On 22 September 2025, when Donald Trump announced a decree to categorize 'antifa' - a generic term for anti-fascism - as a 'terrorist organization,' Rutgers history professor, and New York Times bestselling author, Mark Bray little suspected his life was about to change radically. Years earlier, Bray had written a history book called Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook, and soon after Trump's decree, the right-wing student organization Turning Point USA petitioned for Bray's dismissal from his job. This was quickly followed by a series of increasingly virulent social media attacks, culminating in online death threats that included his home address. In the wake of the Charlie Kirk murder, Bray took the threats seriously and tried to flee the country with his wife and two small children - only to be stopped at the airport and interrogated by Department of Homeland Security agents. Eventually, amidst an explosion of international media attention, Bray and his family managed to escape to Spain. But the experience left him a wreck. In Notes From a Fascist Present, Bray offers a crucial meditative roadmap of the tragedy of the fascist present in the United States, and hopeful visions of a post-fascist future.
