People in Hawai‘i who are dismayed by the unchecked, concentrated power of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are starting to come together to push back.

Their resistance embraces different forms but theyʻre mostly saying the same thing: “Stop taking away our rights.”

Filmmaker and archivist Heather Guigni jokes she probably will be the first person to key her own Tesla to protest what she sees as Trump overstepping his legal authority.

Communications executive and former news reporter Ann Botticelli and her partner Vance Martin are equally dismayed by the symbolism of the electric car that helped make Musk a billionaire.

They traded in their Teslas for two other brands of electric cars to distance themselves from Trump and Muskʻs many transgressions, including the firing without cause of thousands of civil servants with no plan to replace their services.

And worse, Trump’s day-by-day erosion of the protective powers of Americaʻs tripartite system of government without much of a peep from Congress.

“When I bought the Tesla in 2018, I saw it as a way to fight climate change, an alternative to fossil fuel. Now it has become a symbol of greed and abuse of power,“ said Botticelli.

She has joined forces with longtime Hawaiʻi political strategist Chuck Freedman and Nanci Kreidman, the founder of the Domestic Violence Action Center, to form a new group: Allies in Resistance.

“We donʻt have all the answers. What we have is a commitment, a desire, a willingness and a value system,” Kreidman said.

On Saturday they organized their first event: a rally on the grounds of ʻIolani Palace to march to the Hawaiʻi State Library to place lei on the statue of the late Congresswoman Patsy Mink to highlight Trumpʻs attack on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Mink spent a lifetime championing fairness for all Americans regardless of gender or race.

Hawaiʻi Kai resident Amy Monk, a retired foreign service officer, carried a sign she painted just before the rally quoting Mink’s phrase, “We never must quit.”

Then, about 200 participants returned to the Coronation Pavillion at the palace to hear speeches.

“People seemed to be glad to be able do something as a group rather than sitting alone at home feeling anxious and helpless,” Botticelli said.

Going forward, she said they will host future events and support other organizations now forming to alert residents about Trump’s impacts on the islands.

ʻUnited We Stand With Migrantsʻ

That would include the group Hawaiʻi J20, which on Friday in partnership with the national group Indivisible will host a forum titled “United We Stand with Migrants.” The panel discussion will feature Attorney General Anne Lopez, Liza Ryan Gill — executive director of Hawaiʻi’s Coalition for Immigrant Rights — and law student Brissa Flores Romero.

J20’s Beth McDermott says the event will highlight the jolt to Hawaiʻi’s economy if the Trump administration unlawfully deports undocumented immigrants living here with no criminal histories who are actively working to become documented.

This is part of what J20 calls its Solidarity Speakers’ Series, with the next event in April to focus on Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts to slash jobs and entire departments in the federal government.

“Our intention is make clear how the DOGE cuts will directly affect the people in Hawaii from everything like cuts to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to health care and children’s education,” McDermott said.

Changing Their Reading List

One of the most unusual Trump pushback groups is a newly formed book club that literature-loving members — mostly professional women — have dubbed the Underground Book Club.

Criminal defense attorney Pamela Lundquist launched the club on Feb. 9 when she urged friends in another book club to join forces in a new club to read books outlining the perils of the creeping authoritarianism she sees in the Trump administration.

“My hair was on fire. I felt we needed to do something now. As a lawyer, I know the law and feel the rule of law and the separation of power crumbling under Trump. We are watching it happen. We need to stand up immediately,” Lundquist said.

Out of 19 members in the regular book club, 14 joined the new one. They went from reading novels like “James” by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Percival Everett and “Playground” by Richard Powers to tackling “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder. 

Snyder’s book analyzes America’s turn to authoritarianism and offers actions people can take to resist it.

“Anyone who thinks what is happening now will stop has not faced the facts of the last eight years,” Lundquist said. “Trump will never follow the law. He does not think the law applies to him. Let’s sit down together and figure out what we can do.”