Elder Americans and Activism

The Tattered American Flag, Hermosa Beach, CA 2016

The exhibit starts with the image of a Tattered Flag for our country has been viciously ripped apart along class, race, gender, and regional lines, leaving the nation’s democracy threadbare. The photos that follow aim to show our staunch and tenacious elders attempting to mend the frayed Republic.

Please Vote, Commemoration of Bloody Sunday and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Selma, AL 2015

By 2015, just two years after the Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court decision eviscerating the 1965 Voting Rights Act, it was clear that voter suppression was on the rise, especially aimed at Blacks. In 2022, as I write this, in addition to voter suppression, vote subversion threatens the ability of “we the people” to determine our government through the vote. While there is much to fix to make the vote more representative of the people’s will, it is well to remember that since the founding of the nation Americans have amended the Constitution so that the vote cannot be abridged on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, sex, or age (18 and older). To despair and withdraw from voting because the vote remains problematic is only to assure that the anti-democratic forces will use the vote to seize minority rule. As this gentleman urges, “Please Vote.”

Black Lives Matter, Commemoration of Bloody Sunday and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Selma, March 2015

In 2015, the Black Lives Matter Movement came to prominence. It was during the Obama administration, and the Movement was making the nation aware of police brutality against Blacks, and challenging Whites to examine not only interpersonal racism, but structural white supremacy and privilege. In 2020, though the nation was in a pandemic, the New York Times reported that 15 to 26 million people in the United States participated in Black Lives Matter protests after the murder of George Floyd. Young Whites, in allyship, played a large part. The Times concluded that, “the Black Lives Matter movement may be the largest movement in U.S. history.” In 2021 Republicans, reacting to this success, in a desperate attempt to maintain the status quo, introduced bills across the nation to limit and penalize protesters.

Woman with a Flag, America’s Journey for Justice, Washington, D.C. 2015

America’s Journey for Justice was a 900-mile march from Selma Alabama to Washington D.C. protesting civil and voting rights abuses. The march was after the notorious murders by police of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, as well as of so many other Blacks who were victims of police brutality. The Woman with the Flag came from Detroit and then walked from Selma to D.C. on the Journey. When asked by a Rabbi walking with her, why she had traveled from Michigan to do this, she replied, “Because they are killing our babies.”

I Love My Gay Son, Gay Pride Parade, Ashland, Oregon 2016

Since the overturning of Roe, Justice Clarence Thomas suggests the Supreme Court should consider overturning the entire line of privacy precedents. These precedents protect rights to contraception, private sexual conduct, and same-sex marriage. It now falls to Congress to protect these rights, and it is up to us to elect representatives who will support gender and reproductive justice through federal legislation.

Nasty Woman, The Woman’s March, Los Angeles, CA 2017

The insult Trump used for his female opponents was “nasty.” The word was meant by him to be degrading. Women, however, took back the word as their own, hoping to emasculate his misogyny. The pussycat hat she wears was designed to be a unifying symbol for women in response to Trump’s statements about groping women. The reference to “pussy” in the hat’s name, is a rebuke of Trump’s “Grab ‘em by the pussy” comment. There is some debate by feminists about whether the hats are intersectional and inclusive.

For My Grandchildren, The Woman’s March, Los Angeles, CA 2017

As early as 2016, women feared that their human rights would be curtailed under the Trump administration. The Trump Supreme Court appointments validated this fear with Roe v. Wade being overturned in 2022.

Indivisible, The Woman’s March, Los Angeles, CA 2017

Protect Free Speech Online, Street Protest, Torrance, CA 2017

Demonstrators met on a busy street corner attracting the evening commuters. Net Neutrality in the U.S. means that internet service providers must treat all content equally so that there is a free and open internet except for where the laws are broken. The Trump administration was considering various fee rates that would give certain users higher speed access and others not, as well as having content access also dependent on fees. Here elders came together to demand net neutrality and tied the issue to one of free speech.

Hands Off, Street Protest, Torrance, CA 2017

The Trump administration was eager to dismantle Obamacare and Republicans were scheming to privatize Social Security. Here, with wild enthusiasm, elders demonstrated to keep their benefits and to promote Medicare for All, a form of national healthcare.

Impeach, Street Protest, Torrance, CA 2017

Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, was twice impeached, a first for a U.S. President. The calls for his impeachment came almost as soon as he was elected. Some people were concerned with Trump violating Constitutional principles and procedures. Others considered ethical issues around the divestment of his business interests focusing on the Foreign Emoluments Clause. The first impeachment was for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to the investigation into foreign interference in the 2016 election. The second impeachment was for incitement of insurrection tied to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Kleptocratic Thieves, Street Protest, Torrance, CA 2017

With Trump and his family came the widespread belief that the U.S. government was becoming a kleptocracy. Kleptocracy is a government with corrupt leaders who use political power to appropriate the wealth of the people and the land they govern for their own benefit, typically misappropriating government funds at the expense of the governed.

Keep the Net Free and Equal, Street Protest, Torrance, CA 2017

Ban MHF, Air Quality Management Meeting, Environmental Protest, Wilmington, CA 2018

Groups came out to resolve the problem of the dangerous chemical modified hydrofluoric acid (MHF). Used for decades at the Torrance Refinery and Valero's Wilmington Refinery in Los Angeles County, MHF is potentially disastrous in an accident, a natural disaster, or terror attack. While all parties spoke about safety, each had its own agenda. Community members asserted that safety must come first as hundreds of thousands could die in an MHF release. However, competing claims under corporate capitalism were dominant: those by the government hoping to adjudicate options under legislated powers and constraints; union and non-union workers wanting to avert a potential refinery closure and job loss; the oil company seeking to assure profits, and the local Chambers of Commerce fearing plant closure would result in business losses. The event was an indication of the conflicting forces that come to bare in hoping for environmental change.

On the Floor Blocking the Governor’s Door, Poor People’s Campaign Protest, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 2018

The Poor People’s Campaign encourages allyship in the hopes of forming a fusion of movement organizations leading to a Third Reconstruction. Consequently, at this demonstration, many groups came bringing with them issues that cohered with the aims of the Campaign. Here, seated in front of the Capitol police, elders link arms blocking the door of Governor Jerry Brown, in order to draw attention to the suffering of low-wage workers and the poor in California.

Native American Elder and the Poor People’s Campaign Protest, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 2018

Stop Family Separation, Poor People’s Campaign Protest, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 2018

Veterans for Peace and the War Economy, Poor People’s Campaign Protest, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 2018

Kidnapping is a Crime, Families Belong Together Protest, West Hollywood, CA 2018

At a West Hollywood rally called Families Belong Together, hundreds gathered to protest the Trump administration’s heartless policy of separating children from their families who were seeking asylum at the border. The aim of the rally was to ask Americans not to be complicit in the terrorizing and traumatizing of vulnerable people fleeing horrific conditions that were, in part, created by US policies over decades of intervention in Latin America. Here a doll is used to remind us that even babies were taken from their mothers.

Never Again, Families Belong Together Protest, West Hollywood, CA 2018

While the Nazis come to mind thinking about separating children, there are examples closer to home: Native American children taken from parents; slave families destroyed; Japanese American families interned, and today millions of children separated in the US because of mass incarceration. Is it Never Again or Yet Again?

Make America Human Again, Families Belong Together Protest, West Hollywood, CA 2018

While most people were focused on the cruelty at the border by Trump officials, ICE raids were creating a state of terror for children in communities across the US. According to CNN, in DC, a 12-yr old child of undocumented immigrants spoke saying, “I don’t like to live with this fear. It’s scary. I can’t sleep. I can’t study. I am stressed. I am afraid that they will take my mom away while she is at work or driving home.” Thus, the sign in the photo pointing to the inhumanity that has become normalized in America.

A Veteran for Peace, California Democratic Convention, San Diego, California 2018

This veteran is moving to Tijuana where many deported veterans have ended up. He wants to help them. The Veterans Visa and Protection Act, introduced in the House with a companion bill in the Senate, would require Homeland Security to create a program allowing deported veterans to return legally, and would stop removal of vets facing deportation. Though reintroduced year after year, the bill has not passed.

Protect Kids Not Guns, March for Our Lives, Hermosa Beach, CA 2018

The murder of 17 young people on the campus of Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida saw a nationwide March for Our Lives protest. In 2022, the murders at Uvalde, Texas of 19 children and two adults points again to the power of the gun lobby in determining the fearful environment in which Americans exist. The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution states that one reason the Constitution was established is for government to “insure domestic tranquility.” Until federal and state representatives pass reasonable gun safety laws, there will never be “tranquility.”

Gun Reform, March for Our Lives, Hermosa Beach, CA 2018

She Persisted, Women’s March, Redondo Beach, CA 2019

Throughout the Trump presidency, women across the nation continued to march in opposition to his policies. At the Women’s March of 2019, this vibrant, creative woman made the hat, the cape, and a bag to match her empowerment costume. Note that the tee-shirt design is from one of the first female Democrats to announce her presidential candidacy in 2020, Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Still Resisting, Women’s March, Redondo Beach, CA. 2019

As early as 2018, with the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, men and women across the nation began to worry about Roe v. Wade being overturned. Support for Planned Parenthood grew and the resistance to Trump included opposition to his pledge to overturn Roe. Tragically, Roe was overturned in 2022 thanks to the three judges Trump was able to get appointed during his term.

Truth is Sacred, Women’s March, Redondo Beach, CA. 2019

Donald J. Trump descended the escalator in Trump Towers to announce his candidacy in 2015 spuing racist lies. He ended his presidency with “The Big Lie” about a stolen election resulting in an attempted coup. Truth matters. But is truth sacred? Transcendent? Over the centuries philosophers proposed different theories of truth. And every day, each of us operates on our personal truths. Yet democracy requires we go beyond personal truths. Democracy necessitates we reach consensus about the truth to allow for collective decision-making and action. This, in turn, let’s us be self-governing. And self-governance is a deep and vital expression of our freedom. If we abandon a shared sense of truth we abandon our freedom. Is this man holding a warning sign?

Trumpism is Fascism, Solo Street Corner Demonstration, Sacramento, CA 2018

Is it Fascism? Jason Stanley, who wrote How Fascism Works, commenting on Trump’s speeches, called them not only clearly fascist rhetoric, but implied the speeches could indicate a fascist blueprint for Trump’s next term. Democracies do fall, Stanley reminds us! Stanley highlights Trump’s “us and them” divisiveness/racism; sinister vilification of the Democratic Party trying to render a two-party system illegitimate; signaling approval of paramilitary groups; demonizing Constitutionally protected protesters; delegitimizing the vote by setting up an argument for election fraud, and his attempts to label anti fascists (antifa) a terrorist organization. And add to the list, the Insurrection of 2021 and attempted coup.

In Memoriam, Amelia Boynton Robinson (1911-2015), Civil Rights Leader, Selma, 2015

Pictured here, age 103, at the Commemoration of Bloody Sunday and the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, this event was one of the last demonstrations Ms. Robinson attended. Photos of her from Bloody Sunday in 1965, tear gassed and beaten by State Troopers with their vicious dogs, drew hundreds to Selma for the second attempt to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Ms. Robinson was a lifelong activist and Foot Soldier Gold Medal recipient. Here she is shown in a wheelchair, surrounded by people who formed a protective circle around her with clasped hands, as they helped her cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge with the thousands of demonstrators. "Make way for Miss Robinson," they called out, and despite the claustrophobic conditions on the narrow bridge, the crowds parted in deep respect for this hero.

In Memoriam, Ivy Bottini (1926-2021), LGBTQ Activist, Families Belong Together Protest, West Hollywood, CA 2018

Seen here at one of the last demonstrations she attended, at ninety-one-years-old, Ivy Bottini spoke at the rally to stop child separations at the border by the Trump administration. She was a dynamic lesbian and feminist. An artist, one of her early feminist works was the unfurling of a banner saying “Women of the World Unite” on the Statue of Liberty.

In Memoriam, Dick Gregory (1932-2017), Civil Rights Activist, America’s Journey for Justice, Washington D.C. 2015

Pictured here on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial as part of America’s Journey for Justice, this was one of the last demonstrations this comedian, artist-activist, and civil rights icon attended.