On Inauguration Day, Monday Jan. 20, 2025, protestors gathered at San Bernardino City Hall in observance of the National Day of Action to mobilize against “Trump’s ultra-right, billionaire agenda.” As one of over 80 cities taking part in the action, amidst the roaring winds, people from all walks of life in the Inland Empire took a stance in the pursuit of various rights.

Various organizations were present, from the Party of Social Liberation (PSL), the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America Local 4811 (UAW 4811), Palestinian Youth Movement, Planned Parenthood and Service Employees International Union Local 2015 (SEIU2015).
The protest began with an opening statement proclaiming that they are present in support of the working class, stating, “We don’t care for the Democrat or Republican. We’re here for ourselves, communities and the working class. There’s another great revolutionary that we are celebrating today across the world, Dr. Martin Luther King, a man who is widely and understandably revered, respected and loved by the working class.”
Standing next to a statue of the reverend himself, the protesters laid out ground rules of peace and sharing experiences, inviting members of the community to come up and say a few words to the crowd.
From sharing aspirations of building a strong working class to calling out the “horrible” evictions taking place in redlined communities, people had a chance to share and connect with the community. Deborah, a resident of Riverside County’s seventh ward — located in the La Sierra area — vocalized her experiences being evicted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sam and Ray from Teamsters Local 1932 spoke out against the Amazon warehouses in the Inland Empire (IE), mistreatment of the workers and the mass spanning of Amazon warehouses across the IE. Not only were they able to share the injustices, they also got to spread hope through the work they have done by becoming “the first unionized Amazon air hub and the tenth unionized Amazon … Just by coming together, we’ve been able to win some amazing things. We won the highest pay rise of any Amazon in the country.”
Amidst the various speeches taking place during the protest, people among the crowd were holding up signs sharing their own thoughts. People from Redlands to Anaheim to Long Beach to Riverside held up signs which exclaimed, “People for People’s Needs!” and “¡Poder Para la Clase Trabajadora!” In between, people chanted, “Money for jobs and education, not for war or occupation” and “Hey hey! Ho ho! Killer cops have got to go!”

Demond Manuel from PSL and UAW4811 was one of the main speakers during the day and shared insight into the organizing process. By bringing together different organizations and methods of outreach, they aimed to create one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in San Bernardino. He further stated, “We’re not going to take two things. We’re not going to take the attacks on immigrants, the attacks on healthcare, the attacks on education, lying down. We’re going to come out in mass, we’re going to organize campaigns, we’re going to talk to our neighbors to figure out how we can figure out an alternative.”
Manuel ends by sharing, “When we actually come together, when we organize, when we’re united as a working class, and don’t let them divide us between Democrat and Republican, then we can change the world and we can improve our situation.”
Jocelyn Paz, a student from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) was present at the rally speaking on behalf of one of her school’s organizations, Students for Quality Education. She shares that “recently, all CSUs have upped their tuition, making it impossible for a lot of students, especially international students, to now come into higher education. Since CSUs are public universities and have one of the lowest tuition rates… CSUSB is literally the cheapest public university in the country and it is still being closed off to a lot of the working class because of those tuition raises.”
Don Indolino, a member of the IE Democratic Socialists of America (IEDSA) shared some hopes he had for PSL in the future. “I think that PSL should talk a little bit more to the organizations that have already been here, that have already existed in the Inland Empire, to get the vibe of what we’ve already been doing, so that we’re not repeating mistakes… Our elders have been in this fight before, and so it’s good to invite them into conversation, see what they’ve been doing, see what’s worked for them and what hasn’t worked for them. Or else we’re just gonna end up repeating the same mistakes and nothing’s gonna change.”