A Year That Tested Community Power

Last January, as we marked the 25th anniversary of the MATES II study, longtime Wilmington organizer Jesse Marquez reflected on a quarter century of environmental justice victories. “We’ve won the war,” he said — not as bravado, but as a measured accounting of what sustained, community-rooted organizing had achieved against ports, shipping interests, political institutions, and regulatory indifference. It was a rare moment of looking back at hard-won progress, grounded in lived experience and collective struggle.

None of us could have imagined that the year ahead would so starkly test that legacy. Within weeks of the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States, Marquez was struck by a vehicle at an intersection on Lomita Boulevard, just blocks from where he was born and raised. After emergency surgeries, he remained largely comatose for months before dying in November. His passing did not erase the victories of the past 25 years — but it did underscore how fragile even the strongest pillars can be, and how much work depends on the people who hold movements together.

As Marquez fought for his life, the country entered a period of accelerated political upheaval. The Trump administration moved swiftly, forming the so-called Department of Governmental Efficiency and rapidly gutting federal agencies, firing career staff, and restructuring governance with little transparency or time for public reckoning. In late January 2025, a sweeping Office of Management and Budget memo froze most federal grants and financial assistance, disrupting community health centers, Medicaid systems, and safety-net services nationwide. The move paralyzed payment systems, sowed fear among providers, and signaled a broader campaign to dismantle programs tied to public health, environmental protection and equity.

What followed was a relentless first year: more than 140 executive orders reversing environmental, labor, immigration and public health protections; the dismantling of DEI initiatives; the draining of institutional expertise from federal agencies; and an aggressive prioritization of fossil fuel production amid a worsening climate crisis. He even transformed Immigration and Customs Enforcement into his personal guard of 21st-century Brownshirts, kidnapping our neighbors off the street — undocumented and otherwise. By the time Jesse Marquez died, the country had endured 11 months of governance defined by speed, shock, and structural damage.

This Year in Review documents what that moment looked like on the ground — in environmental justice, health, democracy, labor, culture, and community life. It traces how local institutions, organizers, artists, workers, and neighbors responded to overlapping crises, and how resistance, memory and solidarity persisted even as the ground shifted beneath us.

Environmental Justice, Health, and Climate Crisis

We began the year celebrating the 25th anniversary of MATES II, community activist Jesse Marquez’s 25-year fight for Wilmington’s health that began after the March 2000 MATES II study revealed the area’s highest cancer risk from diesel exhaust. His activism, sparked by a port expansion plan, led to the formation of the Coalition for a Safe Environment (CFASE) and significant victories against ports, resulting in California’s landmark environmental legislation, like AB32, and the move toward zero-emissions freight.

That legacy echoed throughout the year. Harbor Community Health Centers (HarborCHC) celebrated its 55th anniversary after earning HRSA’s Gold Badge for quality care — an honor reserved for the top 10% of health centers nationwide. Under CEO Tamara King and Medical Director Dr. Caleb Lusk, HarborCHC expanded diabetes, wound care and substance use disorder services while addressing high pediatric asthma rates linked to pollution identified in the MATES II study. Plans were underway to expand into San Pedro and Long Beach when the new administration’s threats to funding became real.

On Jan. 29, Rep. Nanette Barragán denounced the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze on HarborCHC as a “rip-off.” Though rescinded, the freeze — triggered by a Jan. 27 OMB memo — had already caused chaos and fear. Rep. Robert Garcia called the move “drastic, confusing, and chaotic,” noting it shut down the Medicaid portal nationwide. King reaffirmed HarborCHC’s commitment to “Gold Badge care” despite what she called a deliberate distraction.

Climate-driven wildlife crises intensified in the spring. International Bird Rescue faced a rare dual emergency as domoic acid poisoning from toxic algal blooms struck seabirds and marine mammals simultaneously across the Southern California Bight. More than 50 birds — including brown pelicans — were treated as IBR also responded to an influx of displaced chicks and tested for avian flu.

The Marine Mammal Care Center recorded its 247th animal by April 8 — numbers typically seen over an entire year. The crisis was driven by an unusually early and toxic algae bloom, climate change, possible nutrient runoff from fires, and compounded by federal cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research, making volunteers and donations essential.

In July, RLn profiled marine scientist and educator Alisa Schulman-Janiger, who leads the LA Gray Whale Census at Point Vicente. The count recorded the lowest migration numbers since 1984, reflecting a steep population decline caused by climate-driven food shortages in Arctic feeding grounds. Schulman-Janiger emphasized the role of citizen science and emotional connection to marine life as a foundation for protection.

Environmental solidarity also took cultural form through the “Respect the Locals” campaign, featuring limited-edition wildlife posters by John Van Hamersveld benefiting three San Pedro environmental nonprofits.

The year closed in mourning. In November, Jesse N. Marquez — founder of CFASE and godfather of Southern California’s environmental justice movement — died after spending his final days with family. His 25-year campaign reshaped public policy and proved that organized communities could confront industry and win.

Democracy, Repression, and Organized Resistance

Grassroots organizing remained central. In March, Indivisible San Pedro marked its eighth anniversary, continuing its resistance to the Trump/Elon Musk administration. Founded after the 2016 election, the group focuses on reclaiming the House in 2026 through phone banking, thousands of postcards, banner hangs, rallies, and sustained pressure on elected officials. Members described the meetings as both organizing hubs and emotional lifelines.

Warnings about democratic erosion escalated. Retired Maj. Gen. Peter Gravett called the administration’s actions “unthinkable,” citing ideological purges at the Pentagon, rollbacks of DEI programs, and efforts to erase Black military history. He warned that the country was being pushed backward toward the Jim Crow era.

That threat became tangible in “Palm Trees Burning — ICE Raids Ignite Pushback in L.A.”, which chronicled a federal crackdown that brought National Guard troops and Marines into local streets. Protests, mass arrests and an illegal deployment followed. RLn warned that local police risked becoming “ground troops of federal overreach.”

Resistance intensified through the Harbor Area Peace Patrol, which monitored federal agents throughout the summer. In August, masked agents violently detained nurse and activist Amanda Trebach near the Terminal Island ICE staging area. She was released without charges after two days. Supporters and elected officials called the arrest politically motivated intimidation.

Labor, Immigration, and Collective Power

Labor reporting underscored how repression and resistance intersect. RLn documented how mass detentions and deportations terrorized farmworkers while the H-2A guest worker program expanded — what many organizers call “practically serfdom.” The targeted arrest of Alfredo Juarez, a leader with Familias Unidas por la Justicia, illustrated the risks facing organizers even as unions continued building solidarity across worker status.

In “Union Roots, Modern Fights,” LIUNA Local 724’s Alex Aguilar Jr. linked today’s attacks on labor to immigrant-led organizing traditions, emphasizing unity as labor’s enduring strength.

David Bacon’s “Why Lelo Juarez Chose Self-Deportation” detailed the brutal conditions inside a private detention center and the toll of repression on an organizer who ultimately chose freedom with his family over a system designed to crush resistance.

In October, “The Case for a General Strike” traced growing calls for mass labor action, linking today’s moment to historic strikes and warning that authoritarian power now appears willing to “play chicken with catastrophe.”

Memory, Culture, and Community Identity

RLn continued documenting local history and cultural memory. February marked the 85th anniversary of Warren Chapel CME Church through a profile of Sam Flood, a labor and civil rights leader who helped build affordable housing and working-class power in San Pedro.

“A Mexican Hollywood” revisited a tight-knit Mexican American neighborhood erased by redevelopment, highlighting how residents forged survival through mutual aid despite poverty and neglect.

Culture became a site of political reckoning in October’s “When Punk Gets Punked by Politics, Riffs, Rage, and Right-Wing Donations,” which examined backlash after a punk festival founder donated to Trump. Band withdrawals, protest banners, and community outrage exposed tensions over complicity and resistance.

RLn also profiled Ronnie Fematt, whose life was shaped by wrongful suspicion after his wife’s murder and later by recovery, resilience, and redemption — another story of survival against institutional failure.

Development and the Heritage We’re Losing

Development pressures reshaped San Pedro throughout the year. In January, “Last Call at the Alhambra” chronicled the closure of the historic bar after bureaucratic failures, zoning errors, and permitting costs made survival impossible.

That same month, RLn investigated ongoing delays at the Warner Grand Theatre renovation, revealing underfunding, shifting timelines, and repeated failures by city agencies to comply with public records laws. In September, controversy erupted over plans to replace the theater’s historic marquee with a digital one, pushing reopening into 2027.

Preservation battles intensified. Two surviving Japanese American buildings on Terminal Island were named among America’s most endangered historic places, as advocates pushed for landmark status and a potential museum.

In “Demolition by Neglect”, RLn exposed how developers allow historic spaces to decay for profit, even as community resistance secured landmark protections for some sites.

In March, San Pedro said goodbye to Brouwerij West, which closed after nearly a decade, costing more than 30 local jobs. While Warehouse 9 remains active as a cultural venue, the loss symbolized the broader precarity facing community spaces.