FEB 16 2017
Hundreds of Events Planned Nationwide for Friday’s ‘General Strike’
by MARY EMILY O'HARA
Excerpt:
Tens of thousands of people across the United States are expected to skip work and attend rallies and marches Friday as part of a "general strike" to "get our democracy back."
Strike4Democracy, one of the groups organizing the nationwide event, which is called the "#F17 General Strike," said more than 100 public protests are expected. Event pages on Facebook indicate the potential for high participation: Nearly 20,000 people have responded to the page for a New York City march alone.
It will be the second straight day of national protests, following Thursday's "Day Without Immigrants" campaign, which was aimed at making a point about the economic impact immigrants have on the U.S. labor force.
Foreign-born residents of the United States were asked to stay home from work or school — and to refrain from shopping — in rallies and marches in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver and many other cities.
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Michelle Rodino-Colocino, a lead organizer for Friday's strike for Strike4Democracy, told NBC News that after the idea of a "general strike" was floated online, it took off on its own — with dozens of organizers working independently to stage events.
Asking who was behind the strike, Rodino-Colocino said, is "like asking where a forest came from."
"There were many seeds," she said.
A crowd-sourced list of events shows rallies and marches scheduled in more than 30 states, as well as one in Jalisco, Mexico.
Rodino-Colocino said the goals are clear: "We're striking to get our democracy back. Since [Donald] Trump's been elected, somehow America has lost its democratic footing."
The Strike4Democracy website says reasons for the strike include an "authoritarian assault on our fundamental, constitutional rights" and attacks on marginalized communities like Muslims and LGBTQ people.
Some of Friday's events depart from the standard rally-and-march model:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hundreds-events-planned-nationwide-friday-s-general-strike-n721941
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