Auntie Fa

The SHOCKING inside story of the WOMEN OF “ANTIFA!”

Much has been said about Auntie Fas (older anti-fascist white women) by the heartless, soulless and spineless in Washington. Fascist spew like: “Elderly white hippies” who need to nap since we’re “all over 90 years old.” “Communists” and “anarchists” who are “stupid” and “dangerous.” Even “terrorists” and the “enemy from within.” Blah, blah, blah.

Why Auntie Fas, Why Now

Put simply our time has come and there’s a lot we bring to the fight.

Just our presence in large numbers is a big optics problem. A sea of “cotton tops” in sensible shoes counters the ridiculous narrative. We’re the perfect foil.

We bring lived history. We know sustained mass protest and civil disobedience work. By work, I mean end a war, advance civil rights and oust a crooked president. Some of us bring history with us to marches in the signs we carry: Like those with old photos of dads in uniform that say ”My father helped defeat fascism. Now it’s my turn.”

It’s our time, because we know we’re privileged as white women and American citizens. We can protest loudly with far less personal risk than people of color, non-citizens and even naturalized citizens. (I even know Auntie Fas with Mexican flags on their cars as ICE decoys.) The point is, it’s a moral imperative to act.

My generation of women is good at socializing, mobilizing and showing up when it counts. We were networking before it was called networking. We’re joiners and volunteers. Many broke through barriers in the workplace by sticking together.

Several weeks ago, a friend texted me that an Afghan man (an ally of US servicemembers in Afghanistan) had a scheduled appointment at a DHS office. She asked if I’d show up to film in case ICE came to arrest him. A total of 7 Auntie Fas showed up in 4 separate cars. Many of us didn’t even know each other beforehand. Turns out Auntie Fas are a vast network.

Auntie Fas are used to being underestimated or dismissed. We’re not the least bit deterred by it. Trump, Vance, Miller and the like don’t scare us. E. Jean Carroll is Auntie Fa legend!

Being underestimated and dismissed is an advantage. Rose Valland, famed museum curator and French resistance fighter, secretly chronicled Nazi plundering of art. And the French heroine did it right under their noses. We suspect there are Auntie Fa civil servants quietly at work right now.

Others Inspire Us

Rose Valland and E. Jean Carroll aren’t the only ones who inspire us. We see the tias in California with bullhorns following SUVs with tinted windows calling out ICE. We admire generations of Black women in the South who got out the vote through decades of ongoing voter suppression and intimidation. We remember the abuelas following Argentina’s Dirty War who filled Buenos Aires’ Plaza de Mayo each week demanding an accounting of the thousands who were disappeared and the grandchildren who were kidnapped. They give us courage.

A Final Truth About Auntie Fas

We’re at a stage of life when bodies start to fail, friends get sick and people die. Still, I wouldn’t choose any other age. It has a way of focusing you on what matters. Deepening relationships. We gain both a broader view and a longer view.

It’s not just about your children or grandchildren. Your niece or nephew. It’s about everyone’s children. Everyone’s rights. Everyone’s safety and future. That’s always been the case, but some feel it more deeply with age.

Meeting with like-minded friends these days, someone usually says something like “I may not live to see it, but we have to take the country back from these fascists.” Or, “I can’t stand the thought of leaving this world in such a mess.”

At its heart to be anti-fascist is to be caring. As long as there are fascists, there will be Auntie Fas.