For months, Long Beach residents have been peacefully protesting, organizing and speaking out at public meetings with one demand: Long Beach must cut its ties with Elon Musk. But for organizers, these protests are bigger than Donald Trump and Musk — it’s the latest reminder of the need for unity among the left.
Although Long Beach is a seemingly progressive city, with a historically designated gayborhood, Trans Visibility Day, and the host of the largest Pride Parade in the nation, organizers say they’ve received little to no help from elected officials to end the city’s contract with Musk’s company SpaceX.
“There’s a lot of frustration that’s had from a lot of Americans … but the interconnectivity to unite and make a sustainable movement is not there yet,” said Anthony Bryson, co-founder and organizer with SoCal Uprising.
The organization was founded in 2020 to fight the wave of white supremacy, and has organized multiple protests throughout the state since then, advocating for Palestine, fighting mass deportations, rallying for veterans benefits, supporting women’s rights and much more — all the while highlighting the interconnectivity between these issues.
“We just have to continue to educate people of the struggles and we can really solidify the movement,” Bryson said. “To have a real movement it’s gonna have to be transgenerational, it’s gonna have to be transcommunity, it’s gonna have to be everyone coming together. No one identity is going to lead the movement.”
For SoCal Uprising, the city’s ties to SpaceX are not surprising, rather another issue that shows how much work progressive places like Long Beach have to do. Organizations like The Feminist Uprising and the 50501 Long Beach chapter have joined the movement, trying to push the city’s elected officials to get Musk’s company out.
“Nobody wants a fascist wannabe bringing business and making money off of a community that’s also being endangered by his products,” said Jenn Cohen, co-founder of The Feminist Uprising, at a March 18 Long Beach City Council meeting. “This is a city that prides itself on diversity and inclusion and this is a man who’s trying to gut DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion policies], so when will this be an agenda item? When will this be open to the community to really discuss, because it is a really big concern.”
The Port of Long Beach has had a contract with Musk’s SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.), since May 2021. The company leases out 15.5 acres on the Pier T Navy Mole to dock its vessels and offload equipment. The Port renewed SpaceX’s lease in 2024, so the company is set to stay through April 2028.
In July 2024, SpaceX announced plans to move its Dragon spacecraft splashdowns from off the coast of Florida to Long Beach. In a public statement, the company explained the move, saying it’s being made to “reduce risks associated with re-entering debris from the spacecraft’s trunk section.”
On several occasions, debris from the SpaceX’s rockets have landed in various parts of the world, despite SpaceX claiming these rockets would completely break and leave no debris upon orbit re-entry. Protestors have also been demanding greater transparency about the environmental impacts of moving the Dragon spacecraft to Long Beach.
Authority to end this contract falls upon the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, who approved the lease agreement to rent port space to SpaceX. According to a Port official, these agreements do not go to the city council or mayor.
If the Port does not end its lease agreement with SpaceX, organizers have asked the lease money ($285,000 per month) be used to protect the trans community, queer individuals and other groups most vulnerable under the current administration.
Mayor Rex Richardson’s office refused to comment on the city moving away from SpaceX, and referred the Signal Tribune to the Port of Long Beach. A spokesperson from the Port sent this statement:
“… Both the Port and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. have carried out the terms of the lease agreement. The Port of Long Beach is tasked with leasing out Harbor District real estate for maritime purposes. The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners has the authority to approve lease agreements. The agreements do not go to the City Council nor Mayor for approval.”
“As a Long Beach resident myself, I find myself getting frustrated. We’ve had an openly gay mayor, we have a Black mayor now, and I still feel like levels of representation have not been met,” Bryson said. “We look at SpaceX and we see that Elon Musk is a transphobic, homophobic individual, and here in Long Beach we allegedly pride ourselves on being a diverse community, so why would we want to continue a relationship with SpaceX? It’s because it’s brought in so much revenue, so I think that the city and councilmembers prioritize the dollar over the sentiments of the residents and their safety and sense of community.”
SoCal Uprising and 50501 Long Beach organized protests against SpaceX’s growing footprint in the city on Feb. 17 and March 15. Nearly 700 people marched through downtown to protest SpaceX’s Long Beach expansion, asking the city to end its contract with the company, arguing that “any corporate presence in the city should align with its commitment to inclusion, sustainability and social justice,” according to a flyer for the protests.
Protestors were not only demanding an end to the financial relationship between Long Beach and SpaceX, but also that Musk’s government contracts, which account for more than $15 billion so far, are rescinded. Bryson said the demonstration was to create a dialogue and hopefully heal some of the divide between leftists, liberals and progressives.
“We have to resolve our issues and come together. The right was able to do that. We’ve seen the Tea Party consolidate and absorb into the MAGAs, we’ve seen how the Republicans tried to push out the MAGAs and then they adopted this MAGA mindset,” Bryson said. “Our hope is to swing the pendulum and go more left in thought and representation … If we can start here, maybe it can spread throughout the nation.”
SoCal Uprising and 50501 Long Beach will be taking part in the national day of protest on April 5. Hundreds of protests are scheduled for this Saturday in every state, fighting against the administration’s threats to democracy and personal freedoms.
For more information about this Saturday’s protests, or other mobilization efforts from SoCal Uprising, follow @socaluprising on Instagram.
