A rally on Presidents Day drew a crowd of more than a thousand people to the Hawaiʻi State Capitol area to protest President Donald Trump's actions in his second term.
The participants wore their hearts on their signs — for teachers, federal workers, transgender youth, minorities and more. Their displeasure was aimed at Trump, Elon Musk and the GOP.
The crowds lined both sides of the streets and spilled down part of two blocks. NPR reports that demonstrators across the U.S. descended upon state capitol buildings and other locations to protest actions by Trump and Musk, who are implementing significant changes to the federal government.
Lisa Gibson is with the group Indivisible, which helped to organize the grassroots rally in Honolulu.
"With the loss of the last election, we are back to defying Trump's agenda of misogyny, racism and authoritarianism," she said. "This is lots of groups coming together. This is a group called 50501, 50 states, 50 capitals, one movement. We are part of a growing coalition of defenders of democracy from across the country."
Gibson said she hopes this will be the beginning of pushback and activism that will pull the community together as it tries to channel the energy of stress during this time.
Ann Botticelli is with the newly formed group Allies In Resistance, or AIR. While the group says there is much to resist, it has diversity, equality and inclusion in its focus. It is planning a gathering on March 1 to honor former U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink.
"We're being flooded every day with a new assault, a new thing that's under attack, whether it's science funding or education or DEI. And we thought, well, maybe the best thing we can do to not get so distracted is to focus on something that is very important and I think really meaningful here in Hawaiʻi, where we have a wonderful blended society," Botticelli said.
Botticelli said she and her fellow organizers, former Domestic Violence Action Center Director Nanci Kreidman and Democratic Party political insider Chuck Freedman, are doing what they can to grow the movement.
"Sen. Brian Schatz on a podcast the other day said something like, what you can do is show up in three dimensions, show up in person, demonstrate your anxiety over this. And so that's what I think people are doing, and I think that's what's appropriate to do right now," Botticelli added.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 18, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
