People rally in Oakland's Fruitvale District in protest of Trump administration
Protests over Trump administration policies have become a weekly and sometimes a daily occurrence in the Bay Area. On Saturday, a rally in Oakland's Fruitvale District demonstrated how people with different backgrounds and opinions united in opposition to the president.
Drums boomed out a rhythm in Oakland, but was it the drumbeat of a rising resistance? Latino immigrants who normally stay quiet have decided that their only hope is to make some noise. They and their allies gathered at the Fruitvale Transit Plaza to urge their community to take action.
"You carry the ability to organize and to pray and to fight back and to have critical hope," Dr. Cesar Cruz, a member of a group called Homies Empowerment, told the crowd. "Use your inter-generational wisdom for these times. Take care of each other. We've got to stay organized, we've got to stay united, we've got to stay committed. And we've got to figure out a way to take care of our people."
The appeals are coming from a variety of voices now. Angela Carlos de Silin is a special education teacher who sees it as a question of morality.
"Why? Why it has to be divided? Why no collaboration? Why no love, why no support? Why it has to be that way?" she said. "We are human beings. We all have a heart, all have a mission in this life. God made us different for a reason because there is the beauty of differences."
David Santos sees it as a class struggle. As a member of a group called the Revolutionary Communist Corps, he considers it an all-out fight against a dictator supported by wealthy interests.
"What's binding us together is a fight to defeat Trump fascism," Santos said. "The spearhead of what Trump's doing is immigration, but it's much broader than that. The whole Trump agenda has to be resisted and defeated with protests like this. His power has not been consolidated yet, and protests like this, if they grow, can create a political crisis big enough to where Trump can't govern. And that needs to be the goal."
The protestors took to the street, blocking International Boulevard as they met up with another group of marchers coming from East Oakland.
Leading the procession was a group of young students, among them Lluvia Arias, a 15-year-old Oakland resident. Although too young to vote, Lluvia said she and her friends have suddenly taken an interest in national politics.
"We all agree that this is not right and what's happening in the world right now is just not right," she said. "As long as you want to change it, you've got to reunite with everybody. You know, it's something that has been happening over the years and we just try and change it."
Yolanda Castillo mounted a P.A. speaker on the top of her van to make her voice heard. She's lived in Oakland for 25 years and said she was drawn to the protest because of the trauma she is seeing within the immigrant community.
"A lot of fear right now. Don't go out, stay home. Don't go looking for a job because we don't know what's going on right now with the immigrants," Yolanda said. "We need to support the rights of immigrants and rights of humanity in general. It's the people, it's the humanity...people. But the president doesn't think like me. So, we need to support the people right now."
Mr. Trump won the election, but the nation stands divided. Those who oppose him, coming from different backgrounds and for different reasons, are uniting for what they feel is a fight between a president and the people.
