Why Resistance Matters

We can't sit back and wait for the politicians to fix this

This weekend urges us to remember what resistance looks like and why it matters.

On Friday, April 18, during an event at Boston’s Old North Church commemorating the start of the Revolutionary War, historian and author Heather Cox Richardson retold the story of Paul Revere and Minute Men’s courageous acts, which also happened on an Easter weekend, 250 years ago. Colonists’ anger at the monarchy’s attempt to control and tax them without representation finally reached a boiling point. The Sons of Liberty had sufficient intel to predict the Red Coats’ next move and sufficient support to resist as best as they were able.

Eight colonists lost their lives the morning of April 19, 1775, in the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Did Prescott, Revere, Dawes, and the others who initiated the acts of resistance understand what would follow? Could they have foreseen seven years of war or the tens of thousands of deaths? (Casualty estimates range from 30,000 to 70,000. Historians believe that more soldiers died from starvation and sickness while being held as prisoners than in combat.) As Richardson noted in her talk, “None of us knows what the future will deliver.”

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the thousands of Americans who resisted the un-Constitutional, hateful, racist treatment during the 1960s had no idea if they would be beaten by police or white supremacists, knocked unconscious by water cannons, bitten by police dogs, jailed, or murdered. And yet they protested.

When the Venezuelan mothers and grandmothers started protesting the disappearance of more than 30,000 of their sons and daughters in 1977, there was no way for them to know if they too would be disappeared. Several of the leaders of this group have been kidnapped and executed. And yet, they still meet, and still march around the central plaza, every Thursday afternoon, refusing to forget their loved ones and refusing to let the government silence them.

The Ukrainian men and women who joined there resistance when Russia invaded their country had no idea that three years later, they would still be trying to prevent this malevolent superpower from swallowing their country. The US Government estimates nearly half a million deaths (including civilians) though the exact number is nearly impossible to determine. But the Ukrainians will not stand down.

The administration at Harvard University chose to resist last week by refusing to capitulate to Trump’s demand for control. New York Attorney General Letitia James and a group of eighteen other attorneys are “suing to stop President Trump’s unconstitutional attempt to seize control of elections.” Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Abrego Garcia and in doing so, drew attention to Trump’s immoral and illegal deportation of an innocent man. This was an act of resistance.

If I’m not mistaken, the core of resistance is sacrifice. Resistance requires courage, integrity, and a willingness to forsake our comfort, our status, or stuff—and maybe even our lives—on behalf of others for the greater good. It requires us to believe and then act upon the truth that I am my sister’s and brother’s keeper. That this life is not simply about expanding and protecting my comfort and my privileges.

Resistance will be organic for each of us but we cannot assume someone else is going to do it. According to Cox Richardson, “Samuel Prescott, and all the other riders from Charlestown who set out for Lexington after they saw the signal lanterns in the steeple of Old North Church, were men from all walks of life who had families to support, businesses to manage. Some had been orphaned young, some lived with their parents. Some were wealthy, others would scrabble through life. Some, like Paul Revere, had recently buried one wife and married another. Samuel Prescott was looking to find just one…. They took time out of their daily lives to resist the new policies of the British government that would establish the right of a king to act without check by the people. They recognized that giving that sort of power to any man would open the way for a tyrant.”

Due to ongoing back and leg pain, marching or protesting aren’t valid options for me. At this particular time, I feel called to put pen to paper and speak on behalf of those who perhaps need to keep their heads down for fear of reprisal.

Several of my neighbors and friends are participating in protests and marches. If you wonder whether or not peaceable protests bear any fruit, yes, they do. According to an article in the BBC, “compelling research by Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist at Harvard University, confirms that civil disobedience is not only the moral choice; it is also the most powerful way of shaping world politics…. Looking at hundreds of campaigns over the last century, Chenoweth found that nonviolent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns. And although the exact dynamics will depend on many factors, she has shown it takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change." There is actual strength in numbers and getting out there with fellow citizens can turn the tide.

Journalist Esau McCaulley wrote about how one Atlanta church decided to corporately engage in a 40-day fast from shopping at Target because of the chain’s reversal on D.E.I. McCaulley explained, “Part of self-respect is remembering one’s own agency. In that sense, it does not matter whether Target accedes to the demands to stay true to its D.E.I. commitments in the short term. It matters that we remember the power of collective action, the sense of self that arises when we act on principle.”

America is at a precipice. Over the past three months, we have seen the current administration making calculated choices to disregard the rule of law, enact policies that directly benefit the rich, and alienate long-time allies. They are pursuing power, threatening anyone who disagrees or challenges them, and waging war on democracy. Any of us who are horrified, terrified, or outraged by what we’re seeing need to be asking ourselves what does or should resistance look like for me?

As New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested in his recent article, “This is a single effort to undo the parts of the civilizational order that might restrain Trump’s acquisition of power. And it will take a concerted response to beat it back…. What is happening now is not normal politics. We’re seeing an assault on the fundamental institutions of our civic life.” Brooks went on to conclude, “Trump is about power. The only way he’s going to be stopped is if he’s confronted by some movement that possesses rival power.”

There’s no time to sit back and wait to see how this is going to play out. Whether you decide to offer fifteen minutes a week to call or write letters to legislators, pray for those currently affected, form a human chain around a family at risk of deportation, take meals to those who are afraid to leave their homes, or engage in ongoing protests, if you’re troubled, just do something.

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last week and said, “The power rest with the people.” That’s us. So let’s use our power well.

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Because public resistance in a repressive, unmoored regime can be dangerous, not everyone can or should engage in the public square. The single parent with no close relatives to care for their children probably should not put themselves in a position where they might be jailed or lose their employment. The immigrant seeking political asylum who might face incarceration or death if forced to return home should probably let others with less to lose step up in this season.

Some of the crimes committed by Trump administration include: giving access to confidential, personal documents and information to the DOGE team; using insecure messaging to communicate about an international attack; firing whistle blowers; Ending USAID, and refusing to abide by judges order. There are more.

Header illustration of the Boston Massacre courtesy of the New York Public Library.