Over 1,000 demonstrators gathered at Carty Parade Ground in Boston Common March 15 for a rally protesting the recent actions of President Donald Trump and his administration, including cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, restrictions on transgender rights, mass deportations and crackdowns on schools for diversity initiatives and activism.
The rally was planned by 50501 Massachusetts, the state chapter of the national 50501 Movement that has organized anti-Trump demonstrations since Feb. 5 with the goal of holding 50 protests in 50 states on one day. The March 15 event was headlined “Show Pride for Democracy” and organizers described it on their website as “a celebration of the diversity and unity that make America strong.”
Kate Fractal, a volunteer with 50501 Massachusetts and computer science educator from Greater Boston, said the movement holds protests with the goal of identifying and fighting authoritarian takeovers.
“All my life I was warned to watch out for authoritarian takeovers. I spent 30 years of my life saying, ‘That’s bad, but that doesn’t look like the thing I was warned about.’ But now, finally, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is the thing I was warned about,’” Fractal said.
Fractal said that by uniting together through protests, 50501 hopes to protect vulnerable communities and make sure all voices are heard.
“The goal [of 50501] is to preserve democracy and protect all vulnerable people. We want freedom for all, democracy for all and everybody’s voice matters,” she said. “Whoever you are, wherever you are, your voice is not too small to make a difference.”
Diverse voices and unity was a prominent theme across the series of speakers featured at the event, including Kylie Ariel Bemis, assistant teaching professor of computer science at Northeastern and advocate with Indigenous community organization Rising Hearts. In her speech, Bemis echoed the ideas of her Feb. 22 open letter to Northeastern leadership in which she condemned the Trump administration’s attacks on vulnerable communities and expressed solidarity with all those affected.
“When we go home tonight, we will all dream of freedom and liberty for all and our hope will become an unstoppable force,” Bemis said in her speech. “Because no matter what the courts say and no matter what Congress says and no matter what the White House says, we the people will rise together.”
After her speech, Bemis described her experiences standing up to university administration in an interview with The Huntington News.
“I started helping organize this [rally] because I got frustrated with trying to work within our own institution that seemed determined to allow themselves to be destroyed or at least appease themselves out of existence,” Bemis said. “It seemed clear to me that we would not be able to rely on our [Northeastern] university leadership and we would need to get out into the streets and do something to save ourselves.”
Bemis said she hoped university leadership would take more intense actions to protect students instead of attempting to appease the Trump administration, referencing the recent cancellation of $400 million in federal funds to Columbia University and the arrest of a graduate student for participating in protests which Trump called “un-American” in a March 10 Truth Social post.
“I hope that as things get worse and as [members of university leadership] see what’s happening at places like Columbia University, they will realize that there’s no amount of hiding, obeying or appeasement that will satisfy this administration and that the only thing that people like Donald Trump and Elon Musk understand is strength and fighting back. And that’s what universities are going to need to do in order to survive this,” Bemis said.
Bemis urged students to be politically active, she suggested working with student unions and attending rallies to have their voices heard.
Mara Dolan, a member of the Massachusetts governor’s council and speaker at the protest said she felt it was important for elected officials like herself to be at these rallies.
“I came to the protest on Presidents’ Day and I happened to run into [50501] organizers. We started talking and I said, ‘I’m an elected official, we should talk.’ I wanted elected officials to be there,” Dolan said. “I wanted to bring Democratic leadership together with the grassroots resistance because together, we will be the most powerful force there can be.”
Dolan said many constituents have contacted her to express their concerns over federal policies and changes. Dolan advised citizens to attend protests and continue being vocal around issues they care about.
“You can reach out to your elected officials, just as people are reaching out to me to ask for guidance. Find out when there are protests and find out when there are elections that you can get involved in,” Dolan said. “Local elections matter tremendously. We’ve got the midterms coming up next year. We have to lay the foundation to make sure that we get out the vote for the midterm, so there are absolutely things that people can and should be doing right now to be heard.”
Dolan said she plans to be at the next 50501 Massachusetts protest, which will take place April 5 at a yet-to-be-decided time and location.
Stephen Mandile, a veteran of the U.S. Army and Massachusetts Army National Guard who served in the Iraq War, said he plans on attending the next event and encourages others to do the same.
“We have a great turnout of people from all over Massachusetts today and we’re going to again [in the future],” Mandile said. “In Massachusetts, we happen to be in a great position where we have legislators of ours standing up against Trump, but we still need to be part of the solution instead of just saying, ‘you guys fix it.’”
Mandile said he has been personally affected by cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. He said that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE’s, restructuring of the federal workforce, including an email demanding employees name five weekly accomplishments or resign, have caused chaos with his Veterans Affairs healthcare.
“The chaos being caused by this administration, especially with the Department of Veterans Affairs, has made everything so messy. … I went in just this week to the [Veterans Affairs] for an appointment, and my nurse was telling me that she spent a good part of her morning sending the email [demanded by DOGE] about the five things she did last week. I was like, ‘Ma’am, you see about 12 to 16 veterans a day, that’s all you need to do. Like, you don’t need to be doing extra to fill that list. It’s just ridiculous,” Mandile said.
Though federal policy changes have caused tension between individuals and institutions who don’t want to become targets(rw), Mandile said he is confident in people’s ability to take a stand through protest.
“It often feels like we’re rolling back the clock on a lot of different issues, so I feel it’s incredibly important to be out here taking a stand against it,” Mandile said. “It’s on the people to stand up and say no. That’s our history right here [in Boston]. This is the place to do it.”
