By Thomas K. Pendergast

On June 14, more than one million people across America tuned into the event “Rise Up – Sing Out!” as an alternative to President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday party, according to media reports.

In the Inner Sunset District of San Francisco, more than 30 people joined a watch party of the event at Sunset Commons on Irving Street.

RichmondSunsetNews.com reporter Thomas K. Pendergast joined the watch party for the event, which was hosted by actress Jane Fonda and the Committee for the First Amendment New York City’s Town Hall, which was founded by suffragists who fought to pass the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, establishing women’s right to vote.

It was also promoted by the national Indivisible organization.

Reporter Amanda Becker of The 19th, an independent non-profit news website, wrote that its first iteration was actually in the 1940s, when prominent Hollywood figures wanted to counter the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and its investigations into allegedly “disloyal” Americans.