Olympia, WA – Hundreds gathered at Heritage Park in Olympia, on Saturday, January 18, to protest against the second inauguration of Donald Trump. People of all ages, genders and nationalities from dozens of organizations made up the Peoples’ March on a brisk, sunny afternoon.

Protesters put forward demands around the environment, indigenous sovereignty, economic justice , liberation for Black people, liberation for trans people, immigrant justice, reproductive justice, and freeing Palestine.

“We want everyone to be united in our movement to say ‘no’ to cages,” said Rufina Reyes, director of immigrant rights group La Resistencia, “This is the worst time to bow down our heads. We want people to stand up and say, ‘Here we are, and we have the right to fight for ourselves and fight for our families!’“

Immediately after the march to the Capitol, many of the crowd gathered at a community center a few blocks away for the Festival of Resistance. The Festival of Resistance, according to its program, “is a crucial opportunity to build community and solidarity, engage in outreach and education, and prepare to take collective action ahead of what is sure to be a tumultuous time.”

The first half of the gathering was a social hour where patrons ate free food provided by Food Not Bombs and mingled with other festival-goers. The second half of the programming included discussion groups such as “Organizing for Queer and Trans Liberation” and “Neighborhood Organizing” and workshops including “Prison Letter Writing” and “Anti-Repression Workshop,” just to name a few.

“The Festival of Resistance is important because we need to prepare for what’s coming under the Trump administration,” said Arlo Dalton, member of Palestine Action South Sound. “It’s going to be important to build our network to fight against these attacks. And if we want to be ready, we need to get started now!”

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