Progressive

Ever since the Magna Carta, people have had the right to petition their government for redress of their grievances. The Bill of Rights also guarantees the right of peaceable assembly to be heard.

The first event I attended was in Redwood City the same day as the main Women’s marches around the country the day after the inauguration. The event was billed as a “non-partisan, multigenerational gathering” to affirm the community values under attack by the new administration. Here’s a picture of the crowd. Between the tenor of the campaign rhetoric and the direction taken during the transition, it was clear from what people were saying and what they had on their signs what things were on people’s minds: women’s issues, the secret involvement by Russia in the election, threats to foreign residents, protection of the environment, the financial entanglements of a sitting President, and above all the growing credibility gap between the public statements coming from Washington and what the public is willing to believe. We listened to speeches from local politicians and community leaders and listened to various musicians including Joan Baez.

Among other songs, she led the crowd in singing a Spanish version of “We Shall Not Moved” which the largely (but not exclusively) Anglo crowd did gamely.