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Refuse and Resist, a new chapter at Wesleyan of the national organization that seeks to unify different leftist movements by attacking a common opposition, held its first meeting on Wednesday in the MPR. Student organizers hope that the group will increase awareness and excitement for a variety of issues.

Refuse and Resist encompasses several different movements, from women’s rights to death penalty opposition. The campus group will initially be involved with Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appearance in Federal Court and the National Day Against Police Brutality on Oct. 22.

Alana Lopez ’03, one of the founders of the Wesleyan chapter and an intern for the national organization this past summer, started the group because she felt that students are often forced to choose one movement in which to put their energy and passion.

"One of the reasons that I came to Wesleyan was because of the political activity. But it felt like you had to fight for one particular cause or fight for nothing," Lopez said. 

"People would have to choose between groups like E3 and USLAC, and this organization unifies the different groups."

Following the inspiration of its slogans, "It’s all one attack" and "Turning a fighter into a fighter on all fronts," the organization stresses the importance of merging liberal activists who may disagree on specific issues to band together to resist those who commonly oppose each of the movements.

"Refuse and Resist unifies every leftist cause. I don’t believe in affirmative action, but I realize that the people against it are also the ones against abortions," said Lopez. 

"We need all politically active people to work together to fight against the right-wing political agenda," she said.

According to Sarah Dalsimer ’01, another founder of the chapter who interned at the national organization two summers ago, Refuse and Resist will attempt to tackle a wide variety of issues with input from people with different political beliefs. 

"The organization has a lot of people with different views, from socialists to communists to democrats," Dalsimer said. "We are going to try to provide a balanced attack on issues like abortions, gay rights, the death penalty, and women’s rights."

The broad range of topics addressed by Refuse and Resist inspired Daniel Thomas ’02 to go to the meeting Wednesday night. 

"I liked that it was a mixture of a lot of different issues," he said. "It’s good to have organizations with specific purposes, but it’s also good to have one that encompasses a lot of different issues."

One of the first projects of Refuse and Resist will be informing students about and getting them ready to mobilize for Day X, the unknown date for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appearance in Federal Court that will decide whether he will get a mistrial because his civil rights were violated.

According to Lopez, Refuse and Resist members want to organize a showing of the HBO documentary "Reasonable Doubt" about Mumia’s case, which might be followed by a speaker. 

"The movie shows the negative things that happened in his trial and shows that at the very least he deserves a new trial," said Lopez. "We hope that from the movie we can get more people involved in his cause so that we can make a network of contacts within Wesleyan."

In addition, Refuse and Resist will be involved with the art exhibit called "Black and Blue" and other activities on Oct. 22. According to Lopez, they will try to help advertise for the exhibit, set up a table with information, wear all black and hold a vigil in which they read the names from the Book of Stolen Lives.

Involvement with the art exhibit is just one of the ways that Lopez hopes to increase awareness about the organization and to draw in people who might not normally be involved. 

"We aim to educate people because we want to pull in people who might not be otherwise politically active," she said. "But we are not a hierarchical group at all, and we want a lot of input."

Dalsimer echoed Lopez’s desire to have all members steer the direction of the group. 

"Refuse and Resist is a group-centered leadership," she said. "And direction is hard because it has a lot to do with what is happening in the world. You have to stay on your toes to be an activist."