People Power Forced the University of Florida to Take a Stand Against Racism
Going Forward: Get Organized and Stay Vigilant
Yesterday, in Gainesville, Florida, National Women's Liberation and several community groups scored one victory against Nazis. After Charlottesville, the Gainesville community held a candlelight vigil to mourn the loss of three lives due to white supremacists. National Women's Liberation organizers rallied the crowd to demand better than the prevailing "nothing can be done" reaction to neo-Nazi Richard Spencer's request for a venue at UF due to his "free speech rights." NWL asserted that we must fight for what is right, and Nazis are not welcomed here. Planned violence is not free speech; Richard Spencer was an inciter of violence in Charlottesville and a local Gainesville white supremacist who was also arrested in Charlottesville even  argues for the "killing of leftists."
 
Local Dream Defenders, Anti-Fascist Committee, unions, NWL, Women's March organizers and a new student movement called #NoNazisAtUF, quickly organized a fight back campaign in a matter of hours: students planned a march, campus and community coalitions were preparing to protect and protest the Nazi event, labor leaders spoke out about staff and faculty safety due to on-going racist attacks and fear of escalation due to social media threats. NWL and Women's March organizers launched a letter/email/phone campaign that helped flood the university leadership with pleas for cancelling the event due to public safety, along with local and national petitions of support for cancelling the event. Movement support efforts by National Lawyers Guild leaders and the Guerilla Medics were preparing to defend activists.
 
After collective action and pressure, The University of Florida  refused Richard Spencer's request .

All women have a stake in fighting white supremacy.  White supremacists, especially those who speak with torches, nooses and guns, are calling for the subordination and extermination of people of color and Jewish people. Ignoring them will not make them go away.  They threaten the lives of people of color and Jewish people, and make white people think that the source of their pain is people of different races, when in fact it's the billionaire class that exploits whites and people of color alike, and blocks us all from getting the things we need.

We have seen organized resistance against white supremacy be effective across our country: other universities have  canceled white supremacist events , Confederate statutes have been brought down in  Durham, North Carolina , and  Baltimore, Maryland - spurring removal in cities  across the country .   
 
But we should expect continued backlash from white supremacists. They are already planning more events around our country. We have to stay vigilant and be organized.
 
More than ever- now is the time to join a movement group. If you haven't already, join National Women's Liberation or contribute to our efforts.

Below, a community vigil in Gainesville, FL against violence in Charlottesville, VA.


Vigil and Speak out in Gainesville, FL, August 13, 2017. (L-R) Crowd at the vigil; Evelyn Fox speaking on behalf of the NAACP; Candi Churchill speaking on behalf of NWL.  I mages taken from video by Brad McClenny at Gainesville.com.
 
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National Women's Liberation is a feminist group for women who want to fight back against male supremacy and win more freedom for women. Our priorities are abortion/birth control, overthrowing the double day, and feminist consciousness raising. Our Women of Color Caucus (WOCC) meets separately from white women to better understand how racism intersects with sexism to oppress women of color to develop theory on how best to address racism within NWL, the women's liberation movement in general, and our larger society.



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