Empowerment and Feistiness in San Juan Capistrano

An anti-ICE march that brought out the youth—and some requisite assholes.

The kids came out in full force.

I was walking toward my car yesterday afternoon, feeling spunky and alive in the immediate aftermath of the “Ice Out for Good” protest at the intersection of Del Obispo and Camino Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano.

A few steps from my destination, however, I watched ugliness unfold before my eyes. Three Latina teenagers, all also departing the march, were standing in place, minding their own business, as a white bruh in a black pickup truck barked loudly, cruelly their way.

“I love ICE!” he screamed, a bully smile crossing his grille.

Again—”I love ICE! I love it! Deport them all!”

Then, like your typical OC white backward-cap coward, he drove off.

I approached the girls, checked on them. “Did you guys know him?” he said.

No, one said. They did not. But they were all upset. Shaken. Stunned by the cruelty.

“He was just being mean,” the girl said. “To be mean.”

•••

I wasn’t going to attend yesterday’s gathering. I was tired, busy, consumed by this thing and that thing. But then I thought about the power of unity; of how it always feel so invigorating to surround yourself with like-minded folks fighting the evils of modern America.

Thank God I went.

I’ve been to, oh, 15-to-20 other rallies, but nothing like this. First, there were probably 2,000-to-2,500 people in attendance. And unlike many of the other events, which tended to primarily involve senior citizens in their late-60s, 70s and 80s, this was a coalition of ages, ethnicities, background, motivations. In particular, there were a ton of students, many of whom skipped some/all of class to walk the three miles from San Juan Hills High School. According to multiple folks, the mojo at San Juan Hills hasn’t been so great of late, thanks in large part to the impact of the school’s youth chapter of Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA organization. Again, according to people I spoke with, many of the Turning Point folks have been targeting Latino students with barbs and snipes related to ICE and deportation. Which, obviously, sucks.

But it also motivates. Students came. And came. And came some more. Not merely from one school, but many schools. And they were Latino, and white, and Asian, and Black. It was an ocean of youth, armed with signs, fearing for their friends and families, anxious to speak out and speak up …

Does this do any good? Like, do these marches change the tide? I don’t know. But here’s a certainty: Action begets action, and rallying begets rallying, and when a young person shows up for one event, they will (often) show up for two events, and three, and four. I spoke with a slew of political rally rookies, and they all seemed to be geeked up, inspired, motivated. Many for the first time. They have been awaken. Which (again) I suspect won’t be the last time.

•••

I hate when people lazily say, “Something has changed.” Because, oftentimes, nothing has changed. It’s just some words.

But the recent Minneapolis deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti feel seismic. I think the biggest part wasn’t merely the shootings, but the post-shootings lies and fabrications. Watching Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller tell us one thing happened, when we all saw the truth … well, I dunno. It set fire to a dumpster, and caused people to sit up and scream, “Wait! What the actual fuck? We literally saw what transpired! You’re just fucking lying!”

Also, news of the murders wasn’t delivered via TV or radio or even e-mail, but TikTok and Instagram. Everyone saw it. Your kids and your parents. Grandma watched it, and the teenager babysitter next door watched it. Everyone. It felt tangible and raw. It happened to them; it can happen here next.

Those types of things change the equation. Watching Black men and women in Selma having their skulls bashed. Seeing soldiers in Vietnam return in bodybags. The Challenger exploding on TV. Planes hitting the World Trade Center. We are a people who read, but we are also a people who respond most urgently to visual stimulation.

•••

There was a rally yesterday, and a rainbow coalition turned out in force.

The bros in baseball caps can mock all they want.

Power is in the people.

PS: Didn’t see anyone in a mask. Unlike the ICE cowards.