“I think in the 70s, activists among us thought we were approaching a dystopian, fascistic future, and part of our response to the FBI–refusing to name names just because agents wanted us to–was out of that fear. Now I think, those times were a precursor; Nixon was an extremist in some ways, but he ultimately resigned rather than declare martial law. Congresspeople went to bat for us and others targeted with grand jury abuse. Rights groups achieved a great deal through the courts and legislatures in the ensuring decades. Now, we are in the early months of a genuine autocratic takeover of the entire federal apparatus. As I reflect on the repression of those times, including our grand jury contempt case, I can’t help thinking of it as a sort of trial run for far-right forces. After all, jailing ordinary people, not even suspected of crimes, for not talking to law enforcement agents on the spot, is ludicrous in a democracy. Back then, the far-right world view was held off enough to repel these maneuvers, eventually. Now it is orders of magnitude more powerful.” – Jill Raymond