Eastern Sierra to Join Nation’s Largest NO KINGS Event to Date

Saturday, March 28

On Saturday, March 28—in Independence, Bishop, and Mammoth—our Eastern Sierra communities will again come together to declare with one voice that in America, we don’t have kings and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, injustice, and cruelty.

Local area residents will gather to protest the many, escalating dangerous and undemocratic actions being taken by President Trump and his administration. Masked agents are being sent into our streets, terrorizing our communities. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over our nation’s elections. Immigrant families are being profiled, arrested, and detained without warrants. Our healthcare, environmental protections, and educational opportunities are being gutted when families need them most.

And now, a war in Iran is being waged and lives and resources are being sacrificed without a clear rationale or strategy—except perhaps to serve oil executives and multinational corporations. Thousands have been displaced or killed across Palestine, Lebanon and Iran. The people of the US overwhelmingly oppose the war. The President’s actions and policies are repeatedly harming, endangering, and driving up the cost of living for families and regular people. Our opposition needs to be expressed in the streets so it is impossible to ignore.

“Our Eastern Sierra communities are very concerned about the actions of the current Administration, domestically and now, internationally with the war on Iran,” Eastern Sierra resident and event volunteer leader Karyle Tong notes. “Our community wants to project solidarity with our Indigenous and Latino communities in response to the immigration raids in Minneapolis. We intend to respond loudly and peacefully to demonstrate that our voices as Americans matter and we can dissent joyfully and peacefully.”

In BISHOP, the NO KINGS Rally and Sidewalk Demonstration will begin in the

City Park at 11:00am. Dr. Shannon “SJ” Joslin—the Yosemite National Park ranger and biologist who was fired for helping hang a large transgender pride flag on El Capitan. while they were off-the-clock, will be one of the speakers.

Displaying flags on El Cap is a time-honored tradition dating back decades and yet Dr. Joslin (“SJ”) —who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns—is the first person to get fired from the park service for the act, which they did as a private citizen and not during their working hours. While their bold act of visibility and an exercise of their First Amendment rights has—for now at least—cost them their job as a park ranger, it ignited a movement for inclusion in the great outdoors. “The flag was a symbol of welcoming for trans people in the outdoors,” SJ says. “It embodied what the natural world is—diverse and inclusive—and what humanity should seek to achieve—acceptance.” They will also address threats to our public lands and the devastation being wreaked with the gutting of environmental regulations, as well as the broad and far-reaching threats to our basic civil rights.

There will also be remarks addressing threats and concerns facing the immigrant communities, locally and nationwide. As Bishop resident Virginia Figueroa stated,

“We have a great community that cares for our friends who unfortunately can’t have a voice because of the fear that something will happen, and they will be separated from their loved ones. I just want to be the voice that says out loud “We’re not criminals. We are hard working people who want to take care of our families, and we are here to do what we can do, and that is work hard.”

The newly-formed Singing Resistance Eastern Sierra group will perform, as will other musicians and drummers.

In INDEPENDENCE, community members will rally for NO KINGS DAY on the sidewalk in front of the Inyo County Courthouse beginning at 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. “Our democracy has never faced total destruction before, but now it’s being facilitated by our own government,” said Independence resident Judy Weisman. “We MUST stand up and make sure our dissenting voices are heard.”

For the MAMMOTH LAKES rally, Coalition Mammoth has announced that they will hold a NO KINGS protest from 3:30-6:00 PM at the intersection of Minaret and Main. Coalition Mammoth invites the community to join the fight and stand in solidarity against Donald Trump’s fascist government, homophobia, racism, misogyny, and xenophobia.

A core principle behind all NO KINGS events is a commitment to nonviolent action. Local organizers in Bishop, Independence, and Mammoth Lakes expect all participants to act lawfully and peacefully at these events and to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontations with those who disagree with our values.

 

 

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Community Calendar Notice

Three locally organized “NO KINGS” events are planned in the Eastern Sierra for Saturday, March 28, organized in cooperation with INYO350 and Coalition Mammoth. In Bishop, the “NO KINGS Rally and Sidewalk Demonstration” will begin in the City Park at 11:00AM. Dr. Shannon “SJ” Joslin—the Yosemite National Park ranger and biologist who was fired for helping hang a large transgender pride flag on El Capitan—will speak, as will key local folks, followed by a sidewalk demonstration on Main Street. In Independence, community members will rally for NO KINGS DAY on the sidewalk in front of the Inyo County Courthouse beginning at 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. In Mammoth Lakes, Coalition Mammoth is asking community members to meet at the intersection of Minaret and Main from 3:30 to 6:00PM.