San Diego Free Press

Grassroots News & Progressive Views

You are here: Home / Archives for Activism / #ResistanceSD

After the March for Our Lives, What Will You Do? Progressive Activist Calendar March 23-April 2, 2018

by

With rallies in over 830 cities worldwide, a handful of survivors of the Valentines Day shootings in Parkland Florida will have inspired one of the single largest expressions of political protest in history. The March for Our Lives can’t end when the day’s events have concluded.

If there ever was a time when assuming everything will be okay in the long run was a bad idea, this is it. There’s an unhinged man-child of privilege in the White House who is seemingly hell-bent on undermining the ideals most people believe this country was founded on. All forms of bigotry, be they racist, misogynist, or religious intolerance, are now being normalized. History clearly shows the next step on this path will be the state using its power to abet or conduct violent acts against those considered the ‘other.’

If you have not registered to vote, do so now. Everything you need to know, including how to register online is to be found on this page at the Women’s March San Diego site. Hopefully, someday they’ll do me the favor of listing this calendar in their Activist Resources.

A revolutionary way to learn about local politics: don’t miss the unique forum on the first Sunday in April, hosted by Flip the 49tth activists.   [Read more…]

Free Lyft Rides for March for Our Lives Attendees in San Diego, 49 Other Cities

by

On March 24, those around the country will join March for Our Lives demonstrations to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. This movement has been led by student organizers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, which less than a month and a half ago was the site of one of the nation’s deadliest school massacres.

Earlier this month, Lyft Co-Founders John Zimmer and Logan Green shared their support for the civic engagement these students have inspired by offering free Lyft rides to marches around the country.   [Read more…]

The Impact of the Student-Led March for Our Lives, Even Before Local and Nationwide March 24 Rallies

by

The mission and moral clarity of the student survivors of the Valentines Day shooting in Parkland, Florida continues to have a nationwide impact. Locally there will be March for Our Lives rallies on Saturday in Temecula, Escondido, and downtown San Diego. And these mass gatherings are not occurring in a vacuum.

Indivisible 49 and its coalition partners moved its weekly protest on Tuesday from the Vista office of Rep. Darrell Issa to the Oceanside office of State Assemblyman Rocky Chávez, who seeks to replace Issa in Congress.  Several hundred people showed up to make their feelings known about Chavez’s 93% approval rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its endorsement during his last campaign.

The Del Mar City Council is asking directors of the nearby fairgrounds to end their relationship with the Crossroads of the West Gun Show, held there five times a year. According to the Union-Tribune, they have also reached out to 78th District Assemblyman Todd Gloria and State Sen. Toni Atkins to draw up legislation prohibiting gun shows at the facility. The City of Solana Beach will be considering a similar action.   [Read more…]

Rapid Response Network Needed More Than Ever After Recent ICE Arrests

by

By Edward Sifuentes

While much of the local media’s attention was focused on President Trump’s March 13 visit to the border wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, a team of ICE agents deployed throughout Escondido early the same morning and arrested 22 people.

The agents were allegedly targeting people who had deportation orders, but they also picked up undocumented immigrants who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. In ICE jargon, those arrests are known as “collaterals.”

Later in the week, ICE announced the three-day operation netted a total 115 people, including seven in Imperial County. Most of them – 65 – had no criminal convictions.   [Read more…]

The National School Walkout: Welcome to the Future

by

Sometimes just the act of standing up against injustice starts to make things right.  Speaking the truth to power can be redemptive. That’s how it felt last week as I watched my own family and my students (who I love like family) take part in the National School Walkout Day.  If you are middle-aged like me and have participated in too many protests and political activities to count, it’s easy to start to see activism as work, a job that needs to be done but takes its toll– particularly in these grim times.  You get tired, weary of the endless fight.

Then, once in a while, something happens that gives you renewed life, helps you see the world again with fresh eyes.

That’s what watching my kid get ready for the Roosevelt Middle School Walkout did for me. One night as he was talking about the planning with me, I asked him why he believed it was important for him to do this.     [Read more…]

It’s Time to Start Thinking About the June 5 Elections Progressive Activist Calendar, March 16-26, 2018

by

It’s off to the races time. The June Primary races, that is.

The deadline for candidates to file has passed, and now it’s time or the sorting process to begin. Over the past few months, various organizations have vetted candidates. Some have already made endorsements. (We’ll have a list of who likes who posted next week.) Others are still in the process.

There is already a major controversy in Democratic circles triggered by endorsements announced by Micky Kasparian’s rump labor organization, the Working Families Council. I will write more on this shortly.   [Read more…]

500 Rally in San Ysidro Against Trump and His Wall

by

In a parking lot of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in San Ysidro, 500 San Diegans rallied against President Trump and his wall. Trump was over at the prototypes during part of the rally.

The general theme, “Build Bridges Not Walls”, was highly visible as a variety of faith-based organizations and groups that have mobilized since Trump’s election came together to oppose his policies on the wall, immigration and other issues. Folks from Women’s March, Indivisible, ImpeachTrump mingled with immigrants’ rights groups and Democratic party activists.   [Read more…]

Protest Journal: Trump’s San Diego Visit

by

There were to be no groups exercising their free speech in the “Free Speech Zone” on the occasion of President Donald Trump’s border wall prototypes inspection tour.  Organizers took a look at what was being offered by the San Diego County Sheriffs and said “no thanks.”

Both anti-Trump/Border Wall protests scheduled near the site of the prototypes in Otay Mesa during President Trump’s visit relocated themselves to San Ysidro late on Monday.

***This post will be updated throughout the day***   [Read more…]

UPDATED: What’s Happening During Trump’s San Diego Visit

by

The President of the United States is coming to one the safest cities in the United States to complain about crime and immigration. No doubt he’ll echo this weekend’s Saturday address expressing his unhappiness with California’s defiant stance on cooperation with federal authorities:

“California’s leaders are in open defiance of federal law,” Mr. Trump said. “They don’t care about crime. They don’t care about death and killings. They don’t care about robberies. They don’t care about the kind of things that you and I care about.”

President Donald Trump will fly into Miramar Marine Corps Air Station on Tuesday morning, sometime between 9 and 11am. He’ll make a late morning/mid-day appearance at the site of the Border Wall prototypes in Otay Mesa, returning to Miramar to make a speech before TV cameras at 2pm.

NOTE: Both protest events originally scheduled for Otay Mesa have moved to San Ysidro due to safety concerns.   [Read more…]

Progressive Groups Hope to Fund Digital Billboard at Border Crossing for Trump Visit

by

If protests aren’t your thing, there’s now another way for San Diegans to express their opposition to Trump.

As I’m writing this post on Saturday morning, there are a half-dozen protests, press conferences, and rallies announced in anticipation of a Presidental visit to San Diego for the purpose of inspecting prototypes of a border barrier erected in Otay Mesa. Additional responses are being organized for an expected stop later in the day by Trump at a GOP fundraiser in Beverley Hills.

Fourteen organizations in the San Diego have joined forces to fundraise for a digital billboard aimed at countering the pro-Border Wall message Donald Trump is expected to deliver on Tuesday, March 13. The 10 X 20 Digitron billboard at the San Ysidro border crossing, will be visible to those crossing the border from Tijuana. It is expected the message will garner up to 150,000 daily views during the average 100-minute border wait, running for 20 seconds every hour, 24 hours a day for 28 days.   [Read more…]

Black Women, Anti-Trump, & Student Protests! Progressive Activist Calendar March 9-19, 2018

by

This is likely to be a historic week for activism in San Diego. Black Women will march to build power and community on Saturday, Anti-Trump Protests will span Monday & Tuesday, and students from five colleges, along with 29 elementary thru high schools will walk out for 17 minutes on Wednesday to protest gun violence.

Plus! There are thirty-two other opportunities to educate, organize, demonstrate, and engage with progressives throughout the region. Whether it’s electoral politics, teach-ins, grass root community activism on neighborhood issues, there’s something to do.

I’ll maintain and update a page about anti-Trump demonstrations here. Email me dougporter@sandiegofreepress.org or tag me on Facebook if you have information that needs to be added. Oh, and the County of San Diego is kinda freaking out about demonstrations near the border; learn about those restrictions here.   [Read more…]

County Announces Restrictions for Border Protests During Trump’s Visit

by

The County of San Diego has announced Temporary Area Restrictions in the area near the Border Wall prototypes effective March 9 -16.  Via the Times of San Diego, here’s their release directed at people planning to demonstrate during Trump’s visit.

It has been widely advertised that there will be a Presidential visit to San Diego during the second week of March. This visit may prompt individuals and groups with contrasting opinions to gather in the area near the Border Wall Prototype Construction in Otay Mesa.

In preparation for demonstrations and in an effort to protect the rights of citizens to peacefully protest, the Sheriff has requested and been granted Temporary Area Restrictions by the San Diego County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer. Anyone found to be in violation of these Temporary Area Restrictions will be prosecuted pursuant to County Regulatory Code sections 32.1501 and 11.116.   [Read more…]

©2010-2017 SanDiegoFreePress.org

Code is Poetry