by Will Bishop
Outside the North Coast Co-Op, protesters spilled in from all directions — brandishing signs, flags and all manner of costumes, eager to voice their dissent and join their fellow citizens in peaceful protest. This past Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. on Oct. 18 in downtown Eureka a Humboldt Democracy Connections organized No Kings march made its way up 4th Street. They planned to join the main group of protesters outside the Humboldt County Courthouse.
No Kings is an international protest campaign intended to oppose the Trump Administration and fascism as a whole. The stated message, as seen on the official No Kings website, is as follows, “America has no kings, and the power belongs to the people.” An estimated five million Americans attended the previous protest in June, and this time the count was even higher, putting it around seven million.
The march started slowly as the sidewalks struggled to meet the capacity of the growing crowd. Still, the protesters remained orderly and respectful, with hardly a single person spilling out into the street. Finally, the march arrived at its destination, adding their numbers to a crowd estimated by some to be around 3,000 strong. The second No Kings protest was just getting started.
Protestor Gabe Vallee attended the No Kings march, his spirits high and expression joyful. This sense of optimism and camaraderie was frequently seen across the individuals in attendance. “These are all excellent Americans, you can tell,” Vallee said. “They got up here on a Saturday morning to be with their friends and to say, ‘we need to get rid of that guy.’”
Larry Passarini, a graduate of Humboldt State University who received his masters in education as well as a teaching credential from the institution, echoed Vallee’s sentiment. Passarini, as many others did, remarked on the sheer size of the crowd.
“I’m lovin’ it here,” Passarini said. “There’s tons and tons of people, more than the last time. About two, three months ago we had another one about three or four thousand people. There’s gotta be a lot more than that here now.”
Corbin Solomon, a veteran and longtime local, wore a Palestine banner around his neck and an Uncle Sam top hat on his head, and attempted to get a count of his own.
“I’ve been in Humboldt County for 40-something years, it’s the biggest crowd ever,” Solomon said. “I can’t move on the sidewalks. I tried to count the thinnest corner over here and I counted three hundred people and then I stopped.”
Upside down U.S. flags, Palestinian flags, Ukrainian flags, pride flags, peace flags and One Piece flags stood among the litany of causes held high in the air. Repeated signs were few and far between, with the vast majority of those in attendance electing to make their own. There were costumes abound, at times resembling a politically-charged early Halloween party. Upon noticing a dinosaur in the crowd, one attendee jested, “Are you a member of the Republican party?”
A small fleet of The Handmaid’s Tale cosplayers standing on the corner gloomed outward at the cars passing by. Their signs all followed the same template and highlighted the duality of our First Amendment rights, being used to both ensure that this assembly could freely take place and allow naysayers to offer their words of dissent.
“Because of the Constitution, you have the right to call me a nasty woman,” one sign read.
Democratic officials nationwide have begun to take more aggressive steps to combat the Trump Administration. Some of these steps, such as California’s upcoming special election on Proposition 50, have been met by certain citizens with a degree of hesitation — but today, support for Prop 50 was proudly on display.
Beverly Kummerling, a dedicated advocate with Prop 50 sign in hand, has been personally committed to ensuring it passes.
“I created a flier with all the points off of the website,” Kummerling said. “And at every protest I’ve been talking about Prop 50. I’ve been going door to door, I’ve been postcarding, I’ve been phonecalling and people are getting it.”
Still, with the vote’s deadline looming on Nov. 4, Kummerling was quick to address the difficulty of communicating its benefits to her fellow voters. She believes strongly in the measure, and doesn’t feel that arguments against it are made in good faith.
“It’s leveling the playing field, not gerrymandering. We didn’t want to do this,” Kummerling said. “Newsom gave Texas so many opportunities to back down and they didn’t. So, we’re gonna get this and we’re gonna win big.”
Community solidarity was strong. Music reverberated over the crowd and each time a group of cars drove by, hands waved out windows and palms jammed on their horns. A food drive held by Food Not Bombs, who co-organized the event, had a table at the base of the courthouse steps.
Elizabeth Abbott, one of the volunteers working the station, strongly encouraged anyone interested in the organization to reach out.
“We’re just out here collecting food that we can cook up and give people that are hungry as a free meal,” Abbott said. “We are by the Bayshore Mall by Applebee’s Mondays between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Anyone who’s hungry is welcome, regardless of their housing status or anything else.”
Protestor Mary Ann Loch spoke on the importance of the occasion while her husband nimbly played an acoustic bass in the background.
“There’s such power in assembly, and when we come together peacefully, and creatively, mountains can be moved,” Loch said. “Many hands make light work, so we don’t have to feel the burden of trying to change things overnight or immediately. But through enough assembly and policymaking, and voting with our dollar, mountains can be moved. And I think we are going to persevere.”
Will Bishop is a Cal Poly Humboldt journalism major. He is prone to writing essays about things that bother him, and fictional works about things that also bother him but in different ways. A highly bothered individual, and a lover of cinema, music, and large trees/rocks, he can often be found in the woods, dancing to bring down the sky.
Be First to Comment