Boomers protest Trump; where are millennials?

Editor s Note This article was written for Mosaic an independent journalism training venture for high school students who account and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists Parents grandparents and others their age lined El Camino Real during Monday s Labor Day rally as in previous anti-Trump protests But where were the younger people At the protest aiming to line up people for miles of El Camino Real in a safe civil and welcoming context elders seemed to far outnumber teens and people in their s Kristina Schmidt a bookkeeper from San Jose disclosed she was in attendance to defend several causes such as gay marriage immigration and Medicaid Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Iris Sanchez Mosaic Show Caption of Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Expand She had a message for young people Get involved in politics Learn about it Call your representatives to let them know how you feel You can t vote until a certain age but you can learn a lot of things until you reach that age Lucy Camp a junior at Mountain View High School attended with her family I do have friends and people that I know who are in fear of something happening she commented about ICE raids We ve had enough of this If you are in the position to try and make change go for it because it s only going to get worse from here Mallika Ghante a pupil at UCLA turned out with her parents to protest cuts to science and research funding at her university which she declared has closed down lab opportunities for students who are doing vital work I m out here nowadays to demand that he return that funding she mentioned referring to Trump Every day she wakes up to find something else objectionable from the Trump administration like cuts to federal attendee loans or its positions on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine It is depressing she explained Democrats labor unions and other groups planned nearly protests against Trump in all states on Monday including the -mile protest along El Camino Real Unlike a -mile shoulder-to-shoulder protest on June Monday s protest featured clumps of sign-waving people on corners driveways and pockets of shade in the high- s heat Whether or not they met turnout goals We are not stopping and we are not backing down disclosed IdaRose Sylvester a Mountain View society leader and the protest co-coordinator We re letting people know that there s a big region that has their back She and co-coordinator Sally Lieber both of Together We Will organized the No Kings Day protest on El Camino Real this June The turnout which organizers estimated to be people inspired Lieber to expand into a mile stretch on Labor Day Sylvester commented her group sent out over flyers and emails Instagram and Facebook posts to spread the word She also shared information to local high school newspapers to reach youth Youth voices are absolutely fundamental stated Sylvester The future that we are building now the future we are leaving behind will impact them way more than it will impact me In Sunnyvale on Monday protesters clapped their hands and tapped their feet as a saxophonist walked up and down the sidewalk of El Camino Real playing upbeat tunes amid the mostly older crowd Parents like Melissa Braunworth of Santa Clara explained she would fight for the youth who were missing in the crowd It s very disconcerting to me to see that my grandparents had specific more freedoms than my kids might have right now stated Braunworth who brought her three young children to the rally Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Lauren Uppal Mosaic Motorcyclist rides with a sign on the back of his motorcycle through El Camino Real during the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Iris Sanchez Mosaic Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Gladys Salm a facilitator holds an American flag at an anti-Trump protest on El Camino Real near Poplar Avenue during the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Ed Yuhara holds a sign next to David Sansjord at an anti-Trump protest on El Camino Real near Poplar Avenue as they participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Protestors make signs on the sidewalk during the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Mountain View Calif on Monday Sept Iris Sanchez Mosaic Show Caption of Anti-Trump protesters participate in the Labor Day x k protest along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale Calif on Monday Sept Alexis Carrillo Mosaic Expand Katherine Naegele a volunteer with the Together We Will political action organization in Palo Alto chaperoned at the protest While keeping an eye on protesters she revealed she also came out to fight for her transgender and immigrant partner We as a family feel very personally attacked announced Naegele adjusting her bright yellow vest We re lucky to be in California but that does not protect you from everything Specific of the protesters tried to lift spirits Michele Bertolone a member of the San Jose branch of American Association of University Women AAUW explained she felt hopeful to see hundreds show up at El Camino Bertolone walked up and down the sidewalk encouraging other protesters It makes me hopeful that we are not alone I want to be part of this larger movement she declared The young people have started to come and protest with us Steve Strange an engineer from Mountain View was with his wife and teen daughter This is our way to express our fear and distaste for everything that is happening in our regime Strange revealed This is not about the left and right wing anymore he added navigating his arms This is about right and wrong Iris Sanchez is a member of the Class of at San Jose State University Sonia Mankame Angelique Alvarez Martinez and Sophie Luo contributed to this analysis