June 10, 2023
Dear editor;
Awake Americans, a national affiliate of Awake Illinois, is using Naperville as a launch pad for its views and actions that contradict and undermine our City’s pledge to diversity, equity, and inclusion. A public statement from mayor Scott Werhli and the City Council, to tell them they are not welcome here and confirm support for and defense of communities and workplaces under attack, is urgently needed.
Awake groups across the country are at the forefront of book-bannings and spewing untruths about the LGBTQ+ community, specifically targeting transgender people and drag queen story hours at public libraries. They use bullying tactics to shut down events and undermine public schools and teachers who educate children on the history of racism.
It is no accident that Shannon Adcock, Naperville’s founding Awake Illinois member, is using Juneteenth and LGBTQ+ pride celebrations to be host to Awake Americans at Hotel Arista, 2139 City Gate LN June 12 to advance an expanded agenda with a panel entitled “Woke 101: Is Marxism in America?”
Marxism, socialist ideas, and left parties have led political, social and labor movements in the U.S. for centuries. I’m a Marxist Feminist who has distributed the Freedom Socialist newspaper for 50+ years. The right wing fears us and our publications for truth-telling and building unity among the working class and our allies, so it raises the specter of Marxism in the U.S. to cause suspicion and fear. Remember the 1950s and 1960s when those suspected of being communists or homosexuals were forced out of jobs, and some put in prison and mental institutions?
Book bans are the tip of Neo-Nazi agendas! Urgent united mass action is needed to nip them in the bud!
Mary Ann Curtis, Naperville