Don't Stream Fascism. Cancel Spotify

Message from Indivisible:

Dear Reader,

Spotify is running ads recruiting agents for ICE.

Let that sink in. A platform built to connect creators and listeners is helping an authoritarian regime build up its secret police force. They’re choosing complicity over the artists, podcasters, and fans who make Spotify what it is -- and when users and musicians called them out, Spotify’s first act was doubling down.

But we’re not going to idly accept that. We’re going to make them listen.

We’re asking anyone who subscribes to Spotify Premium to cancel your subscription until Spotify stops running ICE ads. Click here to watch step-by-step instructions on how to cancel Spotify Premium.

When ABC/Disney capitulated to the Trump regime by silencing Jimmy Kimmel this year, millions of paying customers spoke up by canceling their Disney+ subscriptions and putting off their Disney vacations. It worked.

The same people-power that made ABC/Disney reverse course can work on Spotify. Spotify needs its listeners and subscribers far more than it relies on advertisers. If enough of us cancel our subscriptions, it’ll send a clear message that's too loud for Spotify to ignore.

To catch Spotify leaders’ attention and compel them to stop capitulating, we need to move fast and in unison, so we’re asking anyone who can to cancel your Spotify Premium subscription today.

Read on for more tools and info, including ways to join this fight even if you aren’t a Spotify user!

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Spotify subscriber? How to leave them behind:

We created a step-by-step video on how to cancel your Spotify Premium subscription, and since we understand it’s tough losing your playlists and saved songs, we have resources to help make the transition to alternative music services smooth:

• Cancel Spotify how-to guide (FAQs, instructions, etc…)
• Transferring playlists and music libraries to TIDAL
• Transferring playlists and music libraries to Apple Music

After Spotify removes ICE ads and stops profiting from fascist propaganda, you may re-subscribe to Spotify Premium at any time.

Cancel Spotify

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NOT a Spotify subscriber? How to take action:

If you're not a Spotify Premium subscriber, there’s still a meaningful place for you in this campaign! Chances are high that you know someone -- a child, grandchild, friend, or social follower -- who uses Spotify Premium, and pushing your favorite artists and podcasters to speak out with us is also really helpful.

Here's how you can make a difference if you don't subscribe to Spotify:

1. Use our pre-made social posts to support the Cancel Spotify campaign online. Post to all your favorite social networks to raise awareness of Spotify’s complicity, our campaign, and how to cancel.
2. Urge artists, podcasters, and labels to publicly denounce these ads and pressure Spotify leadership. If you know anyone who creates music or content for Spotify, please reach out to them directly. If you don’t, use social media to publicly call on your favorite artists to join the fight.
3. Attend a peaceful protest outside Spotify offices*. We’ll share information on peaceful and nonviolent protests as they are planned, and we encourage you to organize a peaceful protest of your own if Spotify has a presence in your community.

Profit-driven media giants and their billionaire owners seem to think that going along with the authoritarian Trump regime is the easy thing. They’re following the profits and painting it as neutrality.

But in the face of an unjust regime, neutrality is complicity.

Please join our campaign to send Spotify a message that power still belongs with the people. Don’t stream fascism. Cancel Spotify.

See you soon,

Indivisible Team

*All events should be hosted on public property or in public spaces, such as streets, sidewalks, or parks. Please follow all state and local guidelines.

National Event Mobilize Tips

Introduction

As an organizer we must always think “how can we make the coming event succeed AND how can this event lead to even more successful future events”. Below are a few tips on how to succeed and build on national events like Handsoff2025 and NoKings.

No Kings October

 

No Kings Day Events

Events are currently planned in towns below. 

Ashland, 10-11:30am

Boston: 12-3pm

Foxboro: 9-10:30am

Framingham: 4:30-6pm
Franklin: Overpass Standout: 9-10am Franklin Village: 10am-12pm
Holliston: 2-4pm
Hopkinton: 2:30-4pm

Hudson: 10am-12pm

Mansfield: North Common: 9-10am Train to Boston: 9am 

Marlborough: 1-3pm

Medfield, 10-11:30am

Medway: 9-10am

Mendon: 10am-12pm

Milford: 11am-1pm
Millis: 11am-12pm
Natick, 11am-1pm

Norfolk: Traffic Circle 115: 11am

Norwood: 12-1pm

Sharon: 9:30-10:30am
Sherborn: 10am-12pm
Walpole: 10am-12pm

Wellesley: 11am-12:30pm

Westborough: 10am-12pm
Worcester: Overpass Standout 11am-1pm; Worcester Common, 1-3pm

Wrentham: 9am-10am

Suggested Itineraries:

• Wrentham or Franklin Overpass at 9. Take train to Boston at 9:54 from Franklin or 10:01 from Norfolk. See below for travel details.
• Wrentham or Franklin Overpass at 9, Franklin Village at 10, Milford at 11, Lunch at 1, Holliston at 2.
• Medway at 9, Walpole at 10, Norwood at 12,  Lunch at 1, Holliston at 2.
• Medway at 9, Medfield, Ashland at 10. Lunch at 1. Holliston at 2, Hopkinton at 3:00.
• Worcester Overpass Standout at 11. Worcester Common at 1.

Grand finale Framingham Village Green at 4:30 PM!!!

No Kings Support

State Representative James Arena-DeRosa

"I am honored to stand in peaceful protest with people of Millis and area towns who believe in the very best values of America: that through non-violent protest in defense of those values we affirm that we are a goverment of laws and not the whims of an individual who uses misleading rhetoric and unconstitional actions to instigate violence and intimidate the public - instead every person should be treated with dignity and respect. And that we firmly believe in liberty and justice for all."

"No kings - No Dictators - Defend our Constitution".

Boston Labor Day Parade & Area Events

 

To stand in solidarity with American workers, Mass50501, the Greater Boston Labor Council, UUMassAction, and more are planning a Labor Day Parade in Boston Monday, 9/1, starting at 9:30 AM. Details about the Boston Parade will be shared here. 

Prayers for Liberty will host a Labor Day walk from Lexington to Boston, from 9am-5pm. The walk will start at the Lexington Battle Green and will end at The Embrace statue on the Boston Common. Register for any portion of the walk here. 

Area events include:

Holliston, 12-1pm

Canton, 2-3pm

Natick, 12-1:30pm

Needham, 3:30-5pm, with speakers (including Tamisha Civil)

Waltham, 4-6pm

Worcester, (overpass standout), 11am-1pm

Stay tuned here for more details, or check the national map. If your town is planning a Labor Day event, please add it to our calendar by filling out this form. Or, email us.

Preparing for Occupation

I went to an all-day Nonviolent Direct Action training yesterday,  in anticipation of the completely illegal--but probable--upcoming occupation of the city. It involved a lot of yelling, role-playing, people getting roughly pushed around, and the linking of arms with total strangers, which I _particularly_ hated.

My discomfort with all of this was so palpable that after the midday break, more than one person came up to me and said, wow, I'm really surprised you came back--and my tense response was somewhere along the lines of a grim "Well, fascism."

All of this also kind of banged up against my French resistance fighter soul who is wearing a beret and a black turtleneck and throwing a Molotov cocktail--and my peaceful, friendly persona, noted for being kind to children and animals.

Here are a few tips I gleaned.

1)  If a police officer gives you grief, say very clearly, "I am not interfering with your investigation, sir/ma'am." (you are always allowed to film their activities in the public sphere) If asked for your ID, you can say, "Am I under arrest?"

2) If you get arrested, share nothing but your name, address, and birthdate. Not your phone number, email address, etc. Answer no other questions. You will not get a phone call or a lawyer; you'll sit there for 2-24 hours, until they process you out with a violation. And in the holding pen, do not discuss anything involving politics or activists or events, since you are almost certainly being filmed/recorded. Talk about movies or recipes or whatever. Note: I do not want to get arrested, but a big chunk of the training focused on just that.

3) If ICE shows up anywhere you are, you can ask for their names, badge numbers, agency, and judicial warrants. They will be assholes. Always. They are inherently violent and not smart. Fuck ICE. Record anything you see them doing. Always shame these fuckers, who are cowards and bullies. In my neighborhood, I would yell "La Migra!" instantly. Encourage your neighbors to stay inside and not to open their doors, because they never have judicial warrants, even though they will lie and pretend they do. ICE will _not_ follow the law--but, by documenting their lawlessness, it's evidence for the trials down the road. Note: a new ICE tactic is for them to wear USPS patches/badges/etc. to trick their way inside, so don't be fooled by that. We all know what actual postal workers look like.

4) If you encounter the National Guard, engage with them politely. Ask where they from, say you're sorry they had to leave their families and jobs behind, etc. Be friendly, because the overwhelming majority of them really don't want to be there. Feel free to tell them, as a local, that there is no crime emergency of any kind going on. Once you have a rapport, remind them that they never have to follow unlawful orders.

5) If you encounter the Marines or regular Army, remind them to honor their oaths. Some people in my group had printed out cards they can give to soldiers and Marines, with numbers they can call if they need confidential help to be conscientious objectors, report unlawful behavior, etc.

6) If you are white, always use your privilege to help others. Always.

Building Power, Together: Join the One Million Rising Movement!

Authoritarian forces are threatening our democracy. We can stop this, but it requires sustained, strategic organizing in our communities, building strong networks of trust and enjoyment.

This spring, many groups, worked together and held record breaking demonstrations across the nation, which brought out six million people, in every state, every major town. The demonstrations establish that we are not alone, we are many, and we are everywhere.

This summer, Indivisible and its allies, launched One Million Rising: a national effort to train one million people in non-cooperation, community organizing, and campaign design. This builds undeniable people power, and they invite you to lead!

This August, to support this vital initiative in our area, Indivisible and democracy groups from the Southwest Metropolitan area invite you to attend One Million Rising Resistance Gatherings at The First Universalist Society in Franklin at 262 Chestnut Street, Franklin.

At these gatherings you will learn, discuss strategies, and forge bonds with like-minded individuals committed to protecting our democracy. People who have taken the One Million Rising trainings will bring you up to speed on the techniques of non-violent non-cooperation. Instead, of giving into despair, we gum up the works by doing the unexpected. A despotic ruler cannot rule if the people do not cooperate.

For the dreamers among us: history also shows that successful non-cooperation leads to a more open society than before. The Revolutionary War was a time of great challenge but it lead to a country that became the beacon of the world. It is our turn now.

Coming events are below. Come to one, come to all: you will learn and build community at each one. 

At a Resistance Gathering trained people will facilitate growing our community connection, resilience, and resistance. We will deepen our shared understanding of the moment we're in, the need for mass defiance, the "pillars" framework, and how we can influence those pillars. That will get us ready to explore effective noncooperation tactics and get us ready to take action together. National provided the suggested agenda here that we will adapt for our gathering.

At the watch party, we gather before the national live stream in which we learn about the characteristics of authoritarianism and how to stop it. 

See previous sessions and get toolkits at www.nokings.org/rise. Session 2 toolkit with its calls to educate businesses on ICE,  groundavelo.org, and fightthetrumptakeover.com for TX is here. Substack One Million Rising Indivisible zoom call 8/13 summarizes the three calls to action

The One Million Rising events are published on this page. Follow that page and/or join the MNW mailing list. Questions: email george@indivisibleacton.org.

Coming events: come to one or all.

• FRANKLIN - 8/21 7:00 - 8:15PM Resistance Gathering