Protests Ignite the Streets of San Francisco in the Days Leading up to Trump’s Inauguration

by John R. Adkins
jradproduction@gmail.com
In the days before President Trump’s inauguration, cities around the globe saw their streets overtaken by protests. Thousands gathered in the Mission District and Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco, Calif., continuing a trend that began with the 2017 Women’s March, a worldwide protest that took place just after Trump’s first inauguration.

Dia de la Resistencia
More than a thousand people organized at 24th and Bryant Street in the Mission on Saturday, Jan. 18. On a day formerly reserved for the Women’s March, a convergence of organizations united to form Dia de la Resistencia, the Mission District’s own People’s March.
Led by a police escort and a contingent of Danza groups from across the Bay Area, the march drummed through the streets before ending up in Dolores Park for an afternoon rally of speeches and chants.
Katila Padilla of the Latino Task Force coordinated the various marches with Chicana activist Olga Talamante, resulting in a united front of the Women’s March, People’s March, Bay Resistance March and Immigrant Rights.
The Latino Task Force comprises many organizations, including Loco Bloco and Accion Latina.
Padilla operates a small consulting business and stated that she was there to represent all who supported the movement.
“How are we stronger?” Padilla called out to the crowd at Dolores Park. “Together!”
Padilla reminded the audience they were there to “support unequivocally our immigrant community.”


Traffic stagnated at intersections as the parade charged through. The crowd stretched for blocks in both directions with people from all walks of life carrying signs supporting immigrants, women’s rights and the liberation of Palestine. Spearheading the formation were the Danza Azteca performers, who swayed through the streets to the beat of drums.

“Latino Americans are often seen as foreigners here, but we actually have been crossing up and down these lands for thousands of years before the United States ever existed, so we have more rights to these lands than any government does,” said Johnny Rodriguez, a member of the local contingent of Danza groups.
“We have to be the hope for the rest of the country, send the message that there are people that care and love immigrants. We have to be that shining light right now for however long we need to do it,” Rodriguez said.
Throughout the parade, Rodriguez kept the copal incense alight, a tree sap that, when burned, serves as a sacred medicine for Aztec and Mayan cultures.



As the parade settled into a rally at Dolores Park, some anti-trans activists appeared with Trump signs and lamented over the Women’s March’s supposed rebranding.
Prominent among them was Beth Bourne, chair of a Moms For Liberty chapter. Bourne was not shy about her opinions when people swore as they passed her by.
When asked how she felt about the messaging of the protest she was attending, Bourne replied that she couldn’t tell what it was about. “It was going to be a women’s march, but then they changed it to a people’s march, and now it feels like an immigration rally,” said Bourne.
When Bourne was further questioned about her opinions on the threats of mass deportations, she replied that she didn’t actually have any since so much of her focus over the last five years had been anti-trans activism. It had almost taken up her entire life, she said.
Meanwhile, thousands gathered for the People’s March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, while hundreds of similar protests were held across the United States, many of which were in the surrounding Bay Area towns.

Padilla stated one of her goals in organizing the event was to empower the youth. Despite only having three weeks to plan, she said she was happy with the turnout and hoped the next event would bring even more people from counties across the Bay.
“We’re not just one organization; we are every single person walking down these streets in San Francisco,” Padilla said.
“We Fight Back”

The following day, on Jan. 19, hundreds of protestors gathered in front of City Hall in the Civic Center Plaza.
Sunday’s protest pales in comparison to the Civic Center protest on Jan. 20, 2017, which saw tens of thousands of people occupy the same plaza and protestors link hands along the Golden Gate Bridge. The contrast between 2017’s Trump reaction and today’s could illustrate both the general political fatigue and the recent shift in opinions among young voters. The Women’s March Protest on Jan. 21, 2017, remains the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.

“No matter how often the billionaire class tries to tear us down, we will continue to show up united,” echoed a speaker over the PA system. “Cease fire today, tomorrow liberation!” The crowd cheered. Jan. 19, 2025, also marked the first day a cease fire deal was reached between Israel and Palestine.
Ramsey Robinson, a social worker in the Bayview neighborhood and organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, led the audience in a chant. “People’s rights are under attack. What do we do?” The crowd roared in response: “Stand up, fight back!”
Robinson said during his speech that both Democrats and Republicans fail the people every four years by sending billions of tax dollars toward war efforts.

Another speaker, Laura Valdéz, executive director of Mission Action and organizer in the immigrant community, demanded better working conditions before declaring the immigrant community in America as one of the economy’s backbones.
“So many people are getting disillusioned by the two-party system,” said Meghann Adams, a Peace and Freedom Party member who showed up in support of the rally. Adams explained that the recent struggle for justice in Palestine allowed more people to see how the Democrats did not truly stand with them.
“We’ve hit a whole new level of people being disillusioned with the democrats, and there has been a shift for looking for another way.”
Adams explained that Sunday’s rally was a step towards building a movement to fight back against what the people might face in the coming years.

“We’ve gotta fight like hell for these incremental changes, but as long as capitalism is in power, we’ll probably lose the small benefits that we have,” said Ellen Murray, a protestor at the event. Ellen and her husband John are former Muni bus drivers and activists who helped organize labor unions and were instrumental in the fight against Muni’s “wage progression” program in 1985.
“In my opinion, U.S. capitalism is in decline right now, which makes them more desperate,” Murray said. “We need revolution.”
As the list of speakers cycled through on stage, the plaza continued to erupt with chants,
“Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation!”

The rally then disembarked from the plaza and began its march down Market Street, eventually returning to the plaza after trailing through the streets for many blocks.
“As an immigrant, and having immigrant parents, it really hits home to march and be the voice of those who cannot be here,” Angelica Remanche said.
“They want to kick us out, but what we want is to stay here to help make this country better. We work, bring food to the table, pay taxes, and yet we’re not even considered human beings with dignity here,” she continued.
Remanche is a Ph.D. student at the University of California Berkeley and the founder of a non-profit organization that assists impoverished children in Latin America.
“This is democracy. Democracy is making your voices heard,” Remanche said.