Discredited Trump Adviser Attacks Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's Credibility

"Let your motto be resistance! Resistance! RESISTANCE! No oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance."

Henry Highland Garnet, "An Address to the Slaves of the United States" (1843)

We are living in a time of rising fascism and unmasked racism-a time that, for some, is paralyzing. A key tactic of fascism is to strike hard from all sides. The rapid-fire nature and constant barrage make it difficult to stand, find our bearings, defend ourselves, let alone struggle forward.

In less than eight months since Trump took office, he has, by decree, unleashed police forces, detained tens of thousands of migrants, dismantled racial equity programs, criminalized poverty, funded Palestinian genocide, banned Black migrants, attacked labor unions, defunded public media, and orchestrated minority vote dilution. He has wielded the executive order pen with abandon, signing nearly 200, sometimes multiple, in a single day. It is not hyperbole to liken Trump to Hitler-a murderous, authoritarian dictator.

But Hitler did not act alone. He was part of a political machine: the Nazi Party, with elected officials, platforms, strategists, donors, and voters advancing a shared agenda. There were masterminds, enforcers like the Gestapo, and "brown shirts" to terrorize. Some acted out of political loyalty; others acted for personal or familial protection and gain.

Similarly, Trump has strategists advancing a white-supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist agenda. ICE, DHS, HSI, and all policing agencies stand as his Gestapo. The "brown shirts" do the dirty work- pulling gas chamber levers, then loading deportation planes now. Millions participate in lifting hands to implement evil as if they have no choice. But we do have a choice.

When Trump cuts funding for food stamps, SNAP cards can still be loaded. When he attempts to ban truth-telling in classrooms, educators can double down on liberated ethnic studies. Doctors can honor bodily autonomy. Dockworkers can refuse to load ships bound for Israel. Fascists cannot do the labor their system requires-it only functions when people are complicit.

In recent months, liberal complicity has enabled the Trump regime. Republican and Democratic may - ors and politicians, with rare exception, have sided with fascism. The U.S. Senate continues to arm Israel as it commits genocide against the people of Palestine. Federal troops have invaded cities- almost all with large Black populations-while local leaders, like D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, express gratitude: "We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city."

Some feign resistance but legitimize brutality. In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass spoke forcefully against ICE raids nearly a month after they began: "They need to leave, and they need to leave right now." Thousands had already disappeared, entire communities terrorized.

Federal forces are a Gestapo, and local police funded by city budgets act as contemporary brown shirts. The call to resistance is for Mayor Bowser to resist Trump, not jackhammer Black Lives Matter Plaza in a city that drags its feet on literally everything else. It is for her to protect Black youth under federal assault, not vacation in Martha's Vineyard. The call is also for Mayor Bass to stop funding an LAPD that shoots rubber bullets and teargasses protesters, arrests demonstrators, threatens journalists, and kills more people than any other police department in the nation. Institutions must advance racial and social Justice, not cower.

The answer in this fascist moment is courageous resistance. We each have power. We can resist in every space we occupy. We can direct our dollars away from McDonald's and Starbucks, which support Palestinian genocide, and invest in Black businesses that benefit our communities. We can teach truth at home, in churches, and in classrooms. We can unionize, practice worker solidarity, and build community teams to keep neighborhoods safe. We can envision, organize, and build the world we want, need, and deserve-a world that honors God and our righteous ancestors, protects our people, and ensures a just inheritance for future generations.

Let us remember: Nazis were defeated, as were enslavers, colonizers, and every force of evil. So too can the Trump regime be defeated-if we resist.

As Trump sets his sights on Chicago, I am encouraged by Mayor Brandon Johnson's pledge to protect the people. May we witness a city of resistance. Let us draw inspiration and courage from those whose resistance lights the path. Over the coming weeks, I plan to make resistance the theme of this column, calling all of us to deepen our own resistance.

Dr. Melina Abdullah is a professor of Pan-African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.