PITTSBURGH, PA. - This past year Pittsburgh saw one of its most racist Mayoral primary campaigns in recent memory. Corey O’Connor, white son of a former Mayor, defeated progressive Ed Gainey, the first Black Mayor of Pittsburgh, in the Democratic primary by claiming over and over again that crime in Pittsburgh was up when statistics show that crime went down.
Just a week prior to Pittsburgh’s record No Kings protest that saw nearly 20,000 take to the streets and 7 million nationwide, O’Connor and his corporate Democratic allies on City Council voted 5-4 to roll back Gainey’s landmark achievement, the inclusionary zoning rule.
At the No Kings protest, O’Connor and his allies featured prominently in a rally organized by Democratic Party operatives on the steps of Pittsburgh’s City Hall. Their presence shocks some as ironic.
"City council voted against the wishes of you know, the vast majority of people that came and spoke to us," Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick, who voted to keep inclusionary zoning, tells me at the rally.
For many, however, these political tensions aren't apparent. For them, the No Kings rally turned into a fun costume-filled party.
About a hundred yards from the City Hall stage, where the political dignitaries are standing, Susie McCallion from Bethel Park is dressed up as a banana. A former steelworker who was employed at the Homestead Steel Works, she says that she likes to dress like a banana as a symbol of how the US has become a banana republic.
“It makes me feel empowered, I feel better after I go. I feel better about myself,” says McCallion at Pittsburgh’s No Kings protest last week.
As she talks to me, a little girl about 5 years old walks up to her dressed as a banana also. “Little Banana," she shouts. They high five.
Near her, 63-year-old Jeff Medina is dressed as a king, but instead of wearing a robe, he wears a giant burrito.
“‘No kings’ is what [the costume] means,” says Medina. “I’m King Burrito. The only king you really need.”
Medina says that he chose to wear the costume to honor his Mexican stepfather and Mexican culture. Many attendees at the rally have signs celebrating the immigrant heritage of their families.
About 30 yards from Medina, 67-year-old Heather Lawerence, a retired nurse, stands holding a sign with the caption, “Ellis Island 1926,” and an arrow pointing to a black and white photo with the caption, “My Dad.”
“This is 1926 Ellis Island. This is my father,” says Lawerence pointing to the sign. “This is my grandparents and my aunt. They came from Czechoslovakia in 1926. My grandfather worked in the steel mills for years. He raised his kids there. They had to learn how to speak English. They came. They worked hard, looking for better lives for their kids, and I don't deserve more because I got here first. All of the immigrants who are coming today are the same as the immigrants of yesterday.”
The No Kings protest was unprecedented in scale. The atmosphere is unusually festive with irreverent protest signs and dozens dressed in elaborate costumes. Many seem genuinely excited.
Robyn and Laurie, two middle-aged women in their 60s, decided to buy a $30 taco costume at Target. Despite the heat of the plastic costumes on this warm day, both are dancing at the rally in the not very breathable taco costumes.
“These guys seem to be having a good time. We love the gathering. Love people. Nice to know that there's this many people that care, that care about our country,” said Robyn Newton.
While the crowd of protestors seems to be united, the organizers couldn’t even agree on holding one unified event. While Susie, Jeff, and Heather rallied downtown, Robyn and Laurie were across the river.
Many organizers felt that the rally being held downtown at City Hall, attended by 10,000 people, was run too heavily by Democratic Party operatives and elected officials. More left leaning groups decided to organize their own rally a mile away, in the Allegheny Commons Park.
“I said it at the last rally. I don't know why we got two,” Congresswoman Summer Lee tells the crowd.
Miracle Jones, Director of Advocacy and Policy at 1Hood Media, says that the No Kings protests have a very different vibe than most protests she has attended.
“I think what's really exciting about today is that people are being human, from the inflatable suits to the range of ages here, to the quirks,” says Jones. “It is the best of what humanity can offer.”
At a time, when many feel depressed about the direction of the country under President Trump, activists feel that the joy of these protests is what they need to keep going.
“We are not going to get out of this by being glum and crying and being depressed. We are going to dance our way out of this. We are going to be joyful in our way about this,” says Jamie Martinez, a local immigrants rights activists “We are going to come out of this with our heads held high, yeah, so every moment of this is a part of that.”
However, underneath the festive atmosphere, tensions are simmering.
Earlier in the week, Pittsburgh Democratic City Councillors passed an inclusionary zoning bill that rolled back outgoing Mayor Ed Gainey’s rule requiring affordable housing units in every new residential development.
While many of those in the Democratic Party who worked to undo the affordable housing regulations are helping to drive people to the rallies, some on the left are struggling with how to join alliances with people that they are otherwise fighting.
Jonathan Mayo is a local community activist who served as treasurer of Mayor Ed Gainey’s re-election campaign that was defeated by the real estate interests. The repeal of inclusionary zoning upsets him greatly.
“I'm not happy about that at all. But right now [defeating Trumpism is] bigger than this, I'm glad that they're here. We need a big tent,” says Mayo. “I'm not forgiving it. I'm not putting that aside. I think that's a different issue for a different day.”
The Jewish activist, who is heavily involved in the group “Bend the Arc,” says that anti-Trumpers must be careful about getting too divided.
“We know what happens in history, right?” said Mayo. “They come for everybody, and it doesn't matter that you had this stance on this issue.”
Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barb Warwick says that with all the focus on Trump, it’s allowing Democrats on the local level to get away with things like repealing inclusionary zoning.
“It's easy to come to a rally, right?” said Warwick. “It's easy to show up at a rally for trans kids, or a rally for Black maternal health, or a rally for housing, and put on a t-shirt.”
“But at the end of the day, it's all about how you vote, and I think too, with the insanity that we are seeing at the federal level, and just how terrified people are of, literally, masked guards in the street, hauling people out of their cars,” says Warwick. “That stuff is so scary that that's where the national attention is. And so it's very easy to slip this kind of stuff by, locally.”
She says that the recent race in Pittsburgh where corporate Democrats teamed up with real estate developers to run a dog whistle campaign to defeat Mayor Ed Gainey should be a warning sign of what can happen if all the focus is on Trump.
“One of the biggest concerns with this insane shift to the right, the insane right of the federal government right now, where we're just looking at at things, blatant things like fascism and authoritarianism, is that it allows the status quo of the the Democratic Party to move to the right as well,” says Warwick.
Warwick says, at a time when many are pitching anti-fascist unity, the left shouldn’t stop criticizing corporate democrats in the name of building a big tent.
“I agree that we need a big tent, but I think that, you hear often about the big tent, that it has to be poor and working people that come into the tent, but I feel like it's the opposite, right?” says Warwick. “Whatever your privilege is, whether it's economic or racial or whatever it is, you need to come into the tent with everybody else.”
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