By Stan Taylor

We are living in an unprecedented time of fascist takeover of our government. 

The signs are everywhere — political gerrymandering in red states, narrowing of voting rights, sending national guard to Democratic cities, including Portland, kidnapping our immigrant neighbors and sending them to detention centers, attacking access to health care for trans people, reducing access to Medicare, ending social services for those most in need, attacking our educational system and much more.

This is a direct attack on our republic. MAGA has taken control of the U.S. House and Senate. The Supreme Court is a purchased rubber stamp for Donald Trump’s regime. 

Those who are the driving forces in the Trump regime — like Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff for policy and Homeland Security, and Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget — do not believe in democracy. They want to roll back the clock to the mid-1800s, before the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, before women had the right to vote, before unions won labor rights, before the New Deal, before the Civil Rights movement guaranteed the right to vote to Black Americans and other people of color.  

Miller and Vought refer to this vision as the “Dark Enlightenment,” and it amounts to a small circle of cis white male tech billionaires ruling over a Christian nationalist nation.

We are at an inflection point in history. The world we took for granted before Trump’s election no longer exists. As citizens, we must reorient ourselves to the new reality, remove our consent to be governed by the Trump regime, and join in building a mass social movement that resists authoritarianism. We must build the world we want to see.

In Eugene and Springfield, this call to action has been answered by the Activist Coalition of Eugene Springfield (ACES), a newly formed coalition of 24 activist organizations dedicated to resisting authoritarianism and fostering democracy by building a broad, inclusive, independent social movement in Eugene-Springfield based on racial, social, environmental and economic justice.

ACES is the coalition that organized the Hands-Off Rally in April and the No Kings Rally in June. Now we “call you in” to join us for the “No Kings 2… Unite and Resist: A Call to Action” 10 am to 1 pm Oct. 18 at the Wayne Morse United States Courthouse on 8th and Mill. 

We are featuring four local campaigns that we urge attendees to join. These include “Eyes On ICE,” immigrant neighbors protection; “Eyes Off Eugene,” removing Flock surveillance cameras from Eugene and Springfield; “Hold the Line for Trans Rights”; and SEIU’s “Unionize Starbucks.”

Following the rally, a union-led march will wind through downtown and end at Eugene City Hall. Samba Ja, the Eugene based reggae drumming ensemble will keep the beat.

To register, go to Mobilize.us/nokings/event/846380. Registration is not required.

For more about ACES go to Linktr.ee/Aces541OR.

Stan Taylor JD, LLM, Ph.D. is the leader of Indivisible Eugene Springfield (Indivisible-eug-spr.org). He worked as an instructor of Political Science at Lane Community College for 24 years, served as the faculty union bargaining chair for eight years and chair of the Lane Peace Center for 12 years.