Right in front of Los Angeles City Hall, a massive inflatable Trump, scowling, raccoon-eyed and decked out in a diaper, hovered over the crowd. “Dump Trump” read the sign just below the inflatable, a caricature of the former reality TV star as an Oompa Loompa positioned like a turd hanging from the big orange baby’s bottom. Not too far from there was an old, worn couch tagged with “JD Vance was here.”
In the crowd, there was a zooful of people dressed in inflatable animal costumes, hippos, bears, chickens and, of course, frogs, amongst them. People hoisted signs loaded with dick jokes and memes. But, it wasn’t all comedy. “If there’s money for a parade? Then there’s money for Medicaid,” read a sign posted on a trashcan. Refuse Fascism set up an installation with photos of those who have been disappeared.
If I’m capable of seeing something in person with my own eyes, I will do that. That’s the big reason why I was at the downtown Los Angeles No Kings protest on Saturday. I didn’t have to work, the amount of effort I have to put into walking to Grand Park is roughly equivalent to a cardio routine and I’m not afraid of showing my face at a protest. So, I had no reason not to go.
The reason I wanted to see the protest for myself is because I am afraid that we’ve already slipped into a reality where what’s on our screens matters more than what’s happening in the physical world around us. I just finished reading The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. It’s a fantastic dystopian fiction novel set on an island where stuff— anything from perfume to birds— just disappears and, when it does, so do the memories of it. The catch is that some people can’t forget what used to be and that’s why the Memory Police exist, to makes sure there are no reminders of the past and no one who can remember it. I think the book, which came out just a few years ago, is good metaphor for today, whether you’re talking about climate change or democracy or, y’know, living life in a physical world with other flesh-and-blood people.
Online, we’re broken down into marketing demographics, which are used to sell ads, which are pushed onto our timelines. We’re little more than our generational tag and whatever other identifying information our devices have gleaned from our searches and likes. This affects everything from how news is reported to what news we actually see in an algorithmic feed. IRL, those barriers start to disappear. Inside Gloria Molina Grand Park, which is where most of Saturday’s protestors gathered, antifascist sentiments crossed generations. I even saw a child holding a sign that read “Goths Against Fascism.” The same can be said for the liberation of Palestine. I saw seniors amongst those with “Free Palestine” signs, which doesn’t shock me, but probably will surprise people who think that’s a Gen Z cause.
I don’t know how many people were at Grand Park. This was just one of a number of rallies happening across Los Angeles County. Still, from what I could guess from my observations, the numbers were definitely in the thousands. The unifying factor was a disdain for Trump and his administration, ICE and fascism.
Combined with all the other protests across the U.S., I think No Kings did a good job of showing the world how unpopular the asshole in the White House is. Specifically with the Grand Park protest, it was an opportunity for people to connect with local organizations, as there were a number of them with booths on site, and that’s probably the more important part even if it’s less visible, when it comes to keeping up momentum.
I appreciated seeing signs and other shows of support for more specific causes— immigration rights, Palestine, LGBTQ+ rights, health care and labor amongst them— at a large, more mainstream, event. To me, it was an indication that these issues that are deemed “divisive” really aren’t and they aren’t contained to one corner of social media. Maybe, those who actually can affect change should be listening.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram or Bluesky for more updates.
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