At a July 2 MoveOn demonstration in Palo Alto, Judy Adams spoke about the inhumane conditions at immigration detention camps and about WILPF’s involvement in peace and justice issues. Photo by Jack Owicki.

By Judy Adams
Peninsula/Palo Alto Branch

I have been organizing small (5-15 participants) weekly Friday noontime “peaceful sidewalk protests” at a busy street corner in Palo Alto since WILPF became a partner with the Poor People’s Campaign in 2018. And, of course, Peninsula/Palo Alto branch members also participate in other larger local demonstrations and rallies in coalition with other groups.

This summer, I joined forces with Ruth Robertson, organizer of the Palo Alto Raging Grannies Action League (not formally affiliated with WILPF, but it includes some our branch members). Together we took on co-sponsorship of a July 2 MoveOn National Action Day event (#ClosetheCamps) to protest immigrant family detention and deportation, and to call for inhumane detention camps to be closed. The event brought nearly 300 participants to the same street corner where we have our small Friday demonstrations, our biggest turnout so far! 

We had hoped that our local peace and justice center might join us as co-sponsors, but at an earlier peace center planning meeting, I learned that MoveOn didn’t consider the center’s sponsorship sufficiently “grassroots.” So Ruth and I decided to forge ahead and we organized a very successful grassroots effort.

Photo: Raging Grannies Action League members at the July 2 event. Photo by Jack Owicki.

The event was spirited and peaceful. We made sure that the participants stayed on the public sidewalk, didn’t block crossings, and crossed safely at intersections. The marchers filled both sides of the streets at the busy intersection for more than an hour, and were welcomed by waves, thumbs-up signals, peace signs from bicyclists, and enthusiastic honks from drivers. Protesters held signs that included messages such as “Families Belong Together,” “Stop Torturing Children,” and “No Cages, No Walls.”
 
The event got good press in The Stanford Dailysince many Stanford students participated in the demonstration.

Jack Owicki took several photos at the event and posted them on probonophoto.org. The Pro Bono website contains more images from the event including some that provide a sense of the size of the crowd.

In other news, while on a road trip I participated in a parade in Silverton, OR, near Hiroshima Day. Local peace group participants included WILPFers and members of Veterans for Peace and Fellowship of Reconciliation. In the photo, I’m in the center flashing the peace sign in front of the FOR sign and the Dove.