What is Political Repression?
Political repression occurs when someone becomes a threat to the status quo and the state suppresses their dissent, either with criminal charges or brute force. Repression not only attempts to silence individuals but also serves to scare others into shutting up and backing down.
Marimar Martinez is an important example of what repression can look like and how to fight it courageously.
In October 2025, Marimar was shot five times by Border Patrol Nazi Charles Exum in Brighton Park, IL, after she followed their vehicle and alerted people in the neighborhood that federal agents were in the area. Marimar was charged with assaulting and impeding the operations of Exum and other federal officers, smeared in the media, taken into custody, and offered a deal that she refused, only for the case to be later dismissed when prosecutors realized ICE agents were covering up key evidence.
Marimar stood up to ICE and faced brutal retaliation for her defiance, but she stood firm and won. Now she’s going on the offensive by pursuing a civil suit against Exum and leading calls to charge him and the other agents responsible for her shooting.
Why do we need to fight repression and win?
People are understandably scared of repression, and that makes sense. The risk is real. But instead of trying to guarantee people’s comfort and safety, we need to get good at not only dealing with repression but turning it around on the oppressors and strike back at them every time they try and scare us into shutting up.
By fighting repression, we can build a culture of resistance and show those in power we are not afraid.
¡NO TENEMOS MIEDO!
What is the purpose of these forums? What do we hope to accomplish?
In these forums, we aim to bring people together who want to smash the deportation machine with people who have experience fighting and beating it to develop an organized strategy against political repression that can have a national impact. This includes lawyers, sympathetic members of the public, or those impacted by deportations.
After these forums, we invite forum attendees to work with us to make plans to take action in real life, like protesting a school principal for suspending students and firing teachers, protesting a local politician not doing anything to stop ICE, going out to immigrant neighborhoods with flyers to discuss acts of resistance against the deportation machine, and spreading the word about courageous ongoing fights against repression. We are also putting a call out to lawyers to help current and future clients fight their cases. Finally, we encourage ALL participants to join the rest of the Spring Surge!
Where to I host it?
- Find a sympathetic teacher or professor and host your forum in a classroom
- Book a room at a local library or youth center
- Hit up a local business and ask if they’d be down to host
- Do it outside, in a park, or near your school
How do I run a forum?
- Make a run-of-show (see toolkit for an example)
- Assign roles
- MC: person responsible for welcoming people and moderating the panel of speakers or keeping track of small group discussions
- Note taker: person responsible for writing down what people are saying
- Media: person responsible for taking photos of the event and getting videos of people speaking for a recap post on social media
- Time keeper: person responsible for keeping track of the run-of-show and letting the MC know when it’s time to wrap up
What can it look like?
Panel-style
- Identify a group of speakers to speak about repression and how to fight, and invite them to the forum as panelists
- Research your speakers and come up with questions to ask them about their experience with repression and tips on fighting it
- Let forum attendees ask panel members questions, share ideas, and leave comments
- Give attendees the opportunity to share about what they learned on the mic
Small-group discussions into a larger share-out
- Select examples of repression for discussion (see toolkit)
- Split people up into groups with each group discussing a specific example of repression and coming up with ideas on how to fight it. Set a timer for each discussion and rotate examples so each can be discussed by every group
- Assign a note taker to each group who will rotate with their other group members
- Give attendees the opportunity to share what they learned on the mic
Forum organizers should compile notes on what ideas attendees come up with and send them to us at daretostrugglenational@proton.me
How do I promote it?
Making a video to promoting the forum
Who can make the video?
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- People who’ve been suspended, fired, arrested or charged for protesting
- Lawyers who fought for or defended protestors facing charges
- People who support the movement and want to help out e.g. friends, family, teachers, local politicians
What to say in the video?
- Introduce yourself
- If you were arrested and are facing charges share your story: When did it happen? What happened? What charges are you facing?
- If you weren’t arrested, share words of support for those who were or stories you’ve heard about the repression of protestors
- End with a call to come out to the forums: e.g. “People have a right to protest and shouldn’t be arrested, lose jobs or be punished for it, let’s come together and strategize on how to fight this repression. Come out to the forum on political repression February 28th @ [insert time and location]”
Flyer at your school or neighborhood
- Get a small crew of 2-3 people and hang out afterschool or walk-around your neighborhood to talk to people about the forums and encourage them to come out.
- Tape up flyers everywhere you can (small businesses can put them in their windows)
Are you down to host a forum?
Set up a call with Dare to Struggle to help plan it! We’ve outlined the basics to get you started, and we’re here to help with the details.
Dare to Struggle 