Park Slope Anti-Trump Organizing Effort Drawing Hundreds of Participants

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — With just days to go before Donald Trump takes the oath of office, hundreds of citizens in and around Park Slope are already organizing an active resistance to the incoming president, his agenda, and those he seeks to empower.

The fourth general meeting of #GetOrgainizedBK, a resident-led organization started by Councilman Brad Lander shortly after Trump's election, packed the pews at Park Slope's Congregation Beth Elohim on Jan. 16, the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the gathering, Lander said the relevance of King's legacy had become more relevant to him than ever following Trump's election, echoing King's calls for "white Americans to recognize our complicity in a system of oppression" while reaffirming that "relentless non-violent resistance can change things."

"Till Friday, this is all pre-game," Lander said to laughter and applause, referencing Trump's inauguration, "and look how much we've done together."

Posters at Monday's meeting.

"We're here to harbor each other," said Rachel Timoner, the senior rabbi at Beth Elohim. "We're here to resist anything that would diminish any one of us or any human being."

Those who are part of #GetOrganizinedBK have already started up more than a dozen sub-groups focused on specific goals, including opposing Islamophobia and Antisemitism, "Fighting the Trump presidency on climate change and environmental issues," and "Holding the media accountable for their coverage."

Bed-Stuy resident Liat Olenick is helping to lead Indivisible Nation, part of both #GetOrganizedBK and a new nation-wide network of citizens kicked off by former Congressional staffers and operating loosely under the "Indivisible" nameplate. Indivisible is promoting tactics geared toward applying anti-Trump pressure to members of Congress, in the way the Tea Party aggressively pushed back against President Barack Obama.

At Monday's meeting, Olenick was collecting signatures on two new letters to be delivered to New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand asking them to "mount a vigorous and forceful campaign against the nominations of Betsey DeVos, Rick Perry, Scott Pruitt, and Rex Tillerson," four of Trump's picks to head major U.S. federal departments.

IndivisibleNY7th members collect signatures on letters to Kristin Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer.

Olenick said thousands of related letters have already been delivered to the Senators' offices. During a break-out session where individual sub-groups discussed their activities, another IndivisibleNY7th leader said members had also met with a staffer from Gillibrand's office — the Indivisible playbook encourages constituents to deliver their demands through in-person meetings whenever possible — though the staffer offered "a bit of a tepid response" to calls for action. The group had thus far been unable to set up a meeting with Schumer's office, she said.

Jane Madell, a co-chair of the Women's Health sub-group, said she was focused on stopping Rep. Tim Price from becoming Secretary of Health and Human Services, as well as protecting women's access to abortion and defending women's healthcare as provided under the Affordable Care Act.

"I'm old enough to remember when abortion was illegal," Madell, a Park Slope resident, said, adding that she had a friend who died from a failed procedure. "I don't want to have that happen ever again in this country."

Naimul Islam, a 22-year-old Kensington resident who identified himself as African-American, Muslim, and Bangladeshi-American, is part of the group campaigning against Islamophobia and Antisemitism. He said the election reminded him that, "it's not like everything was perfect" after Martin Luther King died, adding that "we need to form a bond with each other" so that society can "progress."

Islam added that due to his ethnicity and appearance, he "always sees the hatred in people's eyes," explaining that it existed long before Trump. "I can't walk around the streets without somebody crossing the street," he said.

A group focused on fighting Islamophobia and Antisemitism.

While some of #GetOrgainizeBK's efforts are local in focus, many are not.

Dozens at the meeting said they'll be attending an anti-Trump march in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21. And Lander said organization members are also contacting friends and relatives in other parts of the country to encourage them to take action focused on their government officials.

"We have more of a community here than some people in those places," Lander said, contrasting the hyper-liberal Park Slope with other communities. Reaching out, he said, can provide a sense of "solidarity" to those who are looking for it.

Posters at Monday's meeting.

[Editor's note: this post has been updated for accuracy.]

Pictured at top: Attendees at Monday's #GetOrganizedBK meeting. Photos by John V. Santore