{"id":248809,"date":"2026-04-02T18:33:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248809\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T18:33:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T18:33:28","slug":"no-kings-oakland-brings-thousands-together-for-peace-justice-and-democracy-peoples-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/248809\/","title":{"rendered":"No Kings Oakland brings thousands together for peace, justice, and democracy \u2013 People’s World"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"No\t<\/p>\n

Participants at the Oakland, Calif. No Kings march holding a sign saying ‘stop shipments of killer cargo out of Oakland.’ March 28.| Marilyn Bechtel\/People’s World<\/p>\n

OAKLAND, Calif.\u2014Crowds of No Kings protesters packed into Oscar Grant Plaza, in front of City Hall, on March 28, greeting each other and listening to music and organizers\u2019 opening remarks before surging through downtown streets to fill the southern shores of the city\u2019s iconic Lake Merritt.<\/p>\n

Organizers said over 20,000 people participated, joining more than 8 million people who held some 3,300 protests across the country to demand an end to the Trump administration\u2019s abducting people off the streets, undermining voting rights, and using people\u2019s tax dollars to fund the criminal war on Iran.<\/p>\n

\"\"No Kings march participant holds sign for humanity.| Marilyn Bechtel\/People\u2019s World<\/p>\n

The rally\u2019s partners\/co-organizers\u2014the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), East Bay DSA, Indivisible East Bay, Oil & Gas Network and SEIU 1021\u2014were joined by some three dozen cosponsors, among them the Alameda Labor Council, Black Church PAC, CODEPINK, California Alliance for Retired Americans, Jewish Voice for Peace, Sunrise Movement Bay Area, and Fossil Free California.<\/p>\n

Along the way to Lake Merritt, marchers shared their thoughts about the most important issues inspiring them to be out in the streets.<\/p>\n

Paula said her biggest reasons for participating were her grandchildren, \u201cand all the other children, people who are separated from their families, and people who aren\u2019t getting the education, healthcare, and vaccines they need\u2014but there are so many reasons it\u2019s hard to rate them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Paula turned to Bernard, who added, \u201cWe elected a president who doesn\u2019t read, doesn\u2019t know economics, doesn\u2019t know history, science, ethics, or philosophy\u2014and he\u2019s leading us who-knows-where? It\u2019s unconscionable and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Bendad, \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not feeling lonely. Seeing all these people, they think the same as me. That gives me a lot of comfort. I can\u2019t get it from the news or from our leadership. But these people strengthen my belief and my hope. I hope it will spread.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wendy added, \u201cIt\u2019s hard not to feel hopeless, and so we come here as an antidote to hopelessness. We know in our heads that it\u2019s a long process to reach peace, democracy, and social justice at the same time. But we need to feel it in our bodies and our hearts, too. So that\u2019s why we\u2019re coming here.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us,\u201d Wendy said, \u201cthe war in Iran is personal. We\u2019ve been coming anyway, but now we\u2019re also thinking of our family members who are worried about being bombed.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the lake, the No Kings protesters were greeted by rally MC Valarie Bachelor, from ACCE Institute, who led them in a chant: \u201cNo Kings! No War, Hands off My Neighbors!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"No Kings march, Oakland, Calif. March 28, 2026.| Marilyn Bechtel\/ People\u2019s World<\/p>\n

\u201cRaise your hand if you\u2019ve been to a Target action recently \u2026 shut down Palantir recently \u2026 been to a PG&E action recently,\u201d she told them. Hands shot up throughout the crowd as she added, \u201cThese corporations are making money off the detention of folks in our community and are making billions off the illegal, unlawful wars that are going on. We must stop them, and we must show our people power!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bachelor called the crowd\u2019s attention to actions planned to follow the rally, including the Oakland Tenants Union\u2019s campaign for letters to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, opposing HUD\u2019s proposed mixed-status rule that would force families to choose between eviction and family separation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said Bay Resistance would lead a teach-in on community noncooperation, while the Arab Resource and Organizing Center and Jewish Voice for Peace would lead a teach-in on the Oakland People\u2019s Arms Embargo, which seeks to end the shipment of U.S. military equipment to Israel through Oakland ports, including the Oakland Airport. Another teach-in would be led by Oakland-based members of the Federal Unionists Network, letting community members know how they can support federal workers\u2019 fight for justice in their workplaces.<\/p>\n

\"\"No Kings march, Oakland, Calif. March 28, 2026.| Marilyn Bechtel\/ People\u2019s World<\/p>\n

And finally, Bachelor said, ACCE Oakland, Reclaim Our Power, and Youth vs Apocalypse would march to Pacific Gas & Electric Company, which recently concluded a contract with Palantir that would let Palantir shut off power if they chose to do so. \u201cWe want to demand that they cancel that contract now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lu Aya, co-founder of the hip-hop and spoken word collective Peace Poets, led everyone in singing \u201cWe are becoming the change we need to see, we are becoming the change we need for peace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Asking the crowd to put their hands on their hearts, he led all in pledging, \u201cWe will protect each other!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commitment we make to protect each other will be with you as a mantra as they continue to try to divide us, attack us, degrade us, incarcerate us,\u201d he told the crowd.<\/p>\n

The rally\u2019s final speaker was Pastor Mike McBride from the Black Church PAC and Live Free USA, a national organization to end gun violence, mass incarceration, and criminalization of communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"No Kings march, Oakland, Calif. March 28, 2026.| Marilyn Bechtel\/ People\u2019s World<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a people who love peace, who love justice, and who believe everybody has a place to belong,
McBride told the crowd. \u201cWe are a people who are not just committed to saying No to what we do not like, but committed to saying Yes to what we do love.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cToday,\u201d he said, \u201cour hope is that we will not just have marched in the streets, but we will also commit to organizing with one another. When we organize, we win! When we love, we overcome! And when we stay together, no devil in the White House will ever be able to separate us from one another!\u201d<\/p>\n

As the rally program came to a close, Bachelor called the crowd\u2019s attention to an upcoming nationwide action.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn May Day,\u201d she said, \u201cwe\u2019ve got to shut it down, not just here in Oakland, but across the country, and that means every single one of us needs to not go to school, not go to work, and not go shopping. Can I get that promise from everybody right here, right now?\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd erupted in cheers, and people moved toward their next set of actions.<\/p>\n

We hope you appreciated this article. At\u00a0People\u2019s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading\u00a0People\u2019s World\u00a0and the stories we bring you, please\u00a0support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCONTRIBUTOR<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Marilyn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Participants at the Oakland, Calif. No Kings march holding a sign saying ‘stop shipments of killer cargo out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7,7733,7152,143,145,144,16600,16601,13,2281],"class_list":{"0":"post-248809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-no-kings","10":"tag-no-kings-day","11":"tag-oakland","12":"tag-oakland-headlines","13":"tag-oakland-news","14":"tag-political-action","15":"tag-political-activism","16":"tag-politics","17":"tag-u-s"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}