Model Movements
I did not watch the results on Election Day. The potential of watching the United States vote to become a; reactionary, right-wing authoritian, state did not appeal to me. I decided to study movements that might be necessary no matter who won, and decided on; The Takeover, about a coordinated series of direct actions by the unhoused to seize unused HUD houses, and a documentary about Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.
When I woke up to find Trump had been re-elected, I realized that lessons from those two films will be necessary. American Democracy is going to be defended and won back in the streets!
The main lesson from The Takeover is a need to plan and co-ordinate. The seizure of the HUD properties was the culmination of several months of organizing, and the seizures were well-executed. Instead of several months to plan actions, activists have about 9 weeks. If resources from Trump's 1st term are still in hard drives or USB sticks, deportation defense classes could be arranged. While those are being done, another corps of activists could be trained in blockade tactics, like those deployed against police training centers in cities like Atlanta, Georgia.
The Black Panther Party that Fred Hampton chaired before he was killed, or assassinated, by the Chicago Police Department, provide additional lessons in the impending struggle against Trump. A main one is the need to reach the community. The documentary showed the free breakfast program that is a legacy of the Panthers, as well as a free health clinic. A reproductive rights group could be stockpiling Plan B pills to distribute similar to the "Jane" clinics of pre-Roe Chicago. A second lesson is a need to educate; Panthers had to complete six weeks of training to become a full-fledged member and one scene showed Hampton rejecting a project because it lacked an educational component. Any project of resistance or mutual assistance could and perhaps should contain an educational component, the Poor People's Campaign has incorporated education into a lot of their efforts.
Both documentaries also showed what is likely to be a common theme under a second Trump term; any direct action, especially actions from affected communities, will be dealt with swiftly by the authorities. The unhoused activists were arrested. the Panthers were consistently raided by the police and Fred Hampton was killed. Activists under Trump will likely be surveilled, harassed and a few may be in Trump's camps.