explain terms that are often used in widely varying ways by media, academia, and social movements of the Right. Paramilitaries at Your Protest: An Activist Field Guide to the Far Right Protest (Political Research Associates) To keep our movements safe, we all need to better understand who these paramilitaries are, what threats they pose, and what to do when they are present. A resource published in 2020. Read Project 2025: How Trump Loyalists and Right-Wing Leaders Are Paving a Fast Road to Fascism by Peter Montgomery (Religion Dispatches) Project 2025, a Heritage Foundation coalition launched in 2022, aims to "take the reins of government" during a Republican presidency, and further its authoritarian agenda. Understanding the Rise of the Multiracial Right—And Why It Matters by Daniel HoSang (The Public Eye) For decades, the Republican Party has cultivated a strong White voter base by demonizing people of color. But as the party becomes more open to a multiracial coalition, larger numbers of people of color are being drawn to the U.S. Right. With No Viable Alternative on Ballot, Anti-immigrant Movement Claims Victory and Releases Wish Lists by Ethan Fauré (Religion Dispatches) In a press release following the election results, prominent anti-immigrant group Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) notes that it “looks forward to working with the incoming administration,” and claims the election provides a mandate for “the Trump-Vance administration to take decisive action to restore order to our borders.” Could Anti-Government Militias Become Pro-State Paramilitaries? by Carolyn Gallaher and Jaclyn Fox (The Public Eye) Recent developments in activity and rhetoric raise the possibility that some anti-government factions could morph into pro-Trump paramilitaries; a phenomenon we may see during this interregnum period. Fire Dreams: Making Black Feminist Liberation in the South by Kitana Ananda (The Public Eye) A conversation with Deon Haywood, Laura McTighe, and Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson. Listen Project 2025: The Plan of the Century with Peter Montgomery (Inform Your Resistance) Host Koki Mendis talks to Peter Montgomery about Project 2025: the Right’s playbook to remake the U.S. government as we currently know it toward authoritarianism. Abortion Abolitionists with Cloee Cooper (Inform Your Resistance) Listen to this episode of Inform Your Resistance, where Cloee Cooper breaks down who the abortion abolitionists are, what drives them, and how their tactics overlap with those of other far-right movements. Donate to PRA Today Political Research Associates | 1310 Broadway, Suite 201 | Somerville, MA 02144 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice