Based solely on the music – hyperpop remixes of Charli XCX and Beyoncé, then suddenly transitioning into a sped-up version of “MakeDamnSure” – you wouldn't assume I was describing 4 p.m. on a weekday on the blocked-off streets outside a Philadelphia Marriott. On top of all that, the air was choked with Canadian wildfire smoke. But the energy was high and stayed that way at the protests against the sold-out Moms for Liberty conference at the Philly hotel, scheduled for June 30 through July 2. The group, created in 2021, hosted right-wing speakers like Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Regardless, says local organizer Samantha Rise, “We're having a much better time, a louder party, and way less money spent!”
Though the conference brought an influx of outsider arrivals as well as national media, Rise, a member of a broad coalition of organizations based in Philly coordinating the protests, explains, “We've actually been meeting here every week for the past few weeks in preparation for this.”
The core organizations include ACT UP Philadelphia – Rise specifically uplifted the work of local organizer Jazmyn Henderson, who organizes with that group as well as others – and the local Young Communist League chapter, as well as “over 50 organizations that have signed onto that and a lot of individuals that represent tens of thousands.” The Daily Beast spoke to two protesters who drove 7 hours from North Carolina to speak out against the group.
“It's so devastating to see your city, the city that you love, the city that you live in and fight for and participate in, choose so heartily this extremist group,” Rise tells Teen Vogue of watching the Moms for Liberty programming continue despite the continued local outcry. “We put so much pressure on them, and to watch them stand their ground with these folks, that kind of alignment was really hard to feel and see.”
Rise says police presence in response to the protests has been sustained and intense, though the crowd was peaceful and contained many “elders and children.”
While the energy has stayed “joyous and sweet,” says Rise, “It's wild because you see these ‘Moms for Liberty’ — they're behind this massive barricade, they've got a wall of cops, they've got their own private security. When they have that insulation, that's when they smile and wave and make fun of us or blow kisses.” At the same time, they say, when not behind those barriers, the conference attendees have largely avoided the Philly protesters. “They're not out on the ground because when they're confronted with the reality of human beings, they kind of can't handle it,” they continue. “They have to have this horrifying distance from us. It was so funny to be so bored with them.”
Rise says that when the conference attendees did try to antagonize, the protesters turned their backs. "When they wanted us to be antagonistic or to meet them where they were… You don't deserve our attention, and your cause barely warrants a glance from us,” they say.
“There's a spirit of camaraderie in Philadelphia. I think the people who I love, leave people alone. I want you to live your life and be your best self, and your freedom – your being able to be who you are – means that I can be who I am,” Rise says of Philly's sense of community. “As someone who's very explicitly dedicated and deeply committed to Black liberation and to abolition in our lifetime, to a world where where we can't be policed or erased, Philadelphia's spirit of protecting each of our own peace, and each of our own freedoms, that's all there is. We're all we've got, and it's such a beautiful world when we're doing this together.”
To those elsewhere in the country, perhaps unsure of how to get involved, or disconnected from local organizing, Rise had a message: “To anyone anywhere, you're not alone. The place where you are has an extraordinary queer and trans history, has a powerful Black and brown and indigenous history. Wherever you are, you're not alone. There are legacies that are there to love and support you, and there are people all over the world that are there to love and support you. We've got your back. You're not outnumbered. You're not alone.”
Their other advice was to ensure that organizations of differing identity groups or missions stay connected and engaged in practices of mutual aid.
“We're a community of struggle. Finding the power where we overlap and committing to coalition work, where we don't necessarily have to agree, but we can support each other; finding the power where we overlap is the most important thing we can do,” Rise says. “The reality is, we're talking about dignity and humanity, we're talking about our right to live and breathe, to grow old, to be a child. Finding that common ground and protecting it can cultivate a lot of other really beautiful extensions of care, so totally trust that – and also, we have your back.”
Although outlets like the New York Times came to town to summarize the conference and its attendees – as well as the rhetoric those attendees are pushing – the real story, says Rise, “is the ways that we choose each other and protect each other, and connect to each other in finding common ground.” That's what keeps the crowds out there for a punishing 12 hour a day schedule, blasting hyperpop, dancing in the streets with masks to protect from the smoke.
“The legacy of mutual aid in Philadelphia is the most profound teacher I've ever had, and I feel so grateful to be learning from it and to be celebrating and amplifying it,” Rise shares. “This unbridled joy that we have happens in our resistance because we work together, because of collaboration.”
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