Interviews by Suki Wessling
Photographs by Abe Jellinek
Click on photos to see them full-size.
If ever all of Santa Cruz gathered for a big family photo, this would have been the day. On January 21, the day after the inauguration of a president that Santa Cruzans overwhelmingly voted against, whose platform contradicts nearly every strongly held value of our citizens, our community came out for a day of celebration. We celebrated our diversity and our strong values, along with our affirmation of the rights of all the people who felt that their voices weren’t heard in this election. In this photo essay, each family we photographed answered the question, “What are you doing here?”
Kate: “We’re here to support rights for everybody, for women, for minorities. There’s a lot of fear out there. For the kids, we’ve been aware that the fear is going through to them, so we wanted to say something positive. We’re stronger together!”
Andi: “I am marching as the parent of a transgender child whose safety is in jeopardy with the incoming administration, as well as her trans-specific healthcare which will almost certainly be removed from insurance mandates.”
Tessa: “I’m here for women’s rights and just because of everything is going on, I want to feel safe with everything.”
Tiffany: “We wanted to be an example to her to show that in terms of standing up for yourself, you’re never too young to come out and be supported by your family and others in your community to get your point across.”
Julie: “We’re here in solidarity for women. Everybody is equal, we need equality and reproductive rights. Equal rights are human rights. We can try to support love and not hate. I think that’s really important.”
Bella: “My mom said that she wants me to grow up to do anything that I want to do.”
Darrin: ”I’m here because I love my kids!”
Kids: “We want to protest!” “I want to avoid World War III!” “Yes!”
Gretchen: “We’re here in solidarity with women. We’re disappointed with the direction of our country and we want to do something positive.”
Craig: “I want my son to know that all people are equal and that no one can put anybody else in a box and tell them what they can and can’t do. It’s the world I want him to live in, so I’m here to show that.”
Evyn: “We are here to support women’s rights, gender equality, basic civil human rights, religious freedom, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant rights.”
Leslie: “I’m here because I’m really upset at the illegitimacy of this election and I want to promote values across the US, I feel like we’re really inoculated in some ways against what’s happening in other parts of the country. I don’t want there to be normalization of values of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and islamophobia.”
Rose: “I’ve known many situations and I know lots of people who would probably be in trouble if things like that happened and I care about things too much, so I don’t like it.”
Macky: “Because I like protesting!”
Lisa: “We’re here to support anyone who, now or in the future, might not be treated fairly. We’re trying to stay on the positive, it’s not that we’re fighting against something. We’re fighting for equality and fairness for everyone.”
Anthony: “To support women!”
Kristin: “I think it’s important that they see they have the right to stand up against tyranny and fascism and to make their voices heard and to peacefully assemble.”
Sebastian (about his sign): “I just wrote ‘Be Kind’.”
Elizabeth: “We both come from families that our parents are immigrants. I feel that we have a right to be here, our parents have a right to be here, and I’m just happy to be among people that are for that. I’m really happy to stand strong and not let hate get to us.”
Tyler: “For my mom. To stand up for our rights because everyone is the same.”
Ben: “We wanted to get involved in things for a little while, and now that we’re in Santa Cruz we decided that this is the time.”
Christina: “We’re here to fight for everything we believe in that we feel is at risk. The rights of all people, the environment, science, the fight against bigotry, and also against the 99.9% having all the power.”
I was there, it was amazing. These photos are terrific and I love the quotes. What a fantastic time capsule of a remarkable day – the day we all got woke and off our butts and came together in a way that’s so Santa Cruz! Thank you for this article.
Thanks! It occurred to me that day that the word “values” is always associated with right-wing Christians, but of course all people have values. And in Santa Cruz, I think our local culture is very much focused on our values, which are different from – but definitely overlapping – the values that people think of as “traditional.”