Comcast Employees Rally in Opposition to Travel Ban

The news media called Thursday afternoon’s direct action by Comcast employees a walkout, but Mr. Sree Kotay, the Chief Technology Officer for Comcast Cable, defined it as a rally organized by privileged individuals to show solidarity with immigrants who are less fortunate and at risk of being denied the American dream.

Mr. Sree Kotay, Chief Technology Officer for Comcast Cable, at a rally outside his company's Center City Philadelphia headquarters. Photo Credit: C. Norris – ©2017

Born in India, Mr. Kotay said he is the embodiment of the American dream: born to a once poor father who became a professional and him, ascending to the executive suite of the world’s largest cable company measured by revenue.

Mr. Kotay on Thursday was the most visible company executive amid the rally, a direct action – which began at the shiny Comcast Center at 17^th & JFK Blvd and traveled to the grounds outside City Hall, where a few people, either immigrants or descendants of one, shared brief stories – of such a nature that it earned the right to be called unprecedented.

Mr. Sree Kotay was among the Comcast employees who marched to show solidarity with those endangered by travel ban. Photo Credit: C. Norris – ©2017

The catalyst for the rally was a grassroots employee group, a discussion that ignited high above the City in a swanky skyscraper and which resulted in hundreds of people who draw a paycheck from the multi-billion dollar media conglomerate marching in Center City Philadelphia with a police escort.

A historic action by Comcast it was indeed, but even more so worthy of note is the blossoming acts of solidarity and resistance that appear to have begun with the inauguration of Mr. Donald J. Trump as president and heightened once the travel ban, which impacts seven majority-Muslim locales, materialized via executive order. Sources at the Philadelphia Police Department say the number of direct actions is on a steady rise, with three scheduled for Thursday and at least three on the books for the day after.

Philadelphia City Councilwoman Mrs. Helen Gym – who was raised by immigrant Korean parents and who last Saturday at the Philadelphia International Airport stood with thousands of locals in opposition to the travel ban – this week said those who, in this moment, stand in solidarity with the endangered, are not protesters but rather participants in a broad social movement.

“This is not about a protest; this is a major movement that talks about challenging what we believe to be an imminent crisis within our nation about the state of constitutional freedoms,” the Councilwoman said Tuesday morning at City Hall when speaking at a press conference that announced the filing of, on behalf of families negatively impacted by the travel ban, a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. “Public movements matter… when people show up, we can change things,” she added.