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Photo Essay

Daylight's 2025 in photos

Daylight San Diego

Daylight San Diego

— 7 min read
Daylight's 2025 in photos
Mike Anglin (left) and Paul Marquez take a photo together in front of the rainbow lights projected onto Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Bankers Hill on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

Written by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan


As we begin 2026,  we wanted to look back on what we did in the year we launched. Daylight San Diego is only 9 months old, but we’ve reported diligently on immigration, surveillance, local resources, protests, fun events and organizations that support their communities. We look back at what we did in 2025 as we propel ourselves into 2026 with even bigger plans. Stick around for more community-centered coverage and events.

Dozens march in solidarity walk for Palestine Land Day through downtown San Diego

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey
April 01, 2025

A 5-year-old walks in the solidarity walk in a Palestinian Land Day event along the San Diego Bay on March, 30, 2025. Photo by Lauren J. Mapp

San Diego tribes launch effort to reduce the number of missing and murdered Indigenous people

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey
May 14, 2025

Sheila Powless from the Texas Band of Yaqui Indians (top) pins up a quilt square marked with her handprint in red ink during the MMIP Summit at Viejas Casino & Resort on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Powless, who lives on the La Posta Indian Reservation, said she attended the event to honor her Indigenous loved ones who have been murdered or are still missing. Lauren J. Mapp/Daylight San Diego

A closet for all: Local nonprofit on a mission to clothe San Diegans

Written by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Edited by Kate Morrissey
June 03, 2025

A volunteer puts away donated clothes in the men's closet at Sharia's Closet on April 25, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

Religious leaders escort immigrants leaving court hearings in act of solidarity

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey 
June 25, 2025 

Mariana Moran leads a prayer for the safety of immigrants and refugees attending their court hearings at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building in downtown San Diego on Friday, June 20, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

High schoolers win funding for City Heights park

Written by Marco Guajardo & Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Kate Morrissey
July 17, 2025

Youth Council organizers paint a banner on May 2, 2025 in preparation to lobby at the May 5City Council Budget Review Committee Hearing. Youth Council members, mostly middle and high school students, meet every Friday to organize for their ongoing City Heights Urban Village Revitalization Campaign. Marco Guajardo/Daylight San Diego

Thousands flock to Hillcrest for San Diego Pride Parade

Photo Essay by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp 
July 20, 2025

A parade participant smiles at the crowd during the San Diego Pride parade on Saturday, July 19, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

‘We are still fighting’: Spirit of Stonewall rally spotlights queer activism

Written by Sam Barney-Gibbs, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp
July 20, 2025 

Local poet Espi Love recites a poem they wrote for the Spirit of Stonewall Rally as someone raises a pride flag in Hillcrest on Friday, July 18, 2025. Sam Barney-Gibbs/Daylight San Diego

Broken promise: How the Trump administration dismantled pathways to protection for Afghans

Written by Kate Morrissey
July 23, 2025

Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of #AfghanEvac, speaks at a Hazara community festival in San Diego in early June. An ethnic minority in Afghanistan, Hazara people have faced persecution, especially from the Taliban, and many of the people who worked with U.S. troops identify as Hazara. Kate Morrissey/Daylight San Diego

‘I was told I wasn't in America’: Activist detained by ICE recounts custody experience

Written by Kate Morrissey, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp 
August 1, 2025

Jeane Wong speaks during a press conference before making an impassioned plea on Thursday, July 31, 2025 to a federal judge to dismiss the charges against them. Kate Morrissey/Daylight San Diego

San Diegans call for an end to ICE surveillance funding

Written by Sam Barney-Gibbs, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
August 24, 2025

Community organizer Grace Rojas Jimenez (center) leads a press conference from multiple San Diego organizations against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its funders outside the Federal Building in downtown San Diego on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. Sam Barney-Gibbs/Daylight San Diego
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Hoops with a higher purpose

Written by Sam Barney-Gibbs, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
August 25, 2025

Lester Mayo (left) and Jay McGee (right) do defense drills during the Mind on Basketball tryouts. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

‘District 4 deserves better:’ Volunteers endure heat to cleanup southeast San Diego

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
September 03, 2025

Roosevelt Williams III and his 4-year-old son, Roosevelt Williams IV, use trash pickers to clear garbage from a tree well across the street from the Elementary Institute of Science on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. Lauren J. Mapp/Daylight San Diego


San Diego advocates push to end girls’ incarceration

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan 
September 11, 2025

Athena and Alexis Williams play on the floor during a panel on ending girls incarceration at the Price Philanthropies Building in City Heights on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

‘Madness takes its toll:’ Crazed Imaginations celebrates 50 years of ‘Rocky Horror’

Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan 
September 25, 2025

Crazed Imaginations cast members perform the song “Sweet Transvestite” during a show on Aug. 22, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

Bicycle volunteers monitor school zones for ICE

Written by Kate Morrissey, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
October 06, 2025

Jeane Wong poses for a portrait with her e-bike near Burbank Elementary. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

Catrinas and catrines take over Logan Avenue during Día de los Muertos

Photo Essay by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp 
November 11, 2025

Noemí Castañeda and José Bolaños pose dressed as a Catrina and Catrín, continuing their annual Día de los Muertos tradition. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

‘I’m lost in this country’: Non-Mexicans living undocumented after deportation to Mexico

Written by Kate Morrissey 
November 25, 2025

Fidel Forten-Garcia, a Cuban man deported from the U.S., at a migrant shelter in the Mexican town of Villahermosa. Kate Morrissey/Daylight San Diego

‘Tis the season to be an ally

Written by Sam Barney-Gibbs, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp
December 17, 2025

A person wearing a Hawaiian style shirt with LGBTQ+ logos on it and another person wearing a “Free Mom Hugs” shirt wave toward the camera during the San Diego Pride parade on July 19, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

Guam Club Christmas party brings joy and traditions to kids

Written by Brittany Cruz-Fejeran, Edited by Lauren J. Mapp 
December 18, 2025

Santa and a little boy give thumbs up to the camera during the Sons and Daughters of Guam Club’s Youth Program Christmas Party at its clubhouse in Lincoln Park on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. Brittany Cruz-Fejeran/Daylight San Diego

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