This week, Bay Area groups have planned a slew of demonstrations that vary from fundraisers to protests to simple showings of solidarity surrounding Friday's inauguration of President Trump. The largest of them is likely to be the San Francisco Women's March on Saturday the 21st, one in a series of so-called Sister Marches affiliated with the central Women's March on Washington.
"We hope this will be among the biggest marches outside DC," organizer Martha Shaughnessy tells SFist, "and one that shows what a new movement looks like: Women and allies from all backgrounds together to show we stand with and for each other."
Indeed, Shaughnessey and others local organizers are planning for a San Francisco turnout that could be as high as 60,000 participants. Their intersectional event begins with a rally at 3 p.m. at City Hall and continues with a march beginning at 5 p.m. from City Hall to the Embarcadero.
In anticipation, Women's March Bay Area, who are also planning marches in Oakland and San Jose, are offering two nonviolence trainings for march participants and march-designated "Peace Ambassadors" as well as training for anyone who would like to help out as an official volunteer. Meanwhile, they've released the below video:
For those who can't wait to get out their picket signs, there's an inauguration protest on Friday planned for UN Plaza at 5 p.m. Other actions on Friday include "Bridge Together," a sort of "Hands Across America" but for the Golden Gate Bridge. According to the organizers, "3,000 participants will be allowed on the bridge itself" based on the permitting they've acquired, and members of that group need to get on the bridge perhaps as early as 8:30 a.m. "until all have gathered," which they anticipate will be by 10 a.m. to noon.
There are some less grueling events to be found, of course, including fundraisers that sound like actual fun, which some might argue is a somewhat revolutionary act in these times. One at El Rio on Friday is called Stand Up Fight Back, a "Benefit FOR Planned Parenthood and AGAINST Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia and Xenophobia." That's, you guessed it, a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood, with all bar proceeds going to that organization from 4 to 6 p.m. and a portion of door proceeds given to Planned Parenthood thereafter.
The night before, on Thursday, Rickshaw Stop is hosting a Love Trumps Hate party whose proceeds go to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Earthjustice, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and La Raza Centro Legal. The loose music tie-in for that event? The '90s music they'll spin is appropriate because a Clinton was in the White House at the time. The memories.
Previously: Post-Inauguration Women's March In San Francisco Announces Speakers, Performers