On February 17th a wide array of concerned citizens and organizers from across the United States are calling for a national General Strike Against Trump, and are asking people not to go to work or school, or participate in economic and peaceful actions.
In solidarity, progressive lawyers and legal groups in San Diego have called for a Friday morning rally, part of a nation-wide coordinated effort where lawyers are rallying at courthouses in at least 18 cities. Here is the local network’s facebook page and their call for action:
San Diego Legal Community: F17 #LawStrikesBack Action
Please join us on Friday, February 17, 2017, at 10:00 a.m., when San Diego attorneys, law professors, law students, legal workers, advocates, and other legal professionals will join a nationwide day of action in solidarity with the growing movements against the new regime and its white supremacist agenda. The action is sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) in coordination with the nationwide #GeneralStrike planned for the same day.
We will gather at the San Diego Federal Building: 880 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Please feel free to join with or without signs, banners, and chants.
More on the national lawyers’ action below.
National General Strike – San Diego #F17
Folks in San Diego are also part of the General Strike action. Here is what they say – from their facebook:
Peaceful Resistance:
-No Work
-No School
-Yes to Community Service and Engage Your Representatives
“Let’s designate a day on which no one (that is, anyone who can strike without being fired) goes to work, a day when no one shops or spends money, a day on which we truly make our economic and political power felt, a day when we make it clear: how many of us there are, how strong and committed we are, how much we can accomplish.”
Much of the organizing is taking place online, and without the support of the official unions.
A General Strike is an action where most or all workers in a society skip work to apply pressure to the ultimate “boss”, in our case, Donald J Trump, advocating for specific demands. On February 17th 2017, organizers and leaders from across the United States are calling for our first ever National American General Strike.
We are not professional paid protesters, but rather, a wide array of concerned citizens who are deeply and gravely concerned about the direction our country is going. We reject violence and are calling for a day of Economic Resistance and Peaceful Action.
This event is a San Diego edition in solidarity with events across the United States
Here are the demands:
Our Demands:
1. No Ban, No Wall. The Muslim ban is immoral, the wall is expensive and ineffectual. We will build bridges, not walls.
2. Healthcare For All. Healthcare is a human right. Do not repeal the ACA. Improve it or enact Medicare for All.
3. No Pipelines. Rescind approval for DAPL and Keystone XL and adopt meaningful policies to protect our environment. It’s the only one we’ve got.
4. End the Global Gag Rule. We cannot put the medical care of millions of women around the globe at risk.
5. Disclose and Divest. Trump: Show us your taxes. Sell your company. Ethics rules exist for a reason, and presidents should focus on the country’s needs, not their businesses’.
Here’s how they suggest people can participate:
How To Participate
We encourage all who are able to demonstrate their resistance in any of the following ways.
Do not work (if possible). Post your support on social media.
Do not purchase anything.
“#BreakLunch” Use your lunch break to disrupt and participate:
Use social media to show how you #BreakLunch. Tweet, FB, Instagram, and Snapchat messages that support democracy. Include hashtags #BreakLunch, #GeneralStrike, #F17
Donate your lunch money that day to cause you believe in. Post about it and use those same hashtags.
Get creative and show the world how you #BreakLunch
Reach out to your representatives in Washington DC or your state and tell them why you are “striking” today, and post about it using strike related hash tags.
Join with other like-minded folks and occupy public space with positive messages of resistance and solidarity on our events page.
Get creative, always be nonviolent, and consider fun ways of showing dissent.
Participate in the National Day of Community Service to coincide with the General Strike on February 17. We hope this will allow folks who cannot ‘strike’ to take advantage of their employer’s commitment to Community Service and Community Service Leave request systems.
If you are a teacher or student, please consider participating in the National Teach-In on Democracy set to take place February 17. Keep your students engaged.
This is not a National Day-Off; we’ve got work to do!! Get out and get busy!!! Be Peaceful! Have fun!
They are linked to the national group, Strike4Democracy, and its facebook page says that 24,000 people have pledged to participate in the more 100 actions they are coordinating nation-wide.
Here’s more on the lawyers’ action at courthouses across the country.
25 Legal Organizations to Hold #LawStrikesBack Actions at Courthouses Nationwide During F17 General Strike
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is organizing a day of action for the legal community to express our solidarity with the growing movements against the new regime and its white supremacist agenda. On February 17 at 1 PM EST, lawyers, legal workers, law students, and law professors will gather in front of courthouses across the country in coordination with the nationwide #GeneralStrike planned for the same day.
“We are facing unprecedented attacks on our most fundamental human rights and are seeing the unfolding of authoritarianism before our eyes. The legal community has no choice but to show up, to defend our communities and to fight back by holding our institutions accountable,” said NLG President and LatinoJustice PRLDEF Associate Counsel Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan.
In the three weeks since Donald Trump has taken office, we have seen a flurry of executive orders targeting immigrants and intensifying law enforcement; racist, unqualified millionaires appointed to the nation’s highest positions; assaults on the press, and “alternative facts” presented as truth. However, we have also witnessed communities engaging in profound organizing and direct action—from the streets to airports and schools—to reject the current administration and disrupt business as usual. On February 17, we’re taking the resistance to courthouses.
“It is crucial for the legal community to come together to provide support for resistance movements against the current administration. We must fight back against the legitimization of racial and religious bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny that violate the core principles of democracy,” said NLG Executive Director Pooja Gehi.
A total of 25 legal organizations are participating in the event as cosponsors, representing diverse fields including immigration, racial justice, mass incarceration, LGBTQIA rights, and civil liberties and human rights. Thus far, #LawStrikesBack actions have been planned at courthouses in 18 cities, with more expected in additional locations. Check the facebook for updates.
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