We are very frustrated and saddened to see certain organizations in Boston, most recently the Boston May Day coalition, continuing to allow their members to express transphobic views without consequence. This is unacceptable, as is allowance of any bigoted or hateful speech. Unfortunately, this is not the first time our members have encountered transphobia apologist behavior in leftist movements.

We will not tolerate groups that allow hateful speech towards our trans siblings. It doesn't matter if you're Nazis or leftists, if you're condoning hate then we have no common ground.

We would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm that AIF Massachusetts does not work with groups that tolerate hateful speech and we encourage other groups not to as well. We believe that bigotry and hate should have no place in an anti-fascist movement not just because it is morally wrong but because it is counter to our mission. Fascism feeds on sectarianism, hate, and "othering" of people who are not the majority. For this reason racism, sexism, transphobia, ableism, and all other 'isms' are dangerous to the anti-fascist mission.

Either we all smash fascism together or we're just trading down for a more niche brand of fascism.

#AmericanIronFront #Antifascism #TransRights #Boston #Massachusetts

This weekend some of our members in #CambridgeMA delivered food, drinks, and hygiene supplies to the community fridge in Harvard Square. We weren't the only ones, either! Other community members brought food in take out containers, single serve yogurts, and much more.

We seem to be the only ones who bring wound care supplies to the pantry, so we will plan to focus a larger portion of our resources on that going forward and possibly expand to large wound care kits. If you'd like to help us buy medical supplies for this or our other distros around Massachusetts, our Cashapp is $aifmedic. Each small wound care kit is $1.60 so any amount helps!

#Massachusetts #Harvard #MutualAid #AmericanIronFront

Another distribution of medical supplies this evening with the Worcester Youth Cooperative. Tonight, several Wound Care Kits, bandaid packs, and Iodent oral anesthetic gel were delivered for distribution to our houseless neighbors in the city. In the ever growing climate of hostility towards the most vulnerable among us, we must all step up to support and protect them. Anti-fascism is not just about facing down nazis in the street, or tearing down their propaganda. It’s also about helping those negatively affected by fascism and its policies.

Fascism is an ideology of hatred, discrimination, and violence. It is the duty of all Americans to resist this cancerous belief, and to support all who are harmed by it.

#Antifascism #Worcester #Massachusetts #WorcesterYouthCooperative #AmericanIronFront

Have you considered joining an #antifascist organization but just haven't gotten around to it? It's always a great day to take the first step!

#AmericanIronFront is an organization that opposes fascist attacks on our democracy. We are anti-fascist, anti-racist, and anti-authoritarian. We look towards a day when our country can be a place of hope and acceptance for everyone, not just the privileged few.

Oh, and we fucking hate neo-Nazis. #fuckNazis

If you're tired of watching the state give neo-Nazis and white supremacists special treatment over and over again, this call is for you. If you worry about how the USA is descending deeper and deeper into fascism, this call is for you. If the idea of Nazis in the US makes your blood boil, this call is for you. The police are not going to protect us from fascists because their ranks are full to brimming with fascist sympathizers. Ignoring the fascists will not make them go away either. It's past time for Americans to take up the fight against authoritarian and fascist rule in their own communities.

If you love your country, it's time to stand up and fight to make it better.

Reach out to us anonymously if you'd like to learn more.

https://linktr.ee/ironfrontMA

#AmericanIronFront #Massachusetts was part of a coalition of community groups that gathered in #FallRiverMA to protect attendees and presenters at a Drag Story Hour.

The event was joyful, the kids had fun, and the Gothfather was fabulous. Fall River Pride Committee should be ✨so✨ proud for running such a wonderful event. :better_pride:

Meanwhile, the New England neo-Nazi group NSC-131 stood outside the library and hurled slurs at LGBTQ and Jewish people while making the Nazi salute and intimidating passers-by. At one point they stormed the library and pounded on the front doors.

Community defenders shielded children and parents with our bodies and distracted them with jokes and silly stories so they could feel safe and have fun on their way to and from the event.

Overall there were at least 30 neo-Nazis and proud boys there to intimidate 10-15 children and their parents for attending a story hour.

It's shameful these groups feel comfortable acting this way, and we won't stand for it. Nazis have no place in our Commonwealth.

If you've been thinking of getting into community defense, if you can't tolerate Nazis in your community, if you're thinking to yourself "this is completely unacceptable," the time for action is NOW. Get involved. This is our responsibility. This is something we must do to keep our community safe.

The police are not going to do this for us. We have to stand up to the Nazis ourselves.

#FuckNazis #WeProtectUs #CommunityDefense #Antifascism

More art by our lovely members.

#AmericanIronFront #Antifascism #FuckNazis #StampOutTheAltRight

Some art from our members. If you hate fascism, the best time for fighting it is yesterday and the second best time is now!

#AmericanIronFront #Antifascism #FuckNazis #FuckWhiteSupremacy

New artwork just dropped. We've got some really talented folks working behind the scenes!

#AmericanIronFront #Antifascist #patriotic #Art

If you are local to #StowMA or #ActonMA and want to organize against antisemitic violence, we are here for you with advice and resources. Check out the links in our bio. Get involved.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/11/07/metro/anti-semitic-vandalism-reported-stow-police-say/

#Massachusetts #AmericanIronFront #antifascism #antifascist #fuckNazis

Wondering how to start getting involved in #communityDefense and #antifascism ?

Here is our incomplete guide to how to get started! Opinions are our own, and are incomplete. Other orgs with advice, please chime in if there's anything we're missing or getting particularly wrong.

Generally speaking, there are three options:
1. Find and join an existing anti-fascist group in your area (e.g. join your local #Antifa or #AmericanIronFront/ #AIF )
2. Start a new branch of an existing "style" of anti-fascist group in your area (e.g. create a new chapter of Antifa)
3. Make a new group all your own!

We'll go into the details on how each option might look for you.

:ironfront: Joining an Existing Local Group :ironfront:

The first step to joining a local group is finding a group to join. You can do this in a couple of ways, but the easiest two are to look on social media until you find a group that is posting about doing things in your area, or to start going to events and looking for who the organizers are, and picking up materials or getting information from them about how you might be able to join.

There are many different types of anti-fascist groups, so it's important to research a group you are interested in before committing too hard to it. Because of the non-authoritarian structure of most groups, local chapters are free to do their own thing and you may find that, for example, your local chapter of Antifa may look very different than the local chapter of Antifa somewhere else. Same with local chapters of AIF.

If the group you're interested in and has a social media presence, you can check their posts online to see what kind of style of organizing they are doing. Are they mostly starting fights with fascists? Are they mostly flyering, or does it seem like they don't ever do anything in the real world and mostly just post online? All these types of groups and more exist so checking them out beforehand can give you an idea of what types of actions you might expect if you were to get involved with that group. Keep in mind however, that many groups limit what they post online for security purposes so you may also not be getting the full picture.

Keep an eye out for bigoted antifascist groups as well. They do exist, and of course you want to avoid these. Besides the obvious reason that anti-fascist organizing and bigotry are at odds, you're likely to notice that if there are multiple groups in your area, the other groups will avoid an exclude groups that have bigoted views, and thus those groups are more likely to be lone groups that don't get as much done. Don't fall for the trap of feeling like you can "fix" a group that has problems with bigotry. It's not worth it.

You will also probably notice that your local groups require a certain amount of introduction and getting to know you before really including you in any of their organization. This is a natural and prudent response to the massive amount of attempted infiltration from right wing groups and police. Leftist groups are used to being oppressed by the state, and they are understandably very cautious. You will probably be expected to undergo some sort of vetting process to prove that you are not a fascist or a fed, and that is generally a good sign. If you are not expected to undergo this process at some point and are able to access the identities or other information about the organizers of the group without any sort of preamble, then that should be a red flag.

Likewise, we strongly suggest taking measures to protect your own identity while you are doing anti-fascist organizing. Fascists are not opposed to doxing and harassing anti-fascist protesters, so taking a few basic steps to obscure your identity such as using a separate and anonymous email address (we recommend proton mail) and not using your real name are recommended. Don't give personal details like your name, phone number, or home address to a group, and if they ask for them that is also a red flag.

But what if there are no local groups in my area, or the ones in my area have lots of red flags?

Then you can move on to option two...

:ironfront: Creating a New Branch of an Existing "Style" of Anti-fascist Group :ironfront:

Different national groups provide different levels of support for creating a new chapter, but in general don't expect any kind of financial or material support. However, what a national group can provide is advice, connection to members in other locations, and useful digital materials for organizing, such as graphical designs for banners, flyers, and possibly detailed guides on how to do certain things.

Name recognition can be another reason to start a branch of an existing group. For example, antifa is a recognizable name that most people associate with anti-fascist organizing, so organizing an antifa group is a good way to let people know what you are trying to be about.

#AIF is newer and we're less likely to have an existing chapter, but you can join our discord to figure out if one already exists.

It's important to be aware that if there is an existing branch of a group in your area and you are organizing another branch, that may cause some conflict. Use your best judgment about whether that's the case. If it is, we'd recommend finding some way to distinguish yourself with a different naming convention.

Still not happy with your options? Then it's time to...

:ironfront: Make a new group all your own! :ironfront:

Anyone, and -- we cannot stress this enough -- literally anyone can start an anti-fascist group. There are multiple guides online for ways to get started, or you can contact one of the anti-fascist organizations that you have already found in your research for advice, but all that anti-fascist organization really takes is a commitment to:

1. Track fascists in your area through some kind of intelligence gathering process, and

2. Make those fascists' lives difficult.

This could literally just be keeping tabs on which local politicians have fascist connections and showing up at all their public events to let everyone know about that. It could be educating your classmates on which members of your school board are fascist and urging them to advocate at their parents to elect different school board members. It could be keeping an eye out on social media for events organized by fascists in your area and bringing a group of friends to counter protest those events.

Typically, if you're thinking about who you might need in your group, an important thing to consider is that there's both an online component and an in-person component to anti-fascist organizing. Someone needs to be online running the social media, doing research on fascists, and making sure that everyone can communicate with everyone else, while other people need to be out on the street meeting folks in person, showing up to events, posting flyers, and doing other in-person activities. Having both these elements, or collaborating with another group that supplies one or the other of these elements, is important for success.

Mutual aid can also be anti-facist organizing. Start a local community fridge, winter clothing drive, program to help the elderly, etc. These are a bit beyond the scope of this particular post, but you will find many resources online for how to start a mutual aid organization. Our only advice is to ask for help, start small, and not expand beyond what you feel you can support in any given time. The point of these activities is to build community connections, and improve the ability of your local community to help each other out in times of crisis.

**

It may feel like a lot, but you can do it. And in doing it, you can help save our country from fascism. So what are you waiting for? Get started!

We are always happy to give what advice we can, so if this still feels daunting but you want to get involved, reply to this post with your questions and we will do our best to answer!

#antifascist #fuckTERFs #BLM #LGBTQRights #TransRights #SocialJustice #RacialJustice #ReproductiveJustice #feminist #feminism

#AmericanIronFront volunteers placed flyers in Holden, MA, and Rutland, MA, where the fascist group Patriot Front was recently seen stenciling and posting flyers.

Some wonderful soul had already torn down the PF flyers and painted over their graffiti as well. ❤️ #MassachusettsStrong

Curious about why we are called American iron front? We take our name from a coalition of groups that formed in Germany to resist the rise of the Nazi party. Learn more at our website: https://www.ironfrontusa.org/about-us

#antifascism #FuckWhiteSupremacy

#AmericanIronFront flyered in Vienna, #Virginia, to warn people about the dire threat to our #democracy from fascist groups.

There are many ways to join in #antifascist organizing, and if #Antifa is more your style we encourage you to join them! You can also make your own group. It's as easy as getting a few friends together and finding something to do. There are opportunities for activism in person, online, and a mixture of the two.

A note on imagery: We tend to use more patriotic imagery which doesn't always sit well with folks and that's ok. However, we personally believe in reclaiming our national symbols and making them anti-fascist as an act of defiance and resistance.

We will always be in #solidarity with anyone fighting fascism, as long as they aren't engaging in hate speech against marginalized groups. We are #AntiTERF, pro #transRights, pro #racialJustice, and support #DisabilityRights

Anti-fascist organizing has never been more important. Get involved and help protect your community from the growing violence of the alt-right.

#Massachusetts may be a deep blue state, but the fact remains that we are one of the most active states for the white supremacist group Patriot Front.

If this makes you furious and you want to do something, join us! We are working to counter PF propaganda around the state and make sure that people will recognize and stand up to PF if they see them.

https://linktr.ee/ironfrontMA

#antifascism #AmericanIronFront #FuckWhiteSupremacy #BLM

#AmericanIronFront peeps placed flyers around Worcester, MA, and also took down a flyer from the #fascist group P*triot Front.

P*triot Front is a white nationalist neo-fascist group. You can learn more about their presence in New England here: https://fashalertma.info/patriot-front/

AIF opposes fascist groups and seeks to educate the public about them. Learning about your local fascists is the first step in countering them.
#antifascism #blm #RacialJustice

More flyering by AIF folks across the US.

We organize locally in a flat, decentralized Hong Kong model.

We employ non-violent Direct Action techniques with a clandestine structure so as to minimize infiltration and co-opting from those who would stop us.

The AIF is leaderless because everyone is a leader. If your community doesn’t have an anti-fascist movement, that simply means that you are the first member!

#antifascism #AmericanIronFront #flyers

#AmericanIronFront members have been flyering to get more people involved in anti-fascism.

We use patriotic messaging because we believe voicing dissent and pushing one's country to do better by its citizens is a patriotic activity. It's okay if you don't agree with that. We can all agree fascism sucks and keep each other safe while disagreeing on other points.

If #anti-fascism through a #patriotic lens appeals to you, join us! We're friendly and welcome folks of all experience levels.