A22 2021 this Sunday in Portland is a deliberate Chud provocation and cynical attempt at rebranding. Their “Summer of Love” is scheduled on the one-year anniversary of the brawl they instigated outside of the JC that featured the PPD openly collaborating with the far-right.

This Sunday numbers are critical for our safety. While not every anti-fascist can take a physical stand against fascists in the streets, every anti-fascist should support those who can and do. The time-honored Anti-Racist Action slogan of yore still applies: We go where they go.

In addition to the historical parallel with A22 (2020) where Chuds faced fierce opposition from anti-fascists, there is what transpired on August 29, 2020 to consider. That was the day of the Trump caravan that left from the Clackamas Mall and headed to downtown Portland. 

As the miles-long convoy approached the city, some of those cars and trailer trucks—overflowing with far-right militants—began peeling off I-5 onto the Morrison Bridge offramp directly into downtown Portland. I have a fond memory of “Trumpet Man” and a small number of anti-fascists blocking the off ramp and trying to halt their ingress. 

And they succeeded for a time.

I also recall in the days immediately prior the caravan some comrades expressing indecision as to whether to mobilize against the onslaught. As I recall there was no main counter rally organized. Instead of a unified front in the downtown area, it was left to a frighteningly small number of comrades to hold the line, until later in the evening when reinforcements arrived and Patriot Prayerist Aaron Danielson met his ignominious demise and Joey Gibson was forced to walk a gauntlet. That series of events could have easily gone the other way. Numbers are life in this situation. Thankfully there is an anti-fascist action organized for A22 2021. 

Anyone who self-describes as an anti-fascist should be supporting those comrades who choose to hold the line. That support can take many forms—direct action, money, legal aid, equipment, boosting, or platters of brownies. What’s important is that we build public support for them. We should show our deepest solidarity with resistance ground crews, many of whom will be people of color and other targeted communities. Those “anti-fascists” who equivocate or decry the principled choice of some to risk all in the defense of us don’t deserve to be called anti-fascists. Their failure amounts to hanging comrades out to dry. 

And fuck Ted Wheeler.

We are many, they are few. Be Safe. Be Dangerous.

Defend Portland on A22!