Be a patriot, stand up for America, resist and defeat Trump, Trumpism, and their fraudulent brand of patriotism. Each of us can break the silence in the workplace, the checkout line, the gym, the church, and the union hall. Wherever we find ourselves. Without it we can’t win elections – first of all, this November – or much else! It’s an essential part of creating a more just world and sustainable planet.

Listening to Aretha on Radio Woodstock. She’s in concert at Filmore West years ago. What a voice, what a musical genius. She finished the concert with “Reach out and touch somebody’s hand, make this world a better place if you can.” I kick myself now that I never saw her live in concert.

Living in a time where social movements come and go, it is easy to forget that the Civil Rights movement, led by Martin Luther King in the first place, sustained itself for nearly a decade and a half. And it did so in the face of all manner of vicious threats and attacks from state and non-state actors. Fair winds and moments of lull were rare. Indeed, the struggle was constant and tumultuous.

What is more, courage and fearlessness combined with a compelling and relatable vision of freedom, strategic depth and acumen, tactical flexibility, and, not least, an appreciation of the imperative of multi-racial unity that find few parallels in our history. Though conditions and challenges are different a half century later, much can still be learned in ways too numerous to mention by today’s political and social activists, if we hope to expand the boundaries of freedom, democracy, and justice.

I believe we will hear soon from the Justice Department as to why they entered Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and what they found there. At that point the Republican Party, which is up in arms now at the actions of the Justice Department, will find itself on shaky ground. Methinks the Trumpists doth protest too much and it will come back to bite them!

Fear of backlash from Trump and Trumpism is no reason not to press the case against the lawlessness of Trump. Hesitation and passivity only embolden him and his motely array of fascist and fascist like supporters.