Anika Begay
Democracy requires that we make political decisions free from bullying, intimidation, or threats of violence. So it’s a problem when rates of political violence spike, as they have in the United States. Reuters reports that we’ve seen about 213 cases, including 39 deaths, in the United States alone since January 6, 2021. That’s more than we’ve seen in decades. Women, people of color, Muslims, Jews, and LGBTQ people are among the most vulnerable, but the group experiencing the biggest increase in reported incidents are conservatives who are perceived as out of sync with the pro-Trump MAGA line. Most Americans oppose violence in all settings, but violence also threatens every other effort to strengthen democracy and freedom. My co-interviewer, Scot Nakagawa, is the director of the 22nd Century Initiative. We spoke with Sala Cyril, interim executive director of Visions Change Win, an organization that focuses on community safety, and Maria J. Stephan, lead organizer of the Horizons Project and co-author (with Erica Chenoweth) of Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict.
Laura Flanders: When we talk about political violence, what are we actually talking about?
Maria J. Stephan: Political violence includes threats, intimidation, and acts of physical violence that are used with a political motivation to achieve a political goal or assert political power over another group. We know that in the United States, the preponderance of acts of political violence are committed by the far right, with a smaller number of incidents committed by the far left. No one is immune from being targeted, although we know that historically marginalized communities (Black Americans, Americans of color, LGBTQ) are disproportionately targeted with political violence right now, but so are a number of conservatives, including those who do not toe the MAGA line.
Scottish Product: And a lot of people who are not affiliated with any political party but are trying to perform duties related to election work, etc. People who are considered government officials and who are also seen as being against the MAGA coalition, is that right?
MJS: I have witnessed secretaries of state, former lieutenant governors. They all have stories of themselves or their families being victims of political violence. I have also heard of conservative librarians who, because they refuse to go along with the book ban movement, are being targeted with threats and intimidation.
LF: Sala, it’s not like political violence is a new phenomenon in this country. Some groups have been victims of it for centuries. I’d like to have an idea of what you do on a daily basis: what has changed and what hasn’t changed at this time?
Cyril Hall: Unfortunately, this is not new and we have been experiencing this level of political violence for decades and centuries. But one of the things we do at Vision Change Win is provide organizational development, community safety support, and safety support to organizations, activists, leaders, and individuals who are concerned about political violence in retaliation for work that they may be doing. We believe that creating community safety and protection is everyone’s responsibility. We come from a history and legacy of organizations like the Young Lords, the Black Panther Party that created community safety support and techniques for people to protect themselves. A lot of our legacy comes from lineage groups for safety and protection specific to New York City like the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, The Audre Lorde Project, The Coalition Against Police Brutality.
LF: The groups you mentioned and the history you described speak to a desire to keep certain people intimidated and out of our process. Is that what you saw?
SC: Absolutely. My mother was a member of the Black Panther Party. She was one of the co-founders of the Free Breakfast Program, which has been declared one of the most serious threats to national security. The state thought so, but the types of threats that regular people trying to feed their children faced were high. The types of threats that we see regular people face every day, people getting killed, the type of work that the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement does is to support groups and people who have been identified as victims of police brutality. Families are being attacked not only by the state, but also by the right.
SN Code: What specific guidance can we offer to people who are supporting someone who has been threatened or attacked, or who have been threatened or attacked themselves?
SC: The kinds of things we teach are basic de-escalation techniques, basic security planning, and digital security support. A lot of threats happen digitally. Not just doxing, but hacking and swatting and things that put people in physical danger. A lot of times groups need organizational support to make sure they don’t collapse in the face of threats that come from the right. And just generally changing the paradigm that security and safety is this white, male, patriarchal thing. A way of thinking about how to move through the world and create networks that build resilience and allow people to lean on each other.
LF: It’s a lot of work for us, the people. Isn’t there a role for the government in all this? What requests can we make to the government to intervene here?
MJS: There are certainly legal strategies that can be employed specifically against far-right groups. Is that kind of support provided? Are people challenged within their own parties when they actively support white supremacist groups or when they actively support violence that targets specific groups in society? Is there that condemnation? I think there are definitely things that the government can do from a political perspective. But some state governments in this country are in the hands of anti-democratic forces right now. They’re in the hands of MAGA people. If you’re hoping to use those normal channels of advocacy or litigation, it may not be effective. That’s why we need communities, and communities across the country are doing it. They’re going after people who are targeting gay pride parades through various organizations with religious leaders and veterans groups and corporations, who have been involved in sort of anti-white supremacist campaigns. In Enid, Oklahoma, one of the city council members was Judd Blevins, who was caught marching with neo-Nazis in Charlottesville in 2017. The community mobilized. They won a recall election. They kicked him out. And that’s how we win. We organize, we plan, and we use methods that they’re not prepared for that will disarm them.
LF: Sala, you started by saying that for you it’s personal because your mother was targeted, and yet the response of you and your sister was to become very visible activists, very activists in this space. What made that an inspiration for you and a stimulus to get involved, rather than just ducking your head, getting out of here and going to find a place out of sight?
SC: As the son of a [Black] Panther, I saw inspiration in every action. Even when I saw my mother’s friends being incarcerated for long periods of time or even killed by police terror. The kind of stories that came out of their work, the kind of inspiration, the kind of movement and change that they were able to make was so inspiring. Not only that, but a lot of those people, that’s my family, right? I grew up with the Panther Party as my family, a lot of those people went on to fight against state terror and build community. And I wanted to be a part of that.
LF: Which brings us back to storytelling. Maria, you have written extensively, telling inspiring stories of civil disobedience in the face of deadly violence in this country and internationally.
MJS: I’ve spent a good part of the last quarter century working and writing about movements around the world that have challenged various forms of authoritarianism. What we know is that movements are successful when they attract diverse mass participation. You need people who are ideologically diverse, who are politically diverse, who are workers, who are professionals, who are young people. We know that movements are able to draw on a wide range of tactics. They don’t just keep doing the same thing, they don’t just go out into the streets and demonstrate or march. They use tactics like strikes. They use pressure tactics like consumer boycotts or other acts of noncooperation. Strikes, which have been one of the most powerful general strikes, whether it’s been in Chile, whether it’s been in South Africa, other countries, have been the most powerful tactics for pushing back against authoritarianism. So what successful nonviolent resistance movements do is they systematically tear those pillars away from an autocrat so that they are like emperors without clothes. They no longer have their moral and material support.
