Hundreds in Philly demonstrate their opposition to Trump on Inauguration Day

Michelle Myers, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jan 20, 2025

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PHILADELPHIA — Among the things on Annette Kim’s agenda on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, watching President Donald Trump take the oath of office was not one of them.

Instead, Kim, 23, a recent college graduate, said that this was a day to ”to celebrate different cultures. ... Martin Luther King stood for those ideals.”

She and about 200 other people people gathered at the Ethical Society of Philadelphia on Rittenhouse Square on Inauguration Day for a morning of music celebrating diversity and equity in the spirit of the Rev. Dr. King, organized by HIAS Pennsylvania and BuildaBridge.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty that’s going to take place after this inauguration, but [immigrants and refugees] need to know and feel like they are part of this country, that they have a community,” said Ami Yares, BuildaBridge executive director. “This event is an opportunity to come together, strengthen, restore our collective agency as people who support them.”

Later in the day, about 200 demonstrators — chanting, “We got the power, people power” — gathered at City Hall for a march to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices to protest what they called Trump’s racist, sexist, and xenophobic policies.

”The Democrats are not coming to save us,” activist Gabby Ballard of the Socialism and Liberation Party said there. “It’s going to have to be the working-class power.

“Our struggles are connected, and it’s now up to us to help each other,” Ballard said, as the crowd cheered and some cars beeped in support.

Marcy Boroff, 61, abandoned the warmth of her house to join the protesters on a day when the wind chills were in the teens.

”It’s important to do something, to be with people that are fighting and calling out racism,” she said.

The themes were similar at the Ethical Society event.

As musicians from Iran, South America, Africa, and other places took the stage, Yares said she hoped immigrants and refugees across Pennsylvania know they have a place in the fabric of the country.

“We are here for you and we are looking for you,” Yares said. “You are not alone.”

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(Staff writer Anthony R. Wood contributed to this article.)