by Yucheng Tang
posted Jan. 18
Hundreds of people joined the People’s March on Chico today, marching from City Plaza to the Women’s Club as many passing drivers honked in support, prompting cheers and screams from the protesters.
Lead coordinator of the People’s March Chico coalition and Women’s March Chico, Angela Silva, said the coalition formed in “response to Trump’s second election. We have welcomed in so many groups.” Silva said more than 500 people participated in the march and rally.
“On the national level, there is a massive list of groups that have come together across the nation, understanding that we’re going to need to work together to fight for our human rights, and to not abide by the injustices that may come out of this incoming administration,” Silva added.
Kimberly Keller, a Chico resident for the past decade who participated, worries about the country. “Everything is bad — education, health care. Women’s rights obviously are under attack. LGBTQ rights are under attack. We’re losing our freedoms, our privacy through things like social media and the Internet mining our data.”
But Keller is optimistic and believes in the possibility of change: “We just gotta start somewhere and do better. It’s not great, but we can hopefully turn it around. Community action is really, really important. You have to start here. We can’t do anything on a national or international level without starting in your local community. So marching, voting in every election from dog-catcher to president, you have to do it all because it’s what changes things.”
Redding’s Ann Bernadett Coe came to Chico today for the march. Coe worries about the safety of immigrants.
“I do not want to see mass deportation. I think criminals should be deported, but we don’t want to see our neighbors rounded up and sent to Mexico when they’ve lived here for 20 years and own a business and hire people and pay taxes. There should be a pathway to citizenship (for them) that is shorter than the current one.”
Yucheng Tang is a California Local News Fellow who produced this video and story for ChicoSol.