Gemini Gnull
Gemini Gnull
Seattle emergency rally against Trump
According to Jeremiah Baxter, – 200 protesters took to Seattle’s Cal Anderson Park the day after the U.S. presidential election to rally against the racist, reactionary program of president-elect Donald Trump.
Valerie Marriott, an organizer with the University of Washington Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), warned, “Our local students and community members could be at risk of deportation. Trump could attack anyone in the student movement with immigration status if he deems them to be ‘dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.’ This is on top of all the current ongoing oppression faced by pro-Palestinian protesters who face mass arrest, expulsions, police brutality, firings, and more under the current administration.”
Dre Say, who spoke for Seattle Against War, a new organization united on ending the genocide and calling for an end of U.S. aid to Israel, stated “As president, Donald Trump set the stage for this current genocide with the Abraham Accords, and I believe he will continue this Biden-started genocide.”
“Resisting imperialism is a matter of survival for all,” emphasized the speaker from the International League of People's Struggle (ILPS). “Now, more than ever, we have to resist, care for our communities, break through the MAGA propaganda, organize workplaces, block the war machine, and stand with socialist and revolutionary struggles for liberation.” ILPS called on audience members to mobilize to the Space Needle on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m., to stand up and fight back against Trump and the war machine.
Gemini Gnull, a proud member of the Osage Nation and of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated, “We are going to win by getting organized.”[1]
Solidarity with Rafah
On March 20 2024, about 50 people gathered in Tollefson Plaza for a protest in solidarity with Rafah organized by School of the Arts Students for a Democratic Society (SOTA SDS). Through this action, the protesters stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and demanded an end of U.S. aid to Israel.
During the event, the crowd heard several speeches interspersed with chants. Gemini Gnull, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, led the demonstrators in chants such as, “Yemen Yemen, make us proud! Turn another ship around!” and “What do we want? What do we really, really want? Justice!”
To start the rally, Xanat Romo, the co-founder of SOTA SDS, said, “Let me tell you this – they’re counting on us to forget about all this for the genocide to be successful. They’re counting on us to gradually get bored and give up on doing what’s right. But if we shut up, they get away with it, but I’ve never been very good at shutting up. I know it. You know it, too, right? I want them to know it.”
Following this, Mantak Singh, a member of University of Washington Progressive Student Union, a chapter of New SDS, said, “ Our government provides billions of dollars in aid, our factories produce the bombs and bullets the IOF uses, and here in Tacoma, they even used the port to load up weapons to send on over. This is not a distant conflict. This is a genocide armed and financed right here, in the U.S.”
After another round of chants, Romo explained how he was inspired to start organizing after attending a disruption of city hall. After connecting with organizers there, she learned about how University of Puget Sound Students for a Democratic Society (UPS SDS) disrupted a speaking event of Derek Kilmer, a Zionist congressman, and how that further inspired him to start an SDS chapter before inviting Lauren Garelick, a member of UPS SDS, to speak.[2]
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 Gemini Gnull Chicago.
Tampa 5 rally
According to Cael Frerichs, on August 9, 2023 the University of Washington Progressive Student Union and the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a fundraiser in response to a national call to action in support of the Tampa 5.
A crowd of 45 people rallied in Powell Barnett Park to chant, give speeches and donate funds to the Tampa 5’s legal defense fund. Chants of “When protesters are under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” rang out as parkgoers stopped by to listen to the speakers.
Many people held signs demanding justice for the Tampa 5, for the charges to be dropped, and calls against Ron DeSantis. Speakers made it clear that these attacks have consequences for all people who stand up and fight back against injustice.
Logan Miessner, a member of UW PSU, said “If we allow the government to intimidate those who stand up for justice, we will stay locked in place with the patterns of systemic discrimination, poverty and war.”
“Abortions, protections against queer discrimination, debt relief, affirmative action, workplace organization, the list goes on. The harsh reality is that none of these rights were ever guaranteed to us and they can be stripped from us at any moment,” said Jeffrey Freitag of SAARPR.
Gemini Gnull of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization added, “Until we change how the system is organized, we will continue to be unfairly arrested. We need to stand up and fight capitalism for the liberation of all people!”[3]