‘No Kings’ rallies draw a crowd in Eugene, protesting Trump, urging people to vote early

Hundreds of people gathered under the changing leaves in Alton Baker Park on Saturday, demanding change of their own. 

And after that “No Kings” rally, they marched across the Ferry Street Bridge with protest signs waving to hold a second demonstration outside Eugene City Hall.

“I’m here in particular because I feel very strongly that as Americans, we have taken our democracy for granted, and this is what happens when we don’t participate,” said Marcia Bloom, 73, who attended with her sister.

The rallies correlated with the Oct. 17 national day of protests against President Donald Trump.

The Activist Coalition of Eugene Springfield organized the first of the two rallies, in the park. 

“I think one of our major goals is to give people hope, remind them they’re not alone, and then give them resources to get involved with an organization that might align with their heart,” said Debbie Williamson with Activist Coalition of Eugene Springfield. 

Titled “The Peoples’ Tailgate: Feed, Fund, Defend,” the gathering in Alton Baker Park featured a fundraiser for Cascades Community Placement Services, a nonprofit that helps relocate and house vulnerable people. 

“They’re actionable ways that we can all do every day in our lives,” Williamson said of the theme’s three parts. “You do not have to wait for the next big ‘No Kings’ to make an impact. You can feed your neighbors. You can participate with different groups to make sure those who need it have the food that they need.”

She said community members can fund nonprofits and recommended organizations working with the immigrant and transgender community. 

“And then we really have to defend our neighbors who are being kidnapped by ICE, and we have to defend democracy,” she continued. “And that means we vote. We vote early, and we take our ballots to the ballot box.”

The event included speakers, live music, free food and art installations, including one called “Kick ICE Out” created by Kim Leval. It featured a pyramid of square boxes covered in white paper, each bearing the word “ICE.” Participants were invited to kick or throw another box at the pile. 

“I wanted something interactive that could educate people and engage people,” Leval said. 

At the conclusion of the event, a group called the Resistance Singers led the protesters across the Ferry Street Bridge to the Eugene City Hall plaza for the second event, called “No Kings: Vote Early.”

It was organized by Community Action Network, which includes Indivisible Eugene Springfield, United for Immigrant Justice, NAACP Eugene Springfield, the League of Women Voters, Friends Organizing for Racial Justice, 350 Eugene and Third Act. 

“When you look at the movement that’s being created, there’s a whole variety of tactics that are being used,” said Stan Taylor with Indivisible Eugene Springfield. “That includes trying to stop ICE actions in our community, help our immigrant neighbors, help our trans neighbors, create a community that we all want to live in.

“But it also includes voting because voting is strategically a way for us to interrupt power at the federal level and to begin to transition to a world we want to see.”

The event featured speeches from Johnny Earl, president of Service Employees International Union Local 503, the largest labor union in Oregon, and Demond Hawkins, the president of NAACP Eugene Springfield. 

Hawkins asked people to pay attention to their vote. 

“We hold the people accountable that are going before us,” Hawkins said. “We protect those that we send that are standing up for us, and those that are not, we replace them with those that will.”

And, this is not just national, he said. It’s local. 

“This matters with city council,” Hawkins said. “This matters with the school board. This matters with the county commission. This even matters with EWEB. This matters because it’s us. Because the more we do that, the more we send representations that look like us and respond to us that way, the more our community feels the way that we want it to be.” 

Speaking up for others

Grace Baman is concerned about facism in America and the rise of violence against women and people of color. 

“And I am married to a person of color myself, and also just, I care about people,” Baman said. 

The 52-year-old Eugene resident is a therapist and has worked in mental health for over 15 years. 

“I want to see people safe, fed, sheltered and prospering,” she said. “And I don’t see that in my community right now and in my country. So that’s why I’m here, to exercise my First Amendment right, while I still can, and to speak up on behalf of those who don’t feel safe enough to.”

Baman wants a safe and equitable America, “and I think we haven’t really ever been there, but we’re going the wrong way right now. So I’m just hoping that we can pull back from the brink and make it a safe and healthy society for everybody.”

Unified for change

Ani Noa wore a transgender pride flag around them as they placed a cardboard headstone in the ground with the name “Alex Pretti” written on it. Pretti was shot and killed by Customs and Border Protection officers in Minneapolis in January. 

“I’m present here today because I wish to see the abolishment of ICE, but I also want to see trans-human rights persevere. I want to see queer people live in peace. I want to see people not have to worry about their financial situation to find housing, to find food, to fight for the lives that they deserve,” Noa said. 

The 20-year-old Eugene resident said they appreciated the community, liveliness and music in Alton Baker Park. They recalled their first “No Kings” protest and said they “felt a lot of wonder.”

“Seeing so many people gather in one place and knowing that there are people around you who feel similarly about the state of the nation feels incredible,” they said. “Knowing that you are not alone and that people are here because they also want to see change, and seeing people so unified in a world that favors dichotomies and harsh contrasts between people is a very incredible thing.”

Faces of democracy 

Standing in the Eugene City Hall plaza, David Barajas held a large handmade yellow and orange flower with a convex mirror in the middle. Above the mirror were the words, “Faces of democracy.”

“The idea is that they see themselves in the mirror,” the 76-year-old Eugene resident said. “Right now they’re part of democracy, real active parts, rather than being passive.”

He has taken the sign to previous “No Kings” events, which he said “you can tell because there’s little dents in this thing.”

“It’s very exhilarating to see a lot of people here. Some I know, some I don’t know,” said Barajas, noting he has lived in Eugene for 52 years. “It’s nice to see them all just saying, ‘We care, we’d like something very different than what’s happening.’”

He is feeling “cautiously hopeful” about the midterm elections.

“There’s a part of me that doesn’t understand why even 10% vote for Trump and some of these people that are behind him,” Barajas said. “You know, it’s not just him. I mean, certain senators, certain congressmen, Mike Johnson, the lead speaker of the house, like I don’t know. It’s very weird. I feel like I’m caught in some kind of strange circus, but the circus is being run by, I mean, clowns is generous.”

Hope that everyone votes 

Scott Burgess’ first protest was in 1976 for farmworkers in California. 

“I believe that the brown people of this world have helped the white people for so long and got nothing, nothing back,” the 71-year-old Eugene resident said as to why he participated in that protest. 

As for Saturday’s event: “We are here to express our anger at the current administration, and we want it to change, and it better change this November, or you’re going to have people rising up everywhere,” Burgess said. 

He’s concerned about potential actions by the federal administration during the election, and said they “better not send ICE people or the National Guard or any other military agency to the polls this year.”

Burgess said it’s good that Oregon votes by mail, noting that Donald Trump “is trying to change that too.”

“I’m waiting to see what he tries to do right before the election or on Election Day,” he said. “But I hope that every single voter in this country gets out and votes.”

Protesting as a family

Kathe and Marcia Bloom protested as a family Saturday outside Eugene City Hall. 

The sisters, Kathe from Stratford, Connecticut, and Marcia from Springfield, Virginia, were in Eugene visiting their brother. 

Marcia said she liked that this “No Kings” event was focused on voting. 

“I am floored that having come of age in the era of civil rights, that we’re now fighting again for voting rights,” Marcia said. “I’m confident that when we come out and we express our voices, not just in protests, but at the ballot box and in between elections, then we get a government that works for us, not for the privileged.”

Her first protest was against the Vietnam war in the late 1960s, when she said it was harder to protest and protesters were labeled “un-American and unpatriotic.”

“I think there’s a much healthier view of protesters, I mean in general, in the U.S. today, than there was at that time,” Marcia said. “This is a legitimate way to express your opinion.”

Kathe remembered protesting with her sister at that time. 

“And again, it was so important, you know, to get out there and be heard,” she said. 

Kathe said their parents didn’t protest with them but felt strongly about getting their voices heard because they grew up with “racism and segregation and Jim Crow laws and everything else.”

Marcia, who described herself as an extreme optimist, said she thinks the more the government and the president try to constrain people’s votes, the more people will want to vote. And she said federal policies now are affecting a wider swath of people and more people have a stake in voting than before.

“A year ago, I think there were a lot of people who voted for Trump who thought, give him a chance,” Marcia said. “A year later, how many of them don’t have healthcare, are paying a lot for healthcare, are realizing that if they aren’t able to mail in their ballot, that affects them too, not just people of color or what have you. …

“So many of us have been wringing our hands, you know, going from shocking decision or action to shocking decision and action, and all saying, ‘What can we do? What can we do?’ Well, this is what we can do,” she said.

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