This week, Ezra talks about the fascist occupation of America’s cities and
where to find real leadership -- not poll-tested politician-speak. After that,
you can help slow down ICE, fight the Redistricting Coup, and bring your
friends into the fight with this week’s to-dos.

Indivisibles,

The regime is escalating.

National Guard troops in Washington, DC [ [link removed] ]are now carrying M4 rifles and
M17 pistols. Those troops are being joined by the National Guards of six
mostly former Confederate states -- [ [link removed] ]all of which are home to cities
with worse crime rates than DC. The occupation of DC follows the
occupation of Los Angeles earlier this summer, and Trump has his sights on
new occupations in cities across the country, including [ [link removed] ]Chicago,
Baltimore, and New York.

If we were a foreign country, the press would cover this simply: The
regime is tightening its grip on political power by occupying the largest
cities led by opposition party members.

This is a well-trodden path of Trump’s authoritarian predecessors and
contemporaries. Mussolini, Hitler, Pinochet, Putin, and Erdoğan all used
some form of state-aligned armed forces to pick fights in the streets
under the guise of law and order. They all then used the resulting
conflict to justify further consolidation of power and additional
crackdowns.

Is Trump merely trying to look strong in a news cycle, or is he actively
trying to provoke a bloody conflict to further his regime’s goals? Leah
and I debate this.

I don’t know if Trump is smart enough to have a grand vision for his
regime, but I think he is instinctually authoritarian. He wants to look
strong. He escalates his attacks on our cities to demonstrate that
strength. And if the people rebel against his tightening grip, he’ll
welcome the conflict to further demonstrate his strength.

So what do we do? We need the opposition party to lead, which means we
have to show them where we want them to go.

Some Dems lead. Others follow the polls. If you’re wondering why Schumer
or Jeffries or other Democratic leaders respond to the regime’s
blood-curdling escalations with bland statements about the economy, the
answer is often that some well-paid political consulting firm showed them
a table that shows boring stuff polls modestly well. One such influential
political consultant [ [link removed] ]circulated this memo last week advising Dem
politicians to pivot away from DC and talk about Medicaid or tariffs
instead.

But you cannot defeat the fascists with a strategy that starts with
message-testing. To defeat the fascists you must start with a strategy
aimed at defeating the fascists. Then, you figure out the messages that
help land that strategy, shape public opinion, and change the political
landscape.

Learn from the political fights we won this year. The same political
consultants who are advising Dems to shift focus away from the regime’s
occupations now are the ones that advised Dems to ignore LA or Kilmar
Abrego Garcia’s kidnapping earlier this year.

But Trump’s military escalations in LA were a political failure, and his
campaign to disappear immigrants to a Salvadoran work camp similarly
backfired -- dragging his approvals down on immigration.

What happened in these cases was a mix of grassroots and political
leadership. People on the ground and some number of leaders… led. They did
not simply read the polls and change the subject. They organized to defy
the regime, focus public attention on the illegitimacy of the regime’s
action, and, in doing so, rallied the public to their side.

There are plenty of Dems who are leading rather than following polls. Dems
like Jamie Raskin, Maxwell Frost, Michelle Wu, JB Pritzker, Chris Van
Hollen, the Texas House Dems, and others who are shaping, not reacting to,
events. We should cheer them on, rally to their side, and demonstrate to
them and their more poll-conscious compatriots that the public wants Dems
who fight back.

The next No Kings Day is coming, and when it does, we need to show up as
one nation to convince our would-be leaders to lead. We’ll announce more
on that very soon, but until then we still have work to do -- so I hope
you’ll read on to this week’s to-dos.

I’ll give the final words to Abrego Garcia, who rallied all of us this
morning while being threatened again with deportation: “[ [link removed] ]Never lose
hope. Promise me you’ll continue to pray, fight, resist, love, and demand
freedom -- not just for me, for everybody.”

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

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Your weekly to-dos

 1. [ [link removed] ]Sign up for a Signs of Solidarity canvass to support our immigrant
neighbors and stand up to fascist ICE raids. Looking for concrete ways
to counter ICE terror? Talk to local businesses about putting up
signage to help protect employees from ICE raids and show solidarity
with immigrant communities. Our toolkit has all the info and materials
you’ll need.
 2. [ [link removed] ]Blue State Indivisibles: Call on state Democrats to fight fire with
fire by readying new congressional maps. As red state Republicans
redraw their maps to try rigging the midterms, blue state Dems must
even the playing field by responding in kind. Use our tools to demand
Democratic leaders act now.
 3. [ [link removed] ]Join Fight Back With Friends’ call tomorrow, August 26, at 8pm ET
for a new way to activate friends and family. Fight Back With Friends
provides tools to recruit your network into the fight against
authoritarianism. In September, we’ll be talking about how we can push
universities to stand up to Trump’s attacks.
 4. [ [link removed] ]Join our campaign to make Avelo Airlines’ deportation flights too
costly to continue. Avelo Airlines profits off Trump’s terror tactics
by running secretive (often illegal) deportation flights. We’re
organizing to ground “ICE Air” by undermining the pillars that prop up
Avelo’s business.
 5. [ [link removed] ]Join “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday as Leah and Ezra answer your
questions on the news and upcoming fights. Every Thursday at 3pm ET,
our co-founders go live to break down our key initiatives and answer
your questions directly! Be part of an interactive chat about what’s
next in our fight for democracy.
 6. [ [link removed] ]DMV Indivisibles: Protest Trump’s hostile takeover of DC at a
citywide march on Saturday, September 6! Our partners at Free DC --
joined by local Indivisibles -- are marching from Malcolm X Park to
the White House to demand that federal forces LEAVE DC NOW.


P.S. Too many institutions are bending or bowing, while too few of our
leaders are fighting bravely and with moral clarity. But Indivisible is
leading the charge to demand better from those in power and ensure Trump’s
enablers pay a price. [ [link removed] ]Please consider donating to fund Indivisibles'
nationwide disruption and defiance of the Trump regime.

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Build contagious courage through non-cooperation

Donald Trump’s authoritarian house of cards is propped up by the cowardice
and compliance of others in positions of power: business leaders,
universities, law firms, media, and more. His authority collapses without
their support, but right now, too many powerful institutions are meekly
enabling the regime.

This summer, we began [ [link removed] ]training one million people like you in
strategic non-cooperation, and now, we’re putting defiance into action on
a massive scale! We’re building up three big campaigns to chip away at the
pillars upholding Trump’s power -- and calling on you to join (at least)
one:

[ [link removed] ]Ground Trump’s deportation flights by turning the heat up on
Avelo Airlines. Avelo is a relatively small airline profiting from
✈️ Trump’s terror tactics by contracting with DHS to run (often
illegal) deportation flights. We’re turning the heat up to make
those contracts too costly to continue.

[ [link removed] ]Protect customers and workers from ICE raids at your local
businesses. Signs of Solidarity is a new initiative to stand against
🪧 fascist ICE raids by placing signs to protect and support immigrants
in local businesses. We’re asking Indivisibles to canvass local
businesses in defiance of ICE.

[ [link removed] ]Fight back against Trump’s Redistricting Coup with
state-specific actions in our toolkit. Whether you live in a red
☎️ state, blue state, or purple one, there are things you can do to
help stop Trump from rigging the midterms. Our [ [link removed] ]redistricting
toolkit lays out exactly what to do based on where you live.

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Fight climate lies with the Truth Brigade

Indivisible’s Truth Brigade is the nation's largest grassroots
disinformation-countering program, and this September, we’re confronting
the lies behind the devastating dismantling of climate protections that
harm our vulnerable communities most.

On the [ [link removed] ]Truth Brigade’s monthly call on September 10, Abbie Richards of
EcoTok and Media Matters will show us how the media, corporations, and
other bad actors fuel confusion or apathy about the climate. Then, we’ll
provide tools and info to fight back with the truth.

[ [link removed] ]Digital flier for the monthly Truth Brigade call on Wednesday, September 10

We can’t be silent as lies replace science and disasters are exploited for
profit. [ [link removed] ]Fight back by signing up for the next Truth Brigade call
Wednesday, September 10, at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT!

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IndivisiWIN of the week

[23]Photo: A large group of activists hold various signs and a large BOYCOTT
AVELO banner outside the Cherry Capital Airport

On Saturday, over 200 activists from Traverse Indivisible, Leelanau
Indivisible, and their allies gathered at the Cherry Capital Airport in
Michigan to take a stand against Avelo Airlines (aka “ICE Air”) and its
$150 million contract to run deportation flights.

By showing up in force, Michigan Indivisibles showed the Trump
Administration, Avelo, and their community that there’s a price to pay for
propping up the Trump regime -- a great step in our collective
[ [link removed] ]campaign to make Avelo’s deportation flights too costly to continue.

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