Robyn Harbison

Robyn Harbison aka Isabella Harbison is a Minnesota activist.

US Teamsters on the Frontlines!

US Teamsters on the Frontlines! was a July 16 2023 Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! webinar on the looming UPS strike.

Participants included Robyn Harbison Freedom Road Socialist Organization - Twin Cities.

Trans Day of Visibility

100 marchers rallied at the State Capitol building and then marched, despite high winds, rain and sleet, through Saint Paul on March 31 2023 to draw attention to the importance of defending trans people from the increasing attacks at the national level.

The organizers issued demands for trans healthcare, trans housing, trans civil rights, trans labor rights and trans safety. The protest had a program of speakers who addressed their demands.

Justin Grey Day spoke for the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) about how CPAC, civilian police accountability councils, are key to protecting trans people from police brutality.

Kai Shelley, from MN Workers United, was one of several labor leaders who spoke to the crowd about the critical need for the labor movement to defend the issues of their trans members, stating, “Working trans people are under threat from the same forces that would prefer you turn a blind eye to their massive wealth while you can barely afford rent. Far-right groups are using social media to dox, isolate, and smear educators who have the courage to be out in their classrooms. And the only thing standing between these workers and the powerful forces seeking to discredit them and remove them from our jobs, is the union and its allies.”

Robyn Harbison, from the MN Abortion Action Committee, addressed the crowd to make connections between the attacks on transgender rights with reproductive rights, “As an organization made up of primarily queer and trans people, we are also very aware that our enemies who try to deny people their reproductive freedom are the same people who are promoting and funding anti-trans bills like HF 1903 which would classify drag performances as adult entertainment. Say shame to that! Women’s and reproductive rights and the fight for trans liberation are two sides of the same coin.”

Leila Yeshaya, from the MN Anti-War Committee, also connected the fight for trans liberation to her movement’s struggle. “We are very familiar with human rights being used as a justification for U.S. military intervention. Queer and trans people, women, and children are continually presented as in need of rescue by the United States. And how will the United States rescue these people?”

Celia Nimz, an organizer with Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, talked about the resistance of the Tampa 4 and for the need to defend the right to organize for LGBT rights. “The Republican Party is leading a right-wing and repressive attack on the people. This attack is transphobic, anti-women and racist - it’s denying people autonomy over our bodies, and our right to education! This attack was opened up with the long-term efforts to ban abortion, and it’s stunting queer and trans youth by denying access to HRT and LGBTQ education and curriculum in schools. This Republican-led attack is now making efforts to ban Black education, cultural studies, gender, women and sexuality studies, student cultural groups, and affirmative action. SDS stands in direct and active opposition to these attacks and condemns all university administrators who have remained complacent in these attacks on students and youth and their education!”

The action was initiated by Trans Movement for Liberation, an emerging group of young trans activists seeking to build networks of support and resistance for trans people across the country. The coalition of groups includes Tigerrs: Trans Intersex Gender-Expansive Revolutionary Resources & Services, Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Abortion Action Committee, and MN Workers United.

Abortion access protest

According to Siobhan Moore, bright yellow picket signs stood tall by University Avenue at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 1 2023 , as students and campus community gathered to protest outside the Donhowe building at the University of Minnesota to demand immediate action from administration to expand abortion access on campus. The action was organized by the UMN chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and co-hosted by the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee.

As chants echoed down the street to choruses of honks in support from passing cars, the emcees introduced the first speakers. Andon Lieu from SDS explained that especially due to Minnesota’s status as a sanctuary state for abortion, “The University of Minnesota has a greater responsibility to uphold and protect reproductive rights, as an institution that prides itself on its so-called dedication to public service and serving communities.”

Speaking for the AFSCME locals at the University, Skyler Dorr voiced the support of campus workers for these demands.

Other speakers included Mira Altobell-Resendez of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Robyn Harbison of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee.

Fight Back! fundraiser

Nearly 100 people joined together January 28 2023 to celebrate the newspaper Fight Back! and to raise funds for the paper. Emcees Autumn Lake and Robyn Harbison led the night with toasts from Twin Cities movements that Fight Back! has covered over the last year and getting the crowd excited to aim to raise enough for one print edition of the paper.

Charlie Berg from the Climate Justice Committee started off the toasts. Akhilesh Menawat from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee also spoke to the importance of Fight Back! publishing coverage of the struggles for DACA, municipal ID and drivers licenses in Minnesota. Olivia Crull from the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee talked about the political importance of Fight Back! reporting correct numbers of our protests after a post-Roe protest in Minneapolis had 10,000 people in the streets.

Mick Kelly, Fight Back! editor, ended the speeches talking about how important Fight Back! News is. "Fight Back! News doesn't claim to be objective like mainstream media. Fight Back! News has picked a side and it's the side of the people's struggles."

Jae Yates and David Richard Gilbert-Pederson gave the fundraising pitch.

The fundraiser saw activists and groups from across the Twin Cities pledge to hit not only our goal of funding one print edition of the paper but more than two print editions – over $4000, a new high for this annual event in the Twin Cities and ensuring the continued print edition of Fight Back!

Human Rights Day

Human Rights Day is celebrated internationally every year on December 10. In 2022, activist groups from the Twin Cities gathered in the Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood for a protest and march to bring attention to the ongoing fight for human rights. Over 50 people attended the protest and march despite the cold weather.

The program included speakers representing many areas of human rights including reproductive, native, workers, Palestinian and immigrant rights, along with climate justice, police accountability and the right of the people of Haiti to reject U.S. military intervention.

The program began with Montana Hirsch, a speaker from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, who brought attention to the human rights needs of immigrants in Minnesota.

Robyn Harbison from Minnesota Abortion Action Coaltion who is fighting for reproductive rights after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of this year, told the crowd, “This was a vile and criminal injustice on behalf of women and people with uteruses both nationwide and on an international scale. It was a denial to proper access to the basic human right of bodily autonomy.”

Addressing the needs of native and indigenous rights was Melanie Yazzie from The Red Nation, a new and important voice at the yearly action. Human rights abuses in the U.S. include threats to upholding The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA).

Christine Hauschildt spoke for the Anti War Committee about the U.S. support for human rights abuses of Palestinians, stating “The U.S. sponsors the destruction of human rights all over the world. One of the most heinous examples of the U.S.’s support of human rights abuses is its investment in Israel. The U.S. gives billions upon billions of dollars to Israel every year to fund the oppression of the Palestinian people. We are directly paying for the abuse of Palestinians.”

The Human Rights Day protest and march was organized by the Anti War Committee and endorsed by Red Nation, Climate Justice Committee, Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Haiti Justice Committee, MN Abortion Access Coalition, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, MN Peace Action Coalition, Students for Democratic Society U of MN, Students for Justice in Palestine U of MN, Twin Cities Assange Defense, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Veterans for Peace, and Women Against Military Madness.

Pro-abortion rally

According to Annie Russell, on July 2, 2022 over 100 people marched across the University of Minnesota campus calling for the opening and funding of abortion clinics across the state.

The protest, organized by the Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, was called after the declaration of Minnesota as a sanctuary state for abortion services in the Midwest, despite there only being eight clinics total in the state.

Before the march began, protesters gathered with their umbrellas and signs at McNamara Plaza, with chants and speakers from grassroots organizations across the metro such as the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, the Climate Justice Committee, the Antiwar Committee and more.

Robyn Harbison of SDS spoke to the crowd: “With Minnesota now becoming the lone state in the Upper Midwest to have access to legal abortion, it has become abundantly clear that we need more abortion clinics in Minnesota.

Mira Altobell-Resendez, speaking for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “The clinics that do exist here are already operating at a limited capacity because of the number of people seeking the healthcare they need from severely underfunded abortion providers.”

After the speeches, the protesters marched down Washington Avenue, briefly stopping the light rail and drawing the attention of its passengers and those waiting at the East Bank station. During their closing remarks, emcees Olivia Crull and Midori Van Alstine of SDS encouraged the crowd to organize and join the fight for women’s and reproductive rights.

Support of women’s and reproductive rights

According to Siobhan Moore more than 70 protesters gathered outside the University of Minnesota’s Donhowe building for a demonstration in support of women’s and reproductive rights on Friday, May 20 2022. The action was initiated by the Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota, and raised demands for university administration’s action on women’s and reproductive rights.

Robyn Harbison and Haizela Wu spoke for SDS, detailing both the state of the current attacks on abortion rights and the specific demands being raised by them for the university to act on They demanded President Gabel issue a statement affirming support for women’s and reproductive rights, including: a module on reproductive health in freshman orientation; the creation of a Reproductive Health Advocacy and Education Center; and the boycott of states with “heartbeat” bills.

Mira Altobell-Resendez, from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, explained the deep connection between capitalism and these attacks on women and reproductive rights. They made clear that these attacks are “capitalism’s way of keeping itself alive by exploiting women, queer and gender non-conforming people, oppressed nationality people, and the working class. To the ruling class, the safety of these people is expendable as long as their bodies fuel their economy.”

Other speakers included members of the Climate Justice Committee; Meredith Aby-Keirstead, of the Anti-war Committee, and Sam Martinez from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar.