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Dispatches From the Culture Wars — October 7, 2025

Repression and resistance

“The Nazis Play With Fire”, photomontage for AIZ (Workers' Illustrated Weekly), Germany, 1935. Credit:, John Heartfield
  1. At the Tipping Point
  2. Resisting Invasion in Chicago
  3. Socialist Prof Dumped By Texas State
  4. Setting Cardinal Dolan Straight About Kirk
  5. The Fate of Abortion Seekers in South Carolina
  6. Alabama Construction Worker Sues DHS
  7. Grassroots Climate Initiatives Toughen Up
  8. MAGA Targets NGOs
  9. Silverio Villegas González’s Murder at the Hands of ICE
  10. Movements, Organizations and Leadership

 

At the Tipping Point

By Amanda Marcotte
Salon

The emphasis on worship music at Kirk’s memorial is symbolic of the larger problem that faces the MAGA movement in its attempt to expand the fascist project beyond Trump himself. Most supporters are firmly ensconced in the world of white evangelicalism, which is famously alienating to most everyone outside it. The rest of the loyal MAGA base tends to adhere to one cultist belief or another.

Resisting Invasion in Chicago

By Oliver Laughland, Tom Silverstone and Laurence Topham
The Guardian

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Donald Trump’s Ice deployment, codename Operation Midway Blitz, has been met by a defiant wave of sustained protests. With political violence on the rise, a new generation of political candidates and organisers, including Kat Abughazaleh, speak about prospects for increased repression and resistance. 

Socialist Prof Dumped By Texas State

By Bill V. Mullen
Jacobin

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, a self-described “anti-communist cult leader” used a selectively edited video to falsely accuse labor historian and tenured professor Tom Alter of inciting violence. Texas State University’s president swiftly fired him.

Setting Cardinal Dolan Straight About Kirk

By Jack Jenkins
Religion News Service

A group of Catholic sisters criticized Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan for his recent comments about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, suggesting the cardinal is “confusing the true witness of the Gospel” by likening Kirk to a biblical saint.

The Fate of Abortion Seekers in South Carolina

By Jessica Valenti and Kylie Cheung
Abortion, Every Day

South Carolina Republicans forced a hearing for SB 323, which threatens abortion patients with the death penalty, ban certain forms of birth control, and even criminalize speech like pro-choice websites or abortion referrals. SB 323 is based on model legislation from National Right to Life, spelling out exactly what the anti-abortion movement wants for women in every state.

Alabama Construction Worker Sues DHS

By Pablo Manríquez
Migrant Insider

An Alabama construction worker and U.S. citizen has filed a sweeping class-action lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that federal immigration agents twice detained him during workplace raids in Baldwin County despite clear proof of his citizenship. The suit could set a precedent on whether the Fourth Amendment still draws a line around the American workplace.

Grassroots Climate Initiatives Toughen Up

By Greg Harman
Deceleration

Just this week, the president froze billions in funding for renewable-energy projects in Democrat-led states amidst a wider government shutdown, demonstrating why grassroots climate initiatives are increasingly building in resilience from heat, storms, and the government itself.

MAGA Targets NGOs

By Brad Reed
Common Dreams

Many nongovernment organizations are considering taking radical steps to stay alive amid reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing to launch a probe of Open Society Foundations, the global grant network founded by billionaire George Soros that helps fund prominent organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International.

Silverio Villegas González’s Murder at the Hands of ICE

By Nicole Acevedo
NBC News

The Sept. 12 shooting death of Silverio Villegas González, 38, is at the center of growing tensions over President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, more recently the surge in immigration enforcement in the Chicago area this month as part of “Operation Midway Blitz.”

Movements, Organizations and Leadership

By Sujatha Jesudason 
Convergence

Across movements and organizations, we are witnessing a crisis not only of politics and policy but also of leadership. Many organizers are asking hard questions: Are we playing it too safe? How can we engage and energize more of our team during these times? Why do so many of us feel alone as leaders, or disconnected, as staff, from the internal decision-makers who impact our work?