Letters to the Editor for March 27, 2026

To the Editor:

I am the head of the League of Women Voters Youth Council of Alameda, a nonprofit that aims to spread civic education and engagement among the youth.

I want to inform you of our upcoming speech contest event, which will be open to all high schoolers across Alameda. The prompt is: In contemporary American politics, news is often partisan and can be manipulated in many ways. In what ways in contemporary society can news be manipulated and how does intentional manipulation of media affect the perception of voters?

The submission period will take place from now until Thursday, April 9, and students can submit their speeches to: [email protected]. The top five participants will be able to present their speeches at Alameda City Hall, and prizes of $400, $200, and $100 will be presented to the top three winners, respectively.

More information about submission requirements can be found in our flyer or on our Instagram.

Genevieve Yuen

Editor’s Note: Please be aware that the deadline was recently extended. Some previous submission materials may indicate that April 2 is the deadline, but the correct deadline is now April 9.

To the Editor:

Trump’s latest wars, and the protesters gunned down on the streets of Minneapolis, mean dark times for many Alamedans. The echo chamber effect of social media doesn’t help. Even on our island one can feel like an oddball, lost in the crowd cheering on the carnage. But good vibes can be found nearby, just by waving signs on the I-80 Berkeley overpass on a Sunday afternoon, along with activists from Indivisible and kindred organizations. Honks of support from passing motorists can raise blue spirits.

I speak from two recent experiences. On February 22 I went with five others from one of the kindred groups, SF Bay Area Friends of Standing Together (SF FoST). We displayed banners promoting peace and justice in Israel-Palestine, e.g., “From Gaza to Tel Aviv, All the Children Deserve to Live,” and “End the Occupation to Free us All.” We were happy to get a honk of support about every 10 seconds, but in the Mid-East the results are not stellar. 18 Palestinians have been killed on the West Bank this year. Meanwhile, on February 28, Trump expressed his frustration with Iran by assassinating its leadership.

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And so on March 15, SF FoSt came back with a new sign, “No War.” We shared the overpass with Indivisible (“The GOP should get an Oscar for Gaslighting”). There was a small but noticeable uptick in the honk rate, and in the friendliness of passing pedestrians; this war, this president, is NOT popular.

One of the sign bearers was the Bay Area influencer and Indivisible activist known as “inspireresistance” on Facebook. In 2025 she turned 50, lost her job, but decided her priority was to resist Trump 2.0. In years to come, she did not want to confess that she did nothing to halt our slide into autocracy. On a personal level it was a happy choice. She says she’s more resilient now, and found a new job in HR. And on a political level, the No Kings protests keep growing due largely to dedicated idealists like her.

Another was G., who intended to spend the day resting, but realized the best place for him to feel recharged was on the overpass. He’s involved with PushBackActNow.com, a web site providing a useful compendium of local and national resistance resources.

Finally, the beautiful outdoor setting on a crisp, clear Mediterranean spring day does wonders for ye olde morale.  From the overpass you can see a panorama of our Bay Area home—the Port of Oakland, San Francisco, Mount Tamalpais. Across the overpass come cyclists, parents pushing strollers, geezers like me. All somehow embellished by being together in a non-virtual space; people we care about, and want to save from disaster.

Matt Pico