By Ken Magri
More than 100 Chico State students, staff and faculty members left their classrooms for a hastily arranged walkout on Friday. Their show of solidarity with Minneapolis was organized by the Students for Quality Education, or SQE, and Students for Justice in Palestine. Protesters were encouraged to make their own signs and read some of the available literature.
After a few speakers, a march was led across the campus and towards downtown. Students reported being encouraged by pedestrians while car horns sounded from passing drivers.
Some Chico businesses closed their doors on Friday in support of the national shutdown. Vang’s Plants and Succulents Hub on Broadway was among them.
Owner Sheng Vang said that the family business would be donating a portion of their sales from Friday and the weekend to NorCal Resist Chico “to support their work in our community.”
“We can only do so much as one individual, but there’s voice and power in numbers,” Vang reflected . “There’s so much power in community.”
Angela Youngblood, owner of the clothing store Cottonparty, mentioned initially being conflicted about getting political, but ultimately decided to close on Friday in support of the strike.
“I know it may seem futile,” Youngblood observed, “but unity and symbolism mean a lot in the face of tyranny.”
Other Chico businesses stayed open for the sake of their employees, but decided to donate some of the day’s receipts.
“We are donating a percentage to NorCal Resist and North Valley Catholic Social Services,” said Shenlyn Svec, owner of Savor Ice Cream in Meriam Park.
Svec wanted to find an alternative to closing for an entire day. Working in coordination with Chico Chai, Live Life Juice and Bapa’s Market, the four businesses agreed to stay open but donate a portion of Friday’s earnings.
Protests in Chico continued Saturday as a large crowd of people lined up on both sides of East 20th Street in front of the Chico Marketplace Mall. Organized by Indivisible Chico, the Re-Sisters and others, the line extended across the length of the shopping mall out to Forest Avenue.
Eighty-two-year-old Chico resident Bob Trausch attended the Saturday protest. Trausch works with his wife and non-profit organizations to provide non-violent training for protest monitors. Many Chicoans may remember him from his former work with the Chico Housing Action Team, or CHAT.
Trausch estimated the protest crowd along East 20th Street to be approximately 3,000.
“It was wonderful. People were very respectful,” said Trausch. “It was exciting to see a number of young people out there because they’re kind of afraid…they see some of their friends, who may not be the same color, being afraid to come to school and that’s a lesson for them.”
A small counter-protest group of Trump supporters camped out on the corner.
“There was a truck and flags, a bunch of flags,” said Trausch, “but there were no real incidents. There was respect back and forth.”
He added, “Thousands of cars must have driven by — it was a cacophony of horns blowing and people waving.”
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