Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles has watched over Los Angeles for nearly 250 years. The Spanish Pueblo that became our City of the Angels was founded—and named—in 1781, the year that the Founding Fathers of the United States, having declared themselves free of kings and tyranny, adopted the first Constitution. Our city has weathered many storms, and once again we are at the center of one. Cover photography, concept and design by Urs Baur
On July 23, 1843, Henry David Thoreau famously spent a night in jail as an act of civil disobedience opposing slavery. He wrote: “Cast your whole vote, not a piece of paper merely, but your whole influence. A minority is powerless when it conforms to a majority; but is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight. If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose.”
Nearly two hundred years later, those words still resonate. Many local activists will be headed for Downtown Los Angeles to take part in the June 14 No Kings peaceful protest, 10 am to 2 pm at Los Angeles City Hall, but peaceful protestors have been gathering in LA all week to oppose the Trump administration’s draconian immigration policies, despite the presence of first the National Guard and now the US Marines, deployed by President Trump over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
up peacefully and refusing to look away. —
Photo by Urs Baur
The June 14 No Kings protest, organized by Indivisible and a coalition of more than 100 pro-democracy advocacy groups, was planned long before people took to the street this week in Los Angeles to protest the ICE raids, but everyone protesting shares common concerns about the current administration’s attacks on civil rights, due process, and the rule of law. The event on Saturday is expected to draw large numbers of protestors, while the immigration policy protests are expected to continue.
Information on the No Kings march in Downtown LA protest can be found at www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/791814/
Indivisible Topanga is organizing an event from 11 am to 1 pm at 6600 Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Woodland Hills. Learn more at https://indivisible-topanga.org. There is also a protest in Malibu, from noon to 1 pm at the Civic Center: https://www.mobilize.us/peoplefordemocracy/event/787222/
The organizers of No Kings stress that these are peaceful marches, an opportunity for participants to legally and constructively use their Constitutionally protected right to assemble and engage in free speech, but the presence of the military here in Los Angeles may complicate that directive. Everyone planning to participate is encouraged to take the time to understand their rights.
The ACLU has a helpful resource on rights for protestors: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights#im-attending-a-protest
The NRDC also has practical advice for protestors, including some good safety tips: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-protest-safely
Physicians for Human Rights offers advice on protecting against tear gas and other chemical irritants—already a real concern for protestors in Downtown Los Angeles this week: https://phr.org/our-work/resources/preparing-for-protecting-against-and-treating-tear-gas-and-other-chemical-irritant-exposure-a-protesters-guide/
Protesting is an important tool, but so is taking a moment to call or email our elected officials and make sure they know what our concerns are. We aren’t just limited to contacting our own representatives, we are free to express our opinions to any or all of them. Contact the senators of your choice at www.senate.gov, and congress at www.congress.gov.
The Summer Solstice arrives on June 20, at 7:40 pm. Somehow, we’ve almost made it to the halfway point of the year, through fire and flood and dark times, to midsummer. For many of us, this has been a grim chapter, but it is only a chapter. Life and history roll on. The slopes of lower Topanga Canyon that were burned into a wasteland in January are now covered in purple phacelia flowers, fire followers that only appear after wildfire. Many of the homes destroyed in the disaster have been cleared. Plans are underway to rebuild or to move on, and even the most difficult decisions move us forward.
And on the national stage? Nothing can stop the pendulum of time or turn it back. The moral universe that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of still tends towards justice, even if the arc can sometimes appear so long that its curvature isn’t visible. A day will come when all of this is in the past. History. How we view this chapter and how long it is depends on us. It is up to us to stand up and speak out for the things we believe in, but also to do it lawfully, peacefully, and with compassion as well as conviction.
Stay safe, be well. Happy Father’s Day!
