Several people, many of them long-time residents of San Luis Obispo County, protested against fascism along South Higuera Street on Nov. 12.
Protesters wore black clothes and gathered in the Creekside Mobile Home Park community room at 2:30 p.m. before the demonstration.
Elaine Simer got involved through a friend and was one of the 15 participants. She said that immigration and healthcare were issues that inspired her to protest.
“I just feel almost helpless and bewildered about how we're going to improve the world,” Simer said. “And this is all I can do is… hold up a sign and say I protest.”
Everyone grabbed a back-and-white sign that displayed different definitions of fascism. Some examples included: “Censoring speech,” “Use of voter suppression” and “Fear mongering to gain power.”
By 3 p.m., the demonstrators were walking out of the door and onto South Higuera Street as a few Creekside community bystanders cheered them on.
Creekside community member Tracy McClun organized the protest and placed each participant along the sidewalk, facing the Public Market.
The demonstrators stood in place and held up their signs for passing cars to read. Some of them, including a Regional Transit Authority bus, honked in support.
“I wanted to put this on because it was so powerful when I saw it that I wanted to recreate the same kind of power of the simplicity of it,” McClun said. “Instead of seeing people you see the signs.”
The idea for the protest came from a Facebook video of a similar demonstration that happened in Petaluma, according to McClun.
He brought the idea to Marvin Gross, 89, who created the Social Action Committee, a political activism group that operates out of the Creekside Mobile Home Park.
Gross immediately agreed and helped McClun gather numbers for the protest.
He’s lived in San Luis Obispo County since 1970 and says he got involved to preserve the country’s democracy.
“I'll be damned if I'm going to let it die out,” Gross said. “I'm going to do my part. Because I don't want to live in a democracy that's been overrun by a dictator.”
The demonstration lasted about an hour and ended with a debrief and dinner at the mobile home park.
