NAC groups began organizing at a November event at Capitol Hill’s V2 (Image: CHS)
You can join a Capitol Hill anti-Trump resistance group. In fact, you might be able to join a few of them.
Following a meeting last month where the ideas behind the push were born, Seattle organizers announced a successful citywide gathering over the weekend to continue shaping a local “resistance” effort in preparation for life under a Trump administration.
Representatives for the new Seattle Neighborhood Action Coalition met Sunday at the International District Community Center to begin forming neighborhood groups across the city “to protect targeted groups under a Trump Administration.”
In November, hundreds packed the V2 space on 11th Ave and more flowed into nearby Cal Anderson to talk about their concerns and hopes following the 2016 election. Participant Daniel Goodman posted this account of the proceedings.
Sunday, neighborhood groups representing neighborhoods and the City Council districts across Seattle started the process of forming local efforts to organize under the larger coalition. “The Coalition team stresses that it is not sponsored by existing political organizations, rather it is made up of a growing crowd of individuals from diverse occupations and identities,” an announcement about the event reads. “Their stated goal is to provide space for neighbors to self-organize to uphold the shared freedoms guaranteed in our democracy and denounce a political structure that has normalized xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia, and greed.”
Organizers say the plan is for each council to take on a set of projects approved by the neighborhood groups. In true Central Seattle fashion, we’re told there may be three different groups representing areas around Capitol Hill and District 3. You can learn more about the effort and how to connect with local organizers at neighborhoodaction.info.
UPDATE: Here is the Capitol Hill – Neighborhood Action Coalition page on Facebook. This Capitol Hill group is considering how best to create a “support network” for undocumented immigrants, get its planned events and resources documented and organized, and organizing “call-ins” to contact politicians.
The Neighborhood Action Coalition comes as Seattle transitions from longstanding community organization in an effort to diversify and increase participation. In another clear sign that this is Seattle, 2016, there is a Community Involvement Commission to help shape new organizations and methods.
A neighborhood grassroots organization, meanwhile, is also presenting Hill area residents and businesses an opportunity to collaborate and mingle. The Capitol Hill Community Council is holding its Winter Open House on December 15th:
That’s nice.
It makes me wonder, though. why the “targeted groups” under the Obama administration — the tens of thousands of mostly Muslim people wounded and killed in his undeclared wars in seven nations across the Mideast and Africa — did not warrant the same outpouring of local “resistance.”
Apparently, crimes against humanity only matter when the president belongs to the other party. tsk tsk