MOUNTAIN VIEW — In Mountain View, hundreds of people gathered to protest the actions of the Trump administration. Many were worried about their social security, health care and the president's stance on immigration.

Retired Superior Court judge LaDoris Cordell spoke at the Civic Center in Mountain View in front of hundreds of people. She had one message for her fellow Americans.

"Today was about not being indifferent and being an activist," Cordell said. "An activist can mean all kinds of things, but the bottom line: it means being an upstander. Standing up, speaking up, lawyering up, protesting up for justice and democracy."

Cordell lived through segregation and has been fighting for equal justice for people of color throughout her career. She was the first African American woman judge in Northern California.

In some ways, she sees similarities between the current uprising and the protests across the country in the 1960s, but says the stakes are higher.

"What's happening to this country now is very different from when I was protesting in the '60s," she said. "Why? Because in the '60s, there was really one issue. It was about racism, segregation. This time, it's about everything."

Many here had signs in hand, even draping signs on pets with dogs opposing the work of the Department of Government Efficiency.

"It's what I can do," said protester Laura Degenova. "I can't go back to Washington. This is my little part to take my felt pens and to come out here and to protest."

Degenova and others are concerned about how the first few months of the Trump presidency have impacted them.

"My Medicare, my 401k," Degenova said. "I worked as a nurse for over 37 years and to see my 401k drop $60,000 in one week. That's my savings."

"I want to stay in this country," Meerenai Shim said. "I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen and this is my home. Democracy is in peril, and I could not have imagined that this is a possibility in this country."

The crowd then marched down Castro Street, chanting and waving their American flags. Cordell said she was inspired as she looked out into the crowd.

"I always tell people I'm ever hopeful," she said. "I'm hopeful because so many people are coming out and speaking out."