Just before noon on March 28, the sidewalk in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse was packed with protesters who covered the curbs along Fifth Street for three blocks. Costumes that have become familiar in the last decade — red-robed handmaids, a camouflaged Uncle Sam, a pair of inflated unicorns — dotted the throng, along with inverted American flags and protesters kitted out for 1776.
Thousands showed up for the third national No Kings Day protest in Eureka, and smaller gatherings planned around the county in Ferndale, Trinidad, Garberville and Shelter Cove.
According to Matt Knowles of Humboldt Democracy Connection, Ferndale saw 100 attendees, while a press release from Indivisible Trinidad touted between 350 and 400 protesters in the tiny town.
Unlike recent protests that yielded arrests, protesters in Eureka and the signs (both humorous and harrowing), artwork, music, effigies and costumes were overwhelmingly met with encouragement from passing cars and the occasional festooned bike in the form of raised fists and nearly continuous honks and waves. Traffic was more controlled, too, with J Street’s intersection at Fifth Street blocked to traffic and pedestrian crossing limited to one lighted intersection.
In the lot across from the courthouse, a woman let those on the way to Fifth Street know about the pile of extra signs in the grass for those who want them. On the sidewalk, another woman stopped to relocate a pin in a man’s stuffed Trump doll, laughing. “I hope it works,” she called back as she returned to the stream of people moving along the block.
“Me, too!” the man answered, grinning.
In front of the courthouse, volunteers set up a long table with 18 clipboards for petitions ranging in topic from taxing billionaires to rideshare assaults. A woman with a sign reading, “Drop Files, Not Bombs” bent to sign one as her companions perused the offerings. A smaller table next door was presided over by a couple of people talking with passersby about stacks of fliers and pamphlets held down with rubber bands, occasionally chasing a handful down when the wind caught them. Some were about upcoming talks or drone surveillance, organizations to volunteer with and a helpful pamphlet titled “Choose Your Own Resistance.” Inside were tips on protecting privacy, what to bring to different kinds of protests and what the respective goals of those actions are in general. There was even a quiz to assess your personal risk level (“How public can you be?”) and a list of volunteer options to match it.
Food Not Bombs was posted up at a table with a growing pile of donations to one side. A volunteer said it was a good day’s collection so far as a woman passed a bulky grocery bag across the table. Cash would go to buy food and other essentials to be distributed at the group’s Sunday serve by the Bayshore Mall.
Ian Schatz was among the volunteers at the pay-what-you-can donation bake sale table, which, he said, can bring in as much as $1,500 at protests. The money has gone to Centro del Pueblo, among others, and the March 28 haul would benefit a local food bank that Schatz was careful not to name. “We spent yesterday baking everything,” he said, raising good-humored objection from his wife, Elizabeth, who’d actually made the blondies and scones for the table. A dozen or so people contribute to the bake sale, they explained, some of whom just show up with goodies on the day. And if you’re hungry but don’t have cash, they note, you can just take something to eat.
Humboldt’s artists were out in force with political statements. Terry Torgerson, artist and former political cartoonist for the Journal, stood at the curb with a metal pole topped with a grotesque orange caricature of Donald Trump’s head, the president’s signature over-long red tie drifting below it. Made from papier-mâché layered over a beach ball, “It has no structural integrity to speak of,” said Torgerson with a hint of irony. He said he took the time to make it since “You just feel so helpless about things, you just wanna make a slash. … I don’t know if you’re changing anybody’s mind, but people enjoy seeing the art and the signs.”
A number of artists made use of their skills for the cause, some carrying paper or canvas signs they’ve painted or drawn. “I think everybody’s gotta bring their skills and this is a skill I have,” said artist and Eureka Councilmember Katie Moulton, who also runs Maker’s Apron in Old Town. She’d set up an easel and was painting a stylized Ruth Bader-Ginsburg at the foot of the courthouse steps, the sun to her back. It’s one of a number of “portraits of people who remind us to be strong,” she said. “Speak your mind,” read the quote emblazoned across the image, “even if your voice shakes.”
Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel stopped by the easel for a chat and a photo, her own painted sign — “Peace Please” — still wet in places. The two hugged and Bergel pressed on into the crowd.
Atop the courthouse steps, Maggie McKnight and other members of Humboldt’s contingent of the Singing Resistance movement, which grew out of protests in Minnesota, sang “Standing Stone,” a popular tune with the group. Another favorite, “‘Hold On” has become the theme of the Singing Resistance worldwide,” McKnight says.
“There’s a whole national movement right now about resistance singing so we wanted to come together,” explained member Alison Kinney. “It’s a really healing thing for people.” Some 100 people are on the email list and between 50 and 100 tend to show for protests. Among them are choir members, local performers and people who just love to sing.
Elle Penner, vocalist for Young and Lovely and Harmonic Howl, hoisted a sign over her pink wig and said performers work well together at the events. “The divas are not diva-ing for democracy,” she said, earning a laugh and a fist pump from McKnight. Penner also added musician James Zeller is central to gathering them all.
Zeller, who performs with Ponies of Harmony and the James Zeller Trio, has been a contact person connecting bands, musicians and singers who want to participate in protests, adding joy and energizing the crowds. Along with Band du Jour, who were already playing on the landing below, rock and punk bands Queen Karma and Radical Apes were set to take the ersatz concrete stage in the afternoon. Noting some folks were a little worried about that, Zeller’s smile widened. “Punk still has the power to scare people. It’s great,” he said. The organizing is somewhat informal, said Zeller, who doesn’t own a cellphone, but the intent is serious.
Asked why Queen Karma joined in, vocalist and guitarist Alexis Roberts said, “I’m a singer and I feel like part of being a singer is having a voice and we may not have the chance to do this,” she said, gesturing at the crowd around, “no matter what walks of life we come from, being here in solidarity through music.”
Band du Jour, a baker’s dozen of musicians and singers, has been meeting informally and playing protests regularly, said member Melissa Cherry. “We’ve got 23 songs, we know 19 and we feel safe about 12.” Those range from protest to pop, arranged for their assemblage of tubas, clarinets, horns and drums. “We hope this doesn’t go on forever, but we’ll keep coming,” she said.
Singer Paula Elizabeth Jones sat in on drums with Band du Jour for a rangy, jangling cover of Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” before returning to the audience. Asked how she ended up at the drums, she answered with smile, “Honey, I’m a Black woman. I’m rare here and God has blessed me with this so I gotta show up.” She’s worked with Zeller on other community music projects, and this was her second protest. “I’m definitely here today to enforce justice in this country and also to pray for our president — he needs prayer.” Specifically, she said, “That he surrender to God. … Everything would change.” A true Christian, she noted, “would not drop bombs on children.”
Zeller, pressed for an estimate, guessed there were some 30 singers and 25 musicians out that day. “It’s hard to say,” he said, scanning the crowd. “We could all be at the beach but it’s really moving we all decided to be here.” As more people are directly impacted by the Trump administrations actions, he figures few can afford to be apathetic anymore.
“I’m really into the process,” Zeller said. One of the potential pitfalls of big events like No Kings protests, he explained, is that they end when everybody goes home. But he sees impressive organizing and growth behind the scenes that go beyond the performative and cathartic elements of large protests. “This is just a step in our evolution here,” he said, adding a favorite quote from Octavia Butler, “Change is God.”
“I’m here,” Zeller said, “because I’m excited about change.”
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the managing editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400 ext. 106, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Bluesky @jfumikocahill.bsky.social.
This article appears in ‘Everybody’s Gotta Bring Their Skills’.
