The Rainbow Coalition was a multicultural movement of cross-racial class solidarity, founded on the 4th of march in 1969, in Chicago, Illinois with the coming together of the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots.
These organizations were under the leadership of Fred Hampton, Jose Cha Cha JimΓ©nez, and William "Preacherman" Fesperman, respectively. It was the first of several 20th century Black-led organizations to use the "rainbow coalition" concept.
The Rainbow Coalition's first alliance was between the Young Patriots and the Black Panthers by Bob Lee. Hampton then incorporated the Young Lords. The Rainbow Coalition soon included various radical socialist community groups like the Lincoln Park Poor People's Coalition, and Rising Up Angry. The coalition was later joined nationwide by the Students for a Democratic Society ("SDS"), the Brown Berets, the American Indian Movement, and the Red Guard Party.
In April 1969, Hampton called several press conferences to announce that this "Rainbow Coalition" had formed. The Rainbow Coalition engaged in joint action against poverty, corruption, racism, police brutality, and substandard housing. The participating groups supported each other at protests, strikes, and demonstrations where they had a common cause.
The coalition espoused an iteration of militancy that aimed to decrease urban unemployment, promote public education, and advance "class" solidarity. For instance, in a 1970 issue of The Patriot, the Young Patriots Organization called for nonviolent support of Bobby Seale (on trial), but also declared that "Guns in the Hands of the Police Represent Capitalism and Racism...Guns In the Hands of the People Represent Socialism and Solidarity." (the patriot 1)
The Coalition brokered treaties to end crime and gang violence and organized to establish class solidarity across racial lines. On December 3rd, Fred Hampton was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department and the FBI, and the Rainbow Coalition effectively dissolved.
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Wow, my lib sister in law even went to the hands off protest today, which was in my hometown and relatively massive, idk if I can remember another protest there that was this big, not even George Floyd.
I've also wondered if they would have been nearly this large without the tarriff and market crash. I saw this dumbass fucking sign on r/all and realized that this protest was mostly about treats, less so about the rise of fascism (not to say there wasn't antifascist sentiment as well). There were a smattering of signs about ICE, maybe one or two Palestine signs if any (but always a Ukraine flag), and some signs mentioning due process but frankly, not vociferous demands for the release of all political prisoners and the cessation of deportations like there should be.
Its also worth noting that among this, there was also a march for Palestine in DC drawing another 10k-20k
I've been wondering all day where we are going from here. Even though its a lib protest, I'll still root for it to grow. Not sure if I will attend the next one, seems kinda boring tbh, but at least an appetite for protest is growing. I wonder if there will finally be something that can spark a similar level of mass action but untied from the liberal organizers. Maybe its copium but I think there must be a movement even dwarfing the George Floyd uprising by the end of 2028.
It has strong Women's March vibes all over again. Tons of turnout with essentially zero direction or real goals, dominated by vibes and a desire to return to brunch, and unless something more revolutionary takes hold at its heart it'll be dead and forgotten in a month.
Yeah it is definitely the same vibes. I guess I mean to say as the general publics material conditions worsen as a result of tariffs and the inevitable recession, that the appetite for protesting will grow. And that hopefully the steam doesn't get stolen by the democratic establishment entirely.
I was checking out the hands off protest in my city and the vibe was totally different than the Palestine protests. Very disorganized, and as a friend put it "more of a festival vibe than an actual protest"
Like a protest for people who don't really want to protest and are just there for a good time, but also realize that they have to do something
I'd wager that the hands off and 50501 shit are probably just psyops to get people to blow off steam and to keep them from engaging in real organizing and action.
Yeah I have heard some had local/state democratic politicians, but some had union leaders and indigenous organizations, seems like a mixed bag depending on who organized it. I would wager most of them that were at state capitols and DC were democratic circlejerks