From the March-April 2019 issue of News & Letters

Oakland, Calif.—With just 72 hours notice, over 50,000 people came together in 48 states in almost 300 events to protest Donald Trump on Presidents Day. While the events were organized by MoveOn.org as a response to the fake emergency declaration, their call was answered spontaneously by many.

Photo: Urszula Wislanka for News & Letters.

Oakland’s organizers expected enough people to lie down to spell “No Wall” in 40-foot-tall letters. To their surprise, so many came that the letters were filled with people standing on their feet. Many had to stand on the sidelines, not finding spaces to fill. The letters could have been twice as wide and still filled with standing people.

While some of MoveOn.org’s organizers’ own agenda may not go beyond electing Democrats, people at the demonstrations came with many ideas. A large banner in Oakland called on California to become a sanctuary state. Other signs, in addition to the one pictured above, proclaimed, “Black Lives Matter,” “#NoDAPL.” Many wore pussy hats. We chanted, “Love, not hate, make America Great” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”

Creating space for discussing what we are for beyond our opposition to Trump and trumpism is vital for continuing the struggle.

—Urszula Wislanka