Massachusetts Walked Out, Walked In, and Stepped Up!
Photo via Mass 50501 volunteer
On January 20th, the first anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration, the Women’s March along with coalition partners organized a nationwide Free America walkout from school, work, and commerce, drawing thousands across the country to the streets on a cold January afternoon. Volunteers from across activist groups (including 50501 Movement, Citizens’ Impeachment, Free Speech For People, the Removal Coalition, Women’s March, and Indivisible) walked out of their work spaces and into Congressional offices to demand Trump’s swift impeachment and removal from office.
Here in Massachusetts, in addition to our virtual Step Up initiative, Mass 50501 worked with the Removal Coalition and local Indivisible groups to organize a walk-in to our state’s congressional offices. About 80 people entered the offices of 5 congresspeople (Neal, Trahan, Clark, Moulton, and Keating) across the state to share our concerns. Our list of grievances were many: Trump has deployed troops illegally, first to U.S. cities, then to Venezuela. He has raised taxes on Americans in the form of tariffs without seeking consent from Congress. He has employed ICE to terrorize immigrants and citizens alike in Minneapolis and around the country. He has abused the Justice Department to file frivolous lawsuits with the goal of intimidating his political opponents. Most recently, he has threatened the global economic and security order through his obsession over acquiring Greenland.
Our demands, by contrast, were simple: That the Democratic representatives of Massachusetts make greater use of their minority powers, and speak up with one voice to advance articles of impeachment. Trump has violated his oath of office, and that makes it the duty of Congress to remove him.
Photo via Mass 50501 volunteer
At Rep. Keating’s office, 30 of us filled out forms to inform the Congressman of our concerns. We also left staff with a petition demanding accountability for ICE and to limit the ability of the President to use troops without Congressional authorization. Importantly, we let them know that we’d be back on a later date. The staff took our concerns and promised greater communication.
A veteran-heavy contingent turned out from the MA-03 district to tell Rep. Trahan’s staffers about their service alongside NATO allies, and their concern over the flagrant disregard for our historical allies that President Trump has shown. There were faith leaders who spoke of the dearth of Christian values evident in this administration, and caregivers who tied their own work to the work our representatives should be doing, caring for their constituents.
We thank everyone who supported this event, whether you walked into the Congressional offices, walked out with us in solidarity, or simply helped spread the word. We hope that you pushed beyond the civic actions you’re most accustomed to engaging in. We are all developing the muscle of democratic governance, like some of the folks who joined us for their first ever trip to their local congressional offices to speak directly to their representatives and staffers. If you missed out on this event, stay informed so you can participate in the next one—you can subscribe to our newsletter for news about actions like the Step Up initiative, and you can join our Discord to get more highly involved in planning actions, like our walk-in to congressional offices. And remember, exercising your right to be heard doesn’t need to be just one day—you can take the actions we presented for January 20th and make them habits in your daily life, as we all strive to strengthen our skill at self-governance and make our voices heard more loudly in the structures that represent us!
Photo courtesy of Chris Rosinski, Fitchburg Indivisible
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