Congresswoman Jayapal’s initiative aims to empower citizens in the fight against authoritarianism and uphold democratic values.
These are not normal times in America. And they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate
According to her website, Jayapal says the goals “are to help people turn anger, fear and frustration into action, and to help ensure we are strike-ready and street-ready.”
What is being taught at these Resistance Labs?
Jayapal said roughly 1,500 participants joined her Resistance Lab this past weekend, representing some 31 states. She says the curriculum was developed in collaboration with the Nonviolent Action Lab at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and other activist organizations.
“We’ve developed a curriculum where we help people understand, how do you go after the pillars of support? Not necessarily the person at the top, but the pillars of support that allow that person to continue to have power, and how do you shift allies from being sort of passive opponents to being active supporters of taking down a dictatorship?” she said.
Jayapal says this is about our civil rights
The congresswoman compared her resistance lab trainings to the “church basements across Selma,” evoking the civil rights movement of the 1950s when activists in Selma, Alabama held held strategy sessions and nonviolent resistance trainings.
Jayapal says she’s offered the curriculum to members of Congress and encourages activists to hold their own sessions to go over the material. She expects the next Resistance Lab to occur in roughly two weeks and encourages people to sign up at her website.
Source: Pramila Jayapal launches ‘Resistance Labs’ against Trump