Philadelphians rally for National Day of Action

CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- Friday marked a National Day of Action.

Tens of thousands of people across the country skipped school and work to attend rallies or marches, including here in Philadelphia.

Demonstrations took place in multiple spots in Center City and in West Philadelphia.

One protest took place across from City Hall called the Black Resistance March.

It's organizers part of a loose coalition holding demonstrations in multiple cities. The coalition Strike4Democracy says the collective protests Friday are against what it calls the victimizing of people by the Trump Administration, but Megan Malachi, an organizer of the Black Resistance March, says there is more.

"Our goal is to bring awareness that we shouldn't just be protesting about Trump, but we should be protesting all the issues that predates Trump's election," said Megan Malachi, Philadelphia Coalition for Real Justice. "We're here to discuss the Rizzo statue, which of course should not be here. Also the issue of stop and frisk."

Earlier at Clark Park in West Philadelphia, several hundred gathered, united in their dislike of the president's policies.

"My friends are being deported right now. It's really serious," said demonstrator Hariprasad Kowtha.

One speaker said if the Left wants to successfully challenge the GOP agenda, it must employ the tactics of the Tea Party.

"We can look to the Tea Party's success. They gave us a blueprint of how to leverage our political popularity against Congress," said demonstrator Nathan Holt. "We have the numbers. We need to make them work for us."

Organizers see Friday's demonstrations as a beginning, a seed that will grow to produce larger and more significant protests and strikes down the road that the president and his supporters can not ignore.

"We hope people will use today to plan for March 8. Use March 8 to plan for Mayday. Use Mayday to plan for the next major event," said Todd Wolfson, Strike4Democracy. "And so we think this is going to take to time to build the kind of force necessary."

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