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The new year has reenergized Redwood City liberals, as community resistors will take to the streets continually throughout January, including for an emergency protest on Saturday.
On Jan. 10, Indivisible Mid-Peninsula, a local group dedicated to progressive, grassroots activism, will join mobilizers nationwide for an “ICE Out Now” protest from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the corner of El Camino Real and Jefferson.
The emergency demonstration comes after the death of Renee Nicole Good, 37, a white mother of three who was fatally shot in her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday in Minneapolis, blocks away from the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer. It’s also prompted by the Thursday shooting of two in Portland by U.S. Border Patrol, who the feds allege are affiliated with the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela.
“I’m a white, 77-year-old, upper-middle-class woman,” said Indivisible Organizer JoAnn Loulan of Portola Valley. “If they arrest me, I know 20 lawyers and I can pay for them to come and help me. People like me need to be out there.”
Also on Saturday, in one of thousands that day, a general “non-cooperation” campaign will be hosted by One Million Rising, a national effort started in the summer “to train one million people in the strategic logic and practice of non-cooperation,” the organization states on its webpage.
This event will run from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday at 2124 Brewster Ave., where evidence-based ideas sourced from other anti-authoritarian movements will be spit-balled.
“If you’ve been feeling dread and are not sure what to do about it,” the event description states, “understanding what’s happening and how to respond is critical.”
Originally, the month’s hallmark local event, in solidarity with groups across the country for Global Day of Action, was a “No War on Venezuela!” protest on Saturday, Jan. 17, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 1250 Jefferson Ave.
The demonstration is based on President Trump’s polarizing direction on Jan. 3 to capture the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, in his stated interest to capitalize on the country’s rich oil reserves and address alleged narco-trafficking national threats.
The group Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) will continue to meet every Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. at the corner of El Camino Real and Jefferson Ave. to mobilize for environmental justice, housing justice, immigration rights, and reimagined public safety systems, among other causes.
More demonstrations in the area this month, just outside Redwood City, including a showing on Jan. 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and a “Nationwide Walk Out” on Jan. 20 from 2 to 5 p.m. The MLK Day protest will take place at the corner of Main St. and Highway 92 in Half Moon Bay, and attendees are encouraged to dress in all black and to refrain from bringing signs, as they’ll be provided. The walk-out will take place in San Jose (location pending) and will be organized by the nonprofit Women’s March and 50501, a group that organizes 50 protests in 50 states on one day.
In a video featured in a newsletter by Indivisible titled “Yes, protests work,” National Lawyers Guild spokesperson Brad Thompson said that protests, as part of broader social movements, strongly influence government policy by shaping public opinion.
“History has shown us that protests play an essential role in social movements,” Thompson said, “and that’s not just in this country, but it’s around the world.”
Community leaders inside and outside Redwood City encourage residents to take action and make their voices heard.
“If we don’t do anything, we’re gonna lose this democracy,” Loulan concluded.
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