If you are reading this, we trust that you already know what happened in Charlottesville, VA. on August 12, 2017. Maybe you were one of the thousands of people that responded to the white supremacist terror attack that day that killed Heather Heyer and severely injured 30 others by donating to one of the many crowdfunders that sprang up in the aftermath in support of the survivors. Maybe you attended the all-star benefit concert to support them. In the two years since that terrible day, maybe you’ve wondered what happened to all that money and how the survivors are doing now.

Star could fill you in on all of that. She was one of the people severely injured by James Fields Jr. in the attack, which left her with broken legs, a broken spine, and and other injuries so severe that she nearly lost a foot, has undergone five separate surgeries, and has been fighting to walk normally again for the last two years.

Some of the money never made it to any of the survivors, or was delayed for months and months thanks to well-meaning but inept/inexperienced organizers, pointless bureaucracy, and other problems. The $200,000 raised by the DSA probably being the most infamous case of this.

The money raised that actually reached the survivors was quickly eaten up by the massive hospital bills incurred by the 30 injured survivors. A fund set up specifically to pay the living costs of people whose injuries stopped them from going to work, is going to run out of money very soon.

This leaves the still-injured survivors in dire straits. One can’t afford the operation required to fix their back so she can work & support their kids again. Star is still facing additional surgery and is in dire financial straits because of all the limitations of her injuries.

This isn’t how we should be leaving the people who stood up to the most violent fascist gathering in modern US history and were badly, badly injured doing so. Every single person opposed to fascism and bigotry owes a debt to these survivors and it’s high time to pay that debt by making sure they’re taken care of. This is what anti-fascist solidarity means; this is why we established The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund in the first place; this is why we’ve supported Charlottesville survivors in the past; and this is why we didn’t hesitate to support Star now.

Donate to Star’s crowdfunder here.

Donate to The International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund here.