"No Kings": Campus Activists Broaden Coalition Organizing Big Pro-Democracy Protest on March 28
A conversation with local organizers of the next nationwide anti-Trump rally, including students from UCSB and SBCC who are changing the demographics of the opposition movement to authoritarianism.
The political vibes have shifted, from despair to hope, among community organizers in opposition to Donald Trump’s authoritarian project, following a year of increasing outrage to the cruelty, corruption and chaos of his policies and actions.
As he sinks in the polls, blunders through an unpopular war in Iran, and faces a mid-term election shaped by high gas prices and voter anxieties arising from his pro-billionaire economics, Trump oversees a flailing administration expected to prompt many millions of protesters into the streets for the next “No Kings” rally on March 28, the latest in a series led by the loose nationwide coalition known as “Indivisible.”
“The mood has shifted, from cowardice to courage,” said Ian Paige of Indivisible Santa Barbara, the group coordinating local efforts timed to a day of nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations.
In a conversation with Newsmakers this week, Paige was joined by Tallula Borman, a UCSB undergraduate and leader of the recently-organized Indivisible Isla Vista, and by Calli Fonua, an SBCC student who is doing similar work on her campus.
What it means. As a political matter, the energy and passion of student organizers represents a strategic advance for Indivisible, expanding the demographic cohort in the coalition beyond its Boomer base.
Borman, who is studying political science and philosophy, recalled attending a previous “No Kings” demonstration in Santa Barbara, where she “personally began to notice the lack of young people involved in this movement.”
“It was a crazy experience because all these people kept coming up to us, like older people, and they were like, ‘Thank you so much for being here. This is so great to see you.’”
“And we were like, ‘This feels super backwards. I feel like I should be thanking you for fighting for a better future for me.’ It just felt like these people were taking on a fight that was mostly concerning us and we should be involved in a much higher capacity.
“So…I came home to IV, and (said), ‘Guys, we need to get together and get more of our young voices heard and our young perspectives illuminated,’” Borman added.
Fonua, who studies communications and is active in dance at SBCC, grew up in Oxnard; she was motivated to begin organizing on campus after seeing friends and family directly affected by ICE raids in agricultural fields near where she grew up.
“What’s happened in Oxard, especially over the summer and what continues to happen…just the real hate, the deep hate that we see,” she told Newsmakers. “I mean, these are people who are just trying to make a living and just want to be here to better themselves and who do pay taxes…what really got to me the most was seeing this (official) brutality so close to home.”
Bottom line. In our conversation, the three activists also discussed the details of the March 28 event, the shift in mood among the opposition since Indivisible’s first town hall in Santa Barbara in February 2025, the challenges of organizing students already feeling overwhelmed by academic and economic pressures, and the connection of popular mass demonstrations to the electoral politics of the November election.
The “No Kings” rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Alameda Park, 1400 Santa Barbara St., SB. More information at Indivisible Santa Barbara.
Check out our full conversation with organizers of the March 28 “No Kings” rally via YouTube below or by clicking through this link. Our podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, or on Soundcloud here. TVSB, Channel 17, airs the show every weeknight at 5 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on weekends. KCSB, 91.9 FM, broadcasts the program at 5:30 p.m. on weekends.