Above photo: More than 3500 march on the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Brad Sigal.
Milwaukee, WI – After two years of work, the Coalition to March on the RNC culminated its efforts with a 3500-person rally and march on the opening day of the 2024 Republican National Convention. The Coalition was truly national in character, composed of more than 120 organizations representing all manner of social movements. The principle rallying cry of the broad united front was to fight against the racist and reactionary Republican agenda.
“The most visible figurehead of the Republican Party right now is Donald Trump, but we want to be clear: we are marching on the Republicans’ entire agenda. Our speakers today represent a broad movement against the entire Republican platform,” said Omar Flores, one of the co-chairs of the Coalition. “We are marching on every Republican state slashing funding for DEI initiatives in education, every Republican governor putting up more razor wire to militarize the Southwest border, every Republican voting for right-to-work bills, and every Republican signing bombs they are sending to Gaza.”
“For decades Republicans have been on a mission to deprive the majority of people in this country of their basic human rights. Their attacks on Black and brown people, on women, on immigrants, on the LGBTQ community, and on the working class have destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Defeating the Republican agenda is a matter of life and death for working and oppressed people,” said Kobi Guillory, a leader with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Guillory continued, “We have to protect ourselves in this country and we have to stand in solidarity with oppressed people around the world. Our government is committing genocide in Palestine and reinforcing deadly militarism and fascism around the world. We live in the belly of the beast, the headquarters of the imperialist system. It is our responsibility to destroy this system so that people here and internationally can live their lives in peace, justice and equality.”
As is commonplace in Milwaukee and in other cities and on campuses all across the country, particularly since October 7, some of the loudest chants of the day were in support of Palestine. “Free, free Palestine!” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and “From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever!” were just a few examples.
“In the debate, we heard Trump say that Israel must be allowed ‘to finish the job.’ We know what that means, that Trump not only supports the genocide, he wants to intensify it, kill more and more Palestinians,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, the national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.
“But Trump in Milwaukee this week and Genocide Joe Biden in Chicago next month shouldn’t forget that the vast majority of the world stands with Palestine and its right to self-defense and resistance in Gaza, that the Palestinians and the Lebanese and the Yemenis and hundreds of millions of other Arabs in the region will continue to resist and ultimately defeat the U.S. and Israeli war machines, and that people in the U.S. want money for healthcare and childcare and jobs and immigration and education, not occupation.”
One of the main goals over the two years of organizing of the Coalition was to take their demonstration within sight and sound of the Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, where the RNC was being hosted. It was a pitched battle with the city of Milwaukee, the police and the Secret Service, but ultimately they won. At the point in the march where Fiserv was only a block away, Carly Klein from Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee spoke.
“Wisconsin was one of ten states with pre-existing laws that banned legal abortion and when Roe fell. A law written in 1849 was immediately reinstated. Suddenly anyone performing, assisting or receiving an abortion could receive a felony charge and up to ten years in prison,” Klein said. “We refused to sit quietly in the face of adversity, and, in September of 2023, abortion services resumed in the state of Wisconsin due to the pressure applied by militant grassroots organizations. Because when we fight, we win!”
Chants of “Fight, fight, fight! Abortion is a human right!” helped to drown out a handful of pro-lifers who’d climbed up onto the barricade surrounded by the marchers. From the onset, the Coalition had “Defend women’s and reproductive rights” as one of its points of unity. It was expanded to also include LGBTQ rights in light of the stepped up attacks by the GOP against those communities.
Many more people representing various groups from around the country spoke and gave greetings both before and after the march. Despite constant hand-wringing from the city about violence from protests, the actions organized by the Coalition were seamlessly executed and everyone was kept safe, achieving their aim of hosting a “family-friendly mass demonstration”.
With the mobilization against the RNC come and gone, most of the member groups of the Coalition to March on the RNC will now be pivoting their attention to the Democrats and their national convention in Chicago next month, with many of those groups belonging to the sister grouping that is the Coalition to March on the DNC.
“As those who stand against the war machine and for the rights of working and oppressed people, we invite you to join us in Chicago in August and support the buildup of what we aim to be the largest march on the DNC in history!” said Zhenya Polozova, a member of the Chicago Anti-war Committee and a representative of the Coalition to March on the DNC.
Polozova declared, “The ruling class will never independently grow a conscience and rescind their support for Israel’s genocide or any of their repressive policies against the working class and oppressed people. We all have a role to play in ending this genocide and weakening the imperialist system. I’ll see you all in the streets of Chicago on August 19th! Long live Palestine!”