50501 Mass Mobilization

🗽The week of President’s day will be a mass mobilization to make our voices heard to our representatives. On Feb. 21st, we are going to shutdown their offices with phone calls and protest outside their offices to tell them we’ve had enough of Trump and ICE. For Ridgecrest, make calls on Tuesday and then join us for a protest on Saturday. [Reminder to Civil Servants, you need to make these calls off base and on your own time.]

Flock Townhall Recap

🎉The townhall was an incredible success.  There was about 100 people in attendance.  The Mayor and 2 council members were there to witness how passionate people were about the topic, hear their valid concerns, and learn more about the issues.  The Mayor saw that a simple and immediate action could be taken with renegotiating the contract.  From comments online, Councilman Gorman is interested in seeing a committee form for a Flock Alternative Solution.  If you’re interested in being a part of a city sponsored committee regarding Flock, please reply to this email.  Next City Council meeting is 2/18 at 6pm.

Ridgecrest 50501 Celebrates 1 Year of Action

Join us on the anniversary of Ridgecrest 50501’s 1st No Kings Protest, Feb. 21st to protest the Trump regime from 10am-12pm at Ridgecrest & China Lake Blvd.

Support our events for 2026 by getting yourself a t-shirt with our logo!
Sales for the 1st batch of prints ends on Feb. 22nd. Order before it ends to get one for No Kings III. Alternatively you can also donate to our events through our GoFundMe. Here’s a link to our balance sheet.

How it began

What started as a 1 day 1 woman event, quickly turned into a whole grassroots movement when others joined in.

Thursday

😤 I planned to take some time off work to work on a painting.  But the continued harassment from DOGE pushed me over the edge from depression into anger.  Additionally that night, the White House posted illustration of Trump in a Crown with the words “Long live the King.”  Enough was enough.

My husband and I made 3 signs that night.  2 about DOGE and one of the first No Kings signs that was also Pro-DEI: “No Kings, Yas Queens.” Collectively many minds across the country had the same thought that evening: “No American can be against the idea of protesting Kings- it’s in the very fabric of our history.” Eventually, out of this grew to what became the No Kings coalition, a movement that was a safe and relatable concept for the masses.  Being anti-Fascism is hard to sell when not many people know what that is.  No Kings?  “Obviously, we can’t have that,” said 7 million people on October 20th.

Friday

🚗I did a few hours outside the base during the major traffic times and my husband joined me for a little while.  People were excited when they saw the signs.  There were many honks and cheers coming from the people going to and from work.  My favorite was when someone rolled down their window and just screamed in agony.  I feel that.

The weekend rollercoaster

🤝On Saturday, a friend from out of town said he wanted to support me, so we went to the main intersection in town.  Many thanked us for being out there and some had questions about what was going on.  The experience exceeded our expectations for interactions in Ridgecrest.  He was glad that he participated because it changed his opinion about our town.

But that evening, news spread that DOGE had sent an email to every federal employee requiring them to create a list of their weekly accomplishments, due in 3 days or face termination.  I asked around and someone who was coming back from travel was able to verify the story.  More anxiety about random termination grew.  But then, agencies pushed back!

I got out there again with another friend to celebrate the pushback and about 5 people joined us.  For the most part there was a lot of good energy with being out there, but then we saw a Nazi salute.  Oh, hell no.  If they thought that would scare me away, they were wrong.  It only made me more determined to be out there more.

People asked when the next protest was and I explained it’s their right to be out there anytime. They looked at each other with raised eyebrows and shook their heads.  “No. We want to be out here when you’re out here again.”

🌱The community had a need; so I stepped up, learned some things, adopted a mission, toned down my rhetoric on behalf of the movement, and got organized.  Today we have about 400 protesters who have joined us, 5 leads, about 40 core members, and between 1.2k to 1.8k people who read our newsletter each week. If you would like to get involved with our group we are looking for more leads. Join us protesting and tell me how you would like to help.

What is 50501?

50 States. 50 Protests. 1 Movement.

💡We are not a progressive movement.  The threat to losing our democracy is high and we don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We are a big tent who are against authoritarianism and demand checks and balances.  We believe the way Trump is using the executive branch is an extreme overreach and he needs to be stopped.  Since Congress has repeatedly bowed down to his every wish, we see the only solution is to elect new leaders and then impeach, convict, and remove the wannabe dictator.

50501 is a decentralized organization that is run by local chapters with the same overarching national mission.  Local chapters have the flexibility to carry out the mission the best they see fit for their community.  We stand for non-violent legal action by communication with our representatives, encouraging people to vote, and hosting protests to engage the community to start paying attention.

Many people feel hope that there is a resistance in Ridgecrest.  The engagement we get when protesting is 70% positive.  We are not living in normal times, so it is our duty as citizens to use our 1st amendment rights to hold the government accountable and give others the courage to speak up.  Democracy requires active participation to keep it.

Who are we?

👥We are made up of Democrats, Independents, and Conservatives.  Our most active participants are former Republicans.  There is no purity test to join us protesting.  You don’t even have to stay on topic for the current protest.  If you’re upset at the Trump administration, we have a safe space for you to express your dissent peacefully.  Get off Facebook and join us.  Trust me, you’ll feel a lot better about the future.

Favorite Protest Flyers from our 1st year