What we talk about when we talk about being Antifa

I became a member of “Antifa” at five years old, at my auntie’s house watching The Sound of Music a hundred times over.

I wasn’t exactly sure what fascism meant, but I knew that the guys throwing up their arm in a Sieg Heil salute were terrifying, and that resistance to that salute was dangerous. Very dangerous. Chills ran down my spine each time I watched Captain von Trapp ripping up that Nazi flag, because I understood he was risking his life with that simple act of defiance.

In the fifth grade, I got the historical context and political analysis I was lacking when I was assigned to read The Diary of Anne Frank. A first-hand story from a girl my age, in real time — a girl who was ultimately found and killed by the same fascists I feared.

After that experience, I was “Antifa” all the way. It permanently shifted my perspective as I saw fascism always lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce. It is the dark side of human nature. Some people will always believe that they are better than other people, and justify murder and other heinous acts out of self-interest. I heard the phrase “never again” being used in reference to the Holocaust as a young girl. I promised myself that I would live by that promise.

Some 40 years later, I find myself living in the reality that brought Captain von Trapp to his breaking point. The fascists are taking over, and we are not responding accordingly!

People being abducted to other countries they may have never known; covering up a decades-long child sex trafficking ring to protect the aristocracy; firing public servants while destroying the institutions that make our society even marginally work. These are fascist moves — as is policing our language and our right to peacefully protest.

While there is little we feel we can do as individuals about what Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Justice are doing in our communities, we each can and must deny our consent to their insistence that we don’t use our words.

Words help clarify as a society what we stand for and who we are. Words are the first and most powerful tool that we have against tyranny and violence. If we can’t communicate clearly with each other about what is happening, about what we think, about what we might be able to do, then we will certainly lose.

Our federal government has scrubbed websites and other documents of words like “women”, “diversity”, “identity”, “race,” “climate,” and “science.” Giant publicly-funded projects like cancer research, food for children, and clean water are losing their funding because their grant reports include these words.

In recent days, President Donald Trump declared through executive order that “Antifa” — not an actual group, but an ideology that fascism is bad — is now a terrorist organization. Think about this. An ideology opposing fascism is deemed a threat to our country. Our words, our political beliefs are acts of terrorism.

“Never again” means each of us taking a stance. This starts with protecting and using our words. This, like Captain von Trapp’s destruction of the Nazi flag, are simple but powerful acts of resistance. Your words are a collaboration between your mind, your spirit, and your tongue.

You call the shots. Say the words: I am “Antifa.” Because we should all oppose fascism.

• Maria Perez is the cofounder of Democracy Rising, a national nonprofit working toward a more functional, representative democracy for all of us.