by Mark C. Eades
Inauguration Day 2025 — Monday, January 20 — will also be Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It would have been wonderful to celebrate MLK Day and Kamala Harris’s inauguration on the same day and throughout the three-day holiday weekend. Sadly instead, MLK Day will be disgraced by the second inauguration of Donald Trump.
As I’ve been hoping, however, protests are planned for the entire three-day holiday weekend, from Saturday, January 18 through Monday, January 20. Hopefully this will only be the beginning for sustained, mass grassroots action to fight Trump and his fascist MAGA agenda. Planning for these protests is still in its early stages, so information is still limited.
For the Saturday preceding the inauguration, January 18, Women’s March and other organizations are planning a “People’s March on Washington” and demonstrations in other cities. The 2017 Women’s March in Washington DC following Trump’s first inauguration drew more than 470,000 people — three times the size of Trump’s inauguration crowd. Other marches in cities across the United States and around the world drew millions.
Also for Sunday, January 19 or Monday, January 20, depending on the city, numerous groups are planning a “National Day of Action” to fight back against Trump’s extremist agenda (locations, dates, and times planned so far are listed here). Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network will also host a rally for MLK Day and in protest against Trump’s inauguration in Washington DC on January 20.
Women’s March organizers say that the January 18 multi-city march will be only the beginning for continued organizing. “It is an entry point for new people,” said Women's March managing director Tamika Middleton, “And then we keep organizing after the marches.”
Plans for MLK Day weekend and Inauguration Day protests are only in the beginning stages. Further information will come as plans go forward.
