On February 20, 1939, the German-American Bund, aka the American Nazi Party, held a huge rally at Madison Square Garden. It was a raucous scene inside and out, as protesters scuffled with police, who numbered 1,500.
Top photo: Associated Press
Bottom photo: Harry Harris for the AP
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Baby punks!
Listen up. I got a few tips and stuff.
1: Thrift everything. I'm not even remotely kidding. You can go MILES with the shit available at thrift stores and only spend like 10 bucks. I go to Goodwill about once a week and I find more than I even really need.
If you wanna make patches but don't have anything to cut up, just buy like 3 pairs of jeans for like 3 dollars and you'll be set up for a while. Cloth, clothes, gadgets, wallets, jackets, even shoes. If you're worried that punk is "expensive", you're not looking in the right places.
2: Five Below. They have really solid fabric paints and stencils you can get. Also check out Joann's and Michael's. They got needles, embroidery floss, fabric paints, fabrics, etc. But be wary about those two, prices are up due to inflation.
3: YouTube tutorials are your friend!! If you're confused about how to do something, take to the web. You won't get all your answers, but you sure will find how to attach a zipper to your pants.
4: Dental floss. This is brought up every time in these discussions because it works. If you need to sew something onto your pants, jacket, whatever, use dental floss. You can snatch some up at CVS. It is very helpful.
5: Find a jacket with wide armpits. Especially if it's denim and especially if you plan on adding zip-off sleeves. ESPECIALLY if you have armpit hair. Just trust me on this.
6: Do you drink soda/beer/other canned beverages? Because if you do, save them. The cans, the tabs, all of it. It can be very useful. The cans, you can turn into spikes. The tabs can be helpful for zippers, chainmail, whatever you might use them for.
7: Believe in what you're saying. Don't just claim you stand for human rights, put it into action. Learn. Understand that some women, black people, and/or other minorities are gonna be hesitant to trust you and understand why. Know when it is your turn to participate in a conversation, and don't force your way into a community or conversation that isn't yours. You're going to be in a strange place where you've been pushed away from all the bigots in your life but can't go to other minority communities because they don't know whether or not you can be trusted. And don't try to make them know that you're "one of the good whites/men/etc". You're gonna need to find community and put weight behind your words. A friend or a relative says something just a little bit off? Don't laugh it off, make them know it was wrong (my go-to is to stare at them in silence the moment they say it and not budge until they repent the comment). Nobody's gonna trust you unless you mean what you say.
8: Don't listen to the gatekeepers. Anybody who tells you "oh well, that's not really punk, you're a poser!" Is missing the point and is hence the real poser.
9: Participate in the culture! Really! Go to playlists, find local bands. Go to a punk show. Make friends, participate in rallies/protests.
10: Be you! Seriously, be you. Whatever you think would look cool or would be comfy, do it. Literally, if you wanna turn a winter coat into a battle jacket, go for it. The key to punk is expression. Don't feel like you've gotta meet up to everyone else's standards. Punk fashion should be a tool to help you find yourself and what you're comfortable in, what you enjoy. If you're doing something to fit in, you're doing it wrong, and you're doing yourself a disservice.
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In what’s likely the eeriest of countless eerie scenes at a Donald Trump rally, the former President on Saturday lamented the ugly chaos of these times while supporters raised one finger in an overhead salute reminiscent of the “Heil Hitler” gesture.
Trump ticked off his imagined list of current horrors in a kind of dirge with music playing in the background.
Several supporters, some with heads bowed, stood quietly in the audience with a single finger raised above their heads. Some viewers speculated that it referred to the nationalist “America first” slogan, while others claimed it was a symbol of QAnon, which Trump is increasingly espousing. Some in the audience were employing a modified white supremacy “OK” hate sign with only the index finger extended.
Aaron Rupar, a journalist who posts clips of Trump speeches, called the scene “one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen at a Trump rally, All it is missing is passing around Kool-Aid right after.”
When Trump first became president, he was shockingly hailed with the Hitler salute by members of the far-right National Policy Institute. Organization president Richard Spencer shouted, “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” Trump was not on the scene.
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Part of the crowd, estimated by police at between 10,000 and 15,000, that gathered on West 34th St. outside the Manhattan Center, April 23, 1941. The draw was Charles Lindbergh, who addressed a rally by the America First Committee. This was an isolationist group that lobbied to keep the U.S. out of World War II and believed that a Nazi defeat of Britain posed no danger to America.
Photo: Associated Press via Posterazzi
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