On Saturday, November 7, the announcement came that Donald Trump had been defeated in Pennsylvania, making Joe Biden the President-elect. All over the nation, people poured into the streets. In Berkeley, California, they danced through the neighborhoods and out into the downtown avenues. A rally in San Francisco—originally organized by Bay Resistance and central labor councils to demand a complete counting of the ballots—became a celebration.
Newly elected member of the Oakland City Council Carroll Fife, one of several local Democratic Socialist of America-endorsed candidates to win election, told the crowd: “This victory belongs to all of us, and we are not going to stop fighting for the things we need as workers, renters, women, and people of color.”
As hundreds of marchers moved up Market Street to the drums and trumpets of the Liberation Brass Orchestra, people laughed and cried in relief that the Trump nightmare is coming to an end.
Photo by David Bacon.
Celebration banner
A banner by artist David Solnit was prominent at the rally in Oakland.
Photo by David Bacon.
Jeff Freitas
Jeff Freitas, president of the California Federation of Teachers, urges the crowd to keep fighting to make corporations pay for schools and social services.
Photo by David Bacon.
County Every Vote sign
Trent Willis, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10, urges the crowd to move beyond identity politics.
Photo by David Bacon.
Anti-Trump celebration pic
Young people began dancing down Channing Way in Berkeley after hearing that Trump lost Pennsylvania.
Photo by David Bacon.
DSA in Santa Cruz
A number of DSA chapters participated in the march, such as in Santa Cruz.
Photo by David Bacon.
Coffee shop dance
Mario and Jose do a little dance at the espresso machine on hearing that Trump had lost the election.