About a month ago, Kathy Hume was one of only three people standing outside the Social Security offices in Chico protesting the Trump Administration. But today she was one of several hundred protesting cuts to Social Security infrastructure, as well as the expansion of executive power.
“He’s just a tyrant,” Hume said. “We got rid of mad King George and now it’s mad King Donald. There’s nothing he does that’s not ludicrous.” Adding that she thinks Trump is a poor speaker, Hume said, “Bigly wasn’t a word before he became president.”
Some 350 protesters lined up with anti-Trump signs today on Lassen Avenue and Cohasset Road near the north Chico offices of Social Security as thousands of people poured into the streets nationwide for anti-Trump demonstrations that had been planned for May Day, also celebrated as International Workers Day.
The Chico protest – a one-hour event beginning at 11 a.m. – attracted a crowd of mostly senior citizens, many of whom hadn’t attended demonstrations in years, if ever. A protest outside Social Security in Oroville drew another 70 people.
Organizers of the “Hands off Social Security” protests said they were urging lawmakers to “reject any cuts to Social Security benefits and to protect the program’s integrity.”
Brad Johnson wasn’t carrying a sign, but showed up to protest what he calls the “big picture.”
“It’s the destruction of democracy,” Johnson said. “It starts small and picks up speed.”
Johnson, 75, added that he receives $2,200 a month in Social Security benefits that he doesn’t want jeopardized. “The common denominator here is grey hair,” he observed.
The event was organized by the newly-organized Defenders of Democracy coalition that includes the Chico Peace Alliance, the Democratic Action Club of Chico and Indivisible Chico.
A group of women of different ages, wearing bright pink t-shirts that state “re-sisters,” were part of the Chico protest. LeAnn Jenswold, the organizer, said there are about 16 women who belong to the “re-sisters.”
Jenswold said it started with a few of the women “whispering” to each other at a Chico gym they belong to. They were feeling upset about the sweeping changes underway, she said, and began meeting outside the gym to support each other. But they also began acting.
The women attend the Resistance Lab trainings on Zoom held by Washington State’s Rep. Pramila Jayapal, she said, where they get tools and training in peaceful protest.
Those participating in the Chico event today were invited to write notes of appreciation to Social Security employees inside the building. The notes were dropped in a basket that was delivered to a security guard inside.
Protester Carol Watson said she came to “thank the Social Security people for their diligence, hard work and persistance. And, we want to see [District 1 Rep. Doug] LaMalfa in Chico.”
Coalition organizers thanked the note-writers by giving them pens that had been given the Chico Peace Alliance by Ben Cohen, the co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream company. The pens had little scrolls that pull out and show U.S. military spending.
Laurel Yorks, a spokesperson for the Defenders of Democracy coalition, said she is one of many people living on the financial “edge.”
“If we lost any part of [Social Security] I could lose my house,” she said.
A handout from the coalition says that Congressional Republicans are expected to extend the 2017 Trump tax cuts that will result in “more and bigger handouts to billionaires and corporations.”
Meanwhile, Congress has discussed “major cuts or rollbacks” to federal programs like Medicaid. The handout shows that cutbacks to California’s Medicaid program — Medi-Cal — would affect 43 percent of District 1 residents.
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol.