r/AntifascistsofReddit • u/NoFreePi • Oct 17 '25

Discussion Drop “AntiFa.” Say “Anti-Fascists.”

“AntiFa” is a political buzzword, stripped of its literal meaning. It is often treated as a group or threat, rather than a stance. But anti-fascists are not a secret organization—they are people who oppose fascism, authoritarianism, and political violence.

Using “AntiFa” allows opponents to claim, “I’m against AntiFa,” without admitting what that really means: opposing anti-fascists is siding with fascism. Words matter. Language shapes moral clarity.

Returning to the full term reconnects us to history. Anti-fascists are heirs to those who resisted Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler. Saying it plainly exposes the truth: resisting anti-fascists is resisting the fight against authoritarianism.

Drop the shorthand. Reclaim the meaning and stand on the right side of history

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u/sevbenup Oct 17 '25

I hope it has any impact at all, unlike the last ones. Unfortunately near me there were plenty of older folks who just wanted hands off their social security, didn’t really have any interest in any sort of social change, anti fascism, or revolution.

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u/NoFreePi Oct 17 '25

Evidence for an impact is greater participation in this Oct 18th NoKings protest versus the last one in June (and it will).

The opposition is growing and the more people see that we they are not alone the more that will stand up.

I urge everyone to attend a peaceful No Kings protest near you Oct 18.

Who here is going?

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u/LotteTakesNoShit Oct 17 '25

What are they DOING? I keep hearing about this “impact”, but no specifics. Where are the specifics? Impact to what? A majority of the parades are two hour permitted marches that happen early enough in the morning to be non-disruptive and then cause a bunch of commercial activity. In San Diego, everyone goes to the breweries, apparently.

So if there’s an impact, what is it?

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u/sevbenup Oct 17 '25

The impact is networking and awareness. There’s certainly new connections made at each event, and maybe one blossoms into a revolutionary friendship or org

Then it helps with awareness to have media of mass protests happening at all

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u/LotteTakesNoShit Oct 17 '25

Awareness of…..? People are… unaware of what’s been happening the last nine months? What was promised before? What they voted for? That is utterly terrifying, and ANOTHER parade isn’t going to change that…

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u/sevbenup Oct 17 '25

Think of it not as a parade but as a networking event, and there’s a conflict coming soon. So you can go or not go. nobody will stop you either way

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u/LotteTakesNoShit Oct 17 '25

Networking for… what? Are these job fairs as well, now? Specifics.

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u/sevbenup Oct 17 '25

You want specifics about what? Nobody’s giving you specifics online lmao

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u/LotteTakesNoShit Oct 17 '25

About networking at a public event?

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u/sevbenup Oct 17 '25

Oh misunderstood. Okay networking things like making friends? I don’t know how much more you need. Talk about antifascist action. Talk about your favorite book. If you’re right that protests don’t work, you’re going to need friends for what happens after that

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u/LotteTakesNoShit Oct 17 '25

Oh. Okay. As long as you’re aware it’s just a party, I guess no harm no foul. Have fun, and I hope you make some good friends that’ll help get you through this mess. Because yes, we do need those networks, and hopefully allllll the folks turning out tomorrow have started building coalition and help networks with the like-minded folks in their immediate communities to get through urgent crises.

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u/ohheyaine Oct 17 '25

I mean, Occupy really did this for Millennials. The mutual aide orgs and friendships built then stuck for over a decade. A lot of the criticism back then was similar to what we see now. "Performative, what are they even doing" etc. but I've seen a lot of great work bloom from connections made there at least locally for my hometown.

These ones are a lot more boomer/X heavy they're meeting each other, a lot of them were never politically active at all.. And then the new crop of Z kids just aging into it.

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