No Kings 3 in Springfield: Brown is beautiful

Presenter: The No Kings 3 protest was held in Springfield on Saturday and KEPW’s Todd Boyle was there. Here are speeches from the event March 28, introduced by Lupe Andrade:

Lupe Andrade (KEQB 97.7 FM): My name is Lupe Andrade and I’m so honored to be here with you today. 

Hoy estamos aquí juntos, unidos, porque cuando nuestras comunidades se juntan, hay poder. Today, we are here united because when our communities come together, there is power.

That’s right, this is a very special moment because this is the first time Springfield and Eugene are coming together for this movement. And just look around you. You are the movement….

Ofelia Santiago is a community leader, real estate professional, and proud Latina advocate, serving families across Oregon, born in Mexico, and brought to the United States at a young age.

She understands firsthand the challenges of navigating a new country and has dedicated her career to helping families, especially within the Latino community, fancy over again, achieving home ownership beyond her work. She is deeply committed to empowering her community through education, mentorship, advocacy. Please help me welcome Ofelia. 

Ofelia Santiago: Thank you. Thank you. I have prepared my speech in Spanish, but being up here today and seeing all of you here for the very, very first time in my life since I was nine years old when I came to the United States for the very first time, I feel that I’m not alone. Thank you.

Thank you all for being here today for being behind every single Latino family. Thank you. I am here with my granddaughter and my son, and the reason why I brought them here today is because I put my business on the side because so many families from our community knocked on my door every single day to notarized letters to let me know where their kids were going to be left if ICE knocked on the door.

And let me tell you, every night I went back home after writing dozens of notarized letters where these children were going going to be left, or how they were going be reunited with their family, I had to hug my children, my grandchildren, and the fear that it might happen in my home.

So I am here with both my granddaughter and my son to tell you: Thank you. Thank you for supporting our community. Thank you for fighting so hard with us and to protect our community. Thank you. Thank you.

This is why I’m up here today for every single family out there, every single Latino child out there. I am here and I will not be silenced. Thank you all.

Lupe Andrade: A longtime community organizer, a former citywide MEChA director, using storytelling through writing, poetry, and film to uplift our community, please help me welcome Alex Aguilar.

Alex Aguilar: ‘In moments of hopelessness, be of service.’ I read that somewhere, not quite sure where, but I read it and I felt it because it’s true. When days feel like no end and no hope, being of service guides you in believing that even after the storm, there will be some grace, believing that after all you’ve done, it was worth it.

Sometimes we stumble upon our doubts and overthink on the things out of our control, but don’t let that stop you from watering the movement, the movement of the people. We may not be able to change the world in a snap of a finger, but you can change the world around you and look around you today and ask yourself, what can you do today?

There are many local businesses to support, many groups you can join. Start a conversation, attend and get involved. Be of service. I wrote this poem that I will share to end my time. It is called ‘I Am Awake’ and I want to dedicate it to the people, to all of you, to the teachers, to the community, advocates and organizers, to the healthcare workers, to folks who work and work and work to help the people and to those who feel a little bit of hopelessness in these times:

I am awake. I am alive. I am doing. I am simply existing and trying to survive as the world burns in front of our eyes and ICE terrorists break into our homes and takes what’s ours, our mother, our father, our sister, our brother.

I am awake. I am alive. I am doing, I’m simply existing and trying to survive as the white man walks around believing he is a king in his made-up world because there’s no such thing.

I am awake, I am alive, I am doing, I am simply existing and trying to survive. They expect us to go on about our days as they kidnap my people in broad day. They expect us to go on about our days as they kneel on me and I can’t breathe. They expect us to go on about our days as they bomb the children as they attend school. They expect us to go about our days and remain a fool.

They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds. I can fall between the cracks of life, but I will bloom through the concrete because I am awake. I am alive, I am doing, I am simply existing, and I’m going to survive. Thank you.

Lupe Andrade: All right, you guys: Making a huge difference in our community, Ky Fireside is a union organizer, privacy advocate, and co-founder of the group Eyes Off Eugene, which worked to get Flock surveillance contracts canceled (Woo!) in Eugene and Springfield and Lane County. Please welcome Ky.

Ky Fireside: I’m Ky Fireside. I live in Springfield. I helped organize this event. We wanted to bring this to Springfield because the people here are part of the fight against fascism and against the tyranny of the federal government.

We are Eugene and Springfield. We are all fighting for the same rights. We all deserve to exist as our true selves, and we are all fighting against the same threats. However, these are particularly dangerous times for some of us.

We are in danger because of our identity, because this administration has decided to attack brown people and to target trans people.

We are at risk. We are at risk just for our gender identity or the color of our skin, and we have to be brave enough to come to these events to defend our rights.

We all feel it. We all feel the sense that by just being here, we are taking a risk. But we have seen members of our community be abducted by those who are operating outside the law. Some of us in this crowd right now have been putting themselves at great personal risk to protect those people or to bring them back home.

And there are terrible things happening across the country as states create new means for structural transphobia. Kansas has revoked driver’s licenses for trans people. There are bounties for bathroom use. We’re losing health care, and we are just trying to exist.

These are attempts to erase our identity, to keep us out of public and to send us into hiding. I’m not going to tell you that this is a safe state, but I will tell you that here in Oregon there are people that will defend your right to be your authentic self. There are people here today that will step up to defend you at the drop of a hat.

This event was organized with help from the Activist Coalition of Eugene Springfield. That is a strong local movement that is resisting fascism in solidarity with the communities that are being harmed by the fascist regime.

If you are not already involved with one of these groups represented here today, this is a great time to get to know them, to take a more active role, to get involved and to fight, because we will need everyone here to take back our government.

They will keep hearing from us because we will keep fighting to defend our right to exist as queer or as brown, and we are not going anywhere.

Lupe Andrade: A community is created by voices of all ages, and it is time that we listen to the young future leaders that live here. Alex Tadeo is a 17-year-old high school student, local musician and student organizer with La Voz Libre. Please help me welcome Alex Tadeo.

Alex Tadeo: Hello, my name’s Alex Tadeo and I’m here today because I believe our community cannot afford to stay silent any longer. We’re living in a time when fear has entered spaces that should be safe.

Fear has entered our neighborhoods, fear has entered our homes, and fear has entered in too many families and schools. When we talk about ICE, we’re not just talking about government agency, we’re talking about the real impact it has on real people, mother, father, grandparents, students, teachers and entire families who wake up every day not knowing if their life is about to turn upside down.

And when we talk about school districts, we’re not just talking about buildings, buses, or board meetings. We’re talking about the places where our students are supposed to feel protected. We’re talking about the spaces where young people are supposed to learn, grow, dream, and prepare for the future, not live in fear that their parent might not be there when they get home.

This is why this issue matters so deeply. A child cannot focus on math, reading, science, or history when they’re worried about whether their family is safe. A student cannot fully participate in class when they are carrying the emotional weight or fear and trauma. Teachers cannot do their best work when they know some of their students are struggling with pain of immigration enforcement affecting their families.

And a school district cannot truly say it serves all children. If it ignores the realities that so many immigrants family face every single day. This is not just an immigration issue. This is a human issue. This is a student issue. This is a school district issue, and this is a community issue.

We have to stop acting like these things are separate. Schools do not assist in a bubble. School districts do not apart operate apart from the lives of the families they serve. If our families are hurting, our students are hurting.

If our students are hurting, our schools are hurting, and if our schools are hurting, then our whole entire community is hurting.

That’s why I’m here to say this. Clearly, we need people to get involved not next year, not when it becomes someone’s else problem, not after another family is harmed. We need involvement right now. We need parents to show up. We need students to speak out. We need teachers to advocate. We need school board members to listen.

We need principals and superintendents to lead with courage. We need community organizers, churches, local leaders and neighborhoods stand together. Thank you everyone.

Lupe Andrade: Kriscia Rivas is a daughter of Springfield, a daughter of immigrants from El Salvador (a shout out to all Salvadorians), an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Please help me welcome Kriscia.

Kriscia Rivas: Why must some countries be bombed so that others can dominate the world’s resources? Why must some children grow up under missiles so that others profit from weapons contracts? Yes. We can’t be confused. U.S. bombs do not bring safety to the people of the U.S. and they don’t bring democracy and human rights to the people they fall on.

Trump has launched yet another disastrous war, one that the U.S. government has wanted for a very long time, killing thousands across Iran, Lebanon, and destabilizing the global economy. He is now demanding $200 billion and demanding we all pay higher prices for everything we need forever. Boo! For a war that has nothing to do with keeping us safe.

This is money that should be going to healthcare, housing, and jobs instead.

Are we going to accept this war like it’s normal? (No!) Like war in the Middle East is just something that happens? (No!) A majority of the people in this country do not want this war, and that’s because opposing war is not radical. It’s common sense.

Most people here in the U.S. understand the truth that politicians and corporate media try to hide, that these wars are not about democracy, freedom or protecting people. They’re about power. They’re about oil, they’re about profit, and they’re a part of a much bigger system.

Some people talk about ICE terror and war as if they’re separate issues or new issues, or just Trump issues, but they’re not. In the ’80s, my parents fled U.S.-sponsored war in El Salvador. American weapons and bombs were sent by Jimmy Carter to kill 70,000 innocent Salvadorans. Families were displaced, entire communities destroyed, and generations forced to leave their homes, and a right-wing government installed that today does the bidding of Trump and the billionaires.

When we talk about immigration today, we must understand this history. Wars create displacement and ICE terrorizes the displaced, for profit. ICE is waging its own war on immigrant communities here. It needs to be stripped of its powers and abolished once for all.

The struggle against ICE is the struggle against war in Iran is the struggle against the blockade starving the people of Cuba. The struggle against the genocide in Gaza and Sudan against interference in Venezuela. And I could go on, but I only have four minutes.

These are not isolated injustices, but different expressions of the same system, a system that values profit over people and the planet more than ever. It’s clear that a majority of people in this country are opposed to Trump’s agenda of racism, war, and attacks on working families.

There are over 10 million people in the streets across the country today for No Kings. As proof of this, the next logical step is to build the mass strike for May Day, May 1.

Twenty years ago, millions took part in the ‘Day Without An Immigrant’ nationwide strike that defeated a racist anti-immigrant bill. This year, unions, community groups, progressive organizations around the country are gearing up for another powerful day of protest to say, no more endless war.

No more billions for bombs. No more deportations. History shows that when people organize, we win. Not only is a better world possible, a better world is necessary, and the journey to that world starts with us. Thank you so much.

Lupe Andrade: We cannot say enough about our next speaker and community organizer. He has been a critical part of creating today’s event, and he embraces the collaboration with ACES (Activist Coalition of Eugene Springfield) and inspire his community to make No Kings 3 happen in Springfield.

Johanis Tadeo is a longtime organizer with SAFER, the Springfield Alliance For Equity and Respect. Please help me welcome Johanis Tadeo.

Johanis Tadeo (SAFER): In this moment, things feel heavy, uncertain, and for many in our community, unsafe. We are living in a time where fear is growing, where hate is being spoken out loud, and where people in power stay silent while our communities are impacted. This isn’t just something happening far away.

It’s here in Springfield. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen the comments online, on Facebook pages, from business owners, from neighbors, even from people we trust with our kids—words filled with hate and it hurts because this is our home. We have leaders who only seem to find their voice when it’s an election season.

We have city councilors who say they represent all of Springfield, but too many in our community still don’t feel safe, still don’t feel seen, still don’t feel heard. And this week we saw that. We saw Springfield’s colors come out. We saw the hate. We pulled back the layers this week and we saw something.

We saw how many people in a place we call home still don’t want us to exist. And that’s hard to face. But I’m standing here. I’m not standing here in shame. I’m standing here with truth.

Now look around you, look at the families, look at the elders. Look at the young people. This is why we’re here and this is what we’re fighting for. Look, look at how much love is here. Look at the beautiful things. Look at the beautiful things we can create with all of us.

This is, this is a Springfield we believe in because we are here to show something different: The light, the love, the beauty of what our community truly is. Every single person here showed up because you believe in something better. You believe in the future we can build in Springfield and Eugene and all of our communities.

And that starts with one truth. Your struggle is my struggle. When one of us is targeted, all of us are impacted. And when we stand together, we are powerful. Just like today, because right now we’re seeing leaders who think they are kings who are seeing systems that act like power belongs to a few.

So let me ask you, do we have kings in our country? (No!) Do we have kings in our country? (No!) That’s right. No kings! (No kings!) When our councilors and mayors stay quiet, that silence speaks and it tells people exactly whose safety matters and whose doesn’t. So I’m urging our city to speak up because if you don’t, then this becomes, then this becomes Springfield.

And if this is what Springfield represents, then we have decisions to make. Because leadership is not a title. It’s accountability.

And if our leaders who stand with the people, then the people will find new leaders. We will build our own candidates. We will support those who show up and we will vote. We have to protect each other because if we wait for them to respond, if they respond, it’ll be too late. They have already shown us what priorities they respond to, so we protect each other.

We show up for each other, and we stand with each other because that’s the real safety that it comes from. But look at what we have to do. We have voice, we have presence, and we have each other. Look around. This is power, but this moment can’t stop here. We are only going to create change if it’s all of us this week, not someday, this week, this week, this week, this week.

Show up to the city council meetings, speak during public comment. Sit in that room and let them see you because they need to feel us, not just hear about us. Don’t, don’t leave this energy here today. Take it with you to every space. We learned something these past months. We can’t wait for institutions to save us. We save each other

To our labor movement: We stand with you. Your fight is our fight. When workers are protected, communities are stronger. To our educators and students, we see you. We need to protect our students, support our teachers, and fight for education that tells the truth of our history, our stories, and our voices.

Because it takes a community to raise these kids. They are a reflection of all of us, and we need to make sure they don’t just survive but thrive. Yes, and our responsibility doesn’t stop by our city. We’re living in a world where children are being bombed, where families are suffering, and we cannot be okay with that.

Our community has to be bigger than borders. If we believe in dignity, then we believe it for all people.

And to my Latino comunidad: Mi gente, este es nuestro momento, nuestro tiempo para hablar entre nosotros para construir juntos, para dejar de esperar y empezar a creer la comunidad que merecemos. Miren aquí tantas personas que llegaron. Esto, es lo que es unidad. Esto es lo que es poder, pero necesitamos más porque muchas de las personas que están haciendo ese trabajo están cansados.

Necesitamos tu voz. Necesitamos tu presencia, necesitamos tu corazón. Y el hecho de que estás aquí hoy, eso es valor. No todo, estoy pidiendo que te pongas en peligro, pero sí te estoy pidiendo que seas un poco más valiente que ayer, porque sin ti no hay corazón en este movimiento. Y sin comunidad no hay cambio.

So let’s build, let’s connect. Let’s support our students, our workers, our families. Let’s hold these systems accountable, because the future we want is not going to be given to us. We are going to build it together with our voices, our presence, with our love for each other. And if they think power belongs to a few, we’re here to remind them who it actually belongs to: the people. And let me leave you with this. After seeing everything we’ve seen, after everything we felt and after everything, we’re still caring.

Brown is beautiful. Our culture is beautiful. Our families are beautiful, and our stories matter. We belong here and we’re not going anywhere. Say it with me. No kings. (No kings!) No kings! (No kings!) No kings. Thank you everybody.

Presenter: From 97.7 KEQB La Que Buena, Lupe Andrade:

Lupe Andrade: It’s such a beautiful thing to see so many people united today. It really is. This administration has been trying to divide us, to create division between us, and to see us come all together is just such a beautiful thing to see.

So be proud of yourself that you came, and that you are so great to be here. Thank you so much for supporting my community.

I’m here to represent my community, and I’m here to represent my people, those who feel unseen, unheard, and targeted. I’m here to say something simple but powerful: That enough is enough.

I’m here for the children who come home from school to find an empty house because their parents were taken by eyes. I’m here for the mother left without her husband taken on his way to work. I am here for the farm workers who live home like any other day and never made it back.

These are not just stories, this is reality. So let me ask you, are you ready to defend our democracy? (Yeah!) Are you ready to fight for our future? (Yes!) Then let the world hear us today. No kings, no thrones, no dictators! No kings, no thrones, no dictators. Because in this country, power is not supposed to come from the top down. It comes from us, from the people. And right now, for too many families, that promise feels broken.

People ask, why are we here? We are here because we are so tired, so, so tired of injustice. We are here because we are tired of cruelty. We are here because we are tired of these policies that are dividing us, trying to silence us and harm our communities. We are here because enough is enough. Is enough enough? (Yes!)

And when we say justice, we’re not talking about just one thing. We are talking about dignity and safety and fairness for all of us. We are talking about a real path to citizenship for people who have lived here for years, who work, who pay taxes, who raise families, because no one should have to live in fear.

We are talking about protecting our families, ending separation, stopping deportations that tear homes apart because no child should come home to an empty house.

We are talking about equal rights under the law to do process, access to legal help, and end to abuse of power because human rights don’t depend on papers. We are demanding accountability, transparency, and limits from agencies like immigration and customs informants because power should never be abused.

We are standing for workers for fair wages, safe conditions, and the right to speak up without fear. Yes, because the people who feed this country deserve respect.

And above all, we are demanding recognition for our humanity. We are not illegal aliens. We are human beings. We contribute, we build and we belong.

Now, some people may say, ‘This is a hate rally.’ Does it look like hate? But those are the same people who are staying silent when families are being torn apart, when children are left behind. So let me be clear, we are not here out of hate. We are here out of love.

Love for our families, love for our country, love for justice. And yes, some people may be upset that we’re marching, that we’re blocking traffic, blah, blah, blah. But let me say something: Inconvenience is temporary, injustice is not. So if we stay silent, nothing changes. If we stay quiet, the suffering continues.

This march, this moment, is a right, a right to be seen, a right to be heard, a right to stand up for our families. And we will not apologize for that because here’s the truth: A ‘king mentality’ says some people belong and others don’t. But we know better. Yeah, we know our strength is in our diversity. We know our communities are stronger when we stand together, like today.

I wasn’t born here, I immigrated here. By the way, I’ve been detained by ICE years ago and placed in a Tacoma, Washington, detention center when I was 18. So I know that feeling that these students, DACA students are facing when being detained and taken by ICE. I’m a part of what makes this country what it is.

So look around you. This right here is what power looks like, is what love looks like, is what unity looks like.

And to my people:  Si alguna vez te sentiste no bienvenido, no dejes que nadie apague tu luz. No matter where you’re from, no matter your story, if you ever felt unwelcome, don’t let no one dim your light. Keep shining. Keep standing. Keep showing up, showing up. We are unstoppable.

This doesn’t stop here. Please join us April 1 at Springfield City Hall. Show up on May 1. Stay informed. Speak up, support each other, know your rights, because change doesn’t happen in silence—it happens when we show up together.

So I ask one more time. Will you stay silent? (No!) Are you ready to stand? (Yes!) ‘Cause we the people, we have the power. Springfield, Eugene Lane County, we are stronger together. Thank you so, so much. Thank you.

Presenter: Lupe Andrade introduces speakers at the No Kings 3 rally in Springfield March 28.

---

You can watch the entire rally on Todd Boyle’s YouTube channel.