Current Events –
‘NOT My Presidents Day’
Celebrated In US
Monday was President’s Day. However, in many cities across America, it was also ‘NOT My Presidents Day’!
Current Events
Despite promising to unite the country, Donald Trump is one of the most divisive leaders in US history. With an approval rating at a disappointing 38%, Trump has succeeded in one area — uniting a huge chunk of the country against him. So, while many Americans observed President’s Day, people in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, and at least 2 dozen other cities took to the streets to promote ‘NOT My Presidents Day’!
In New York City, hundreds of protesters assembled in Columbus Circle (home to a statue of Christopher Columbus and the Trump International Hotel and Tower), chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” Protesters also carried placards with some not-so-subtle messages for Trump.
“I don’t pay taxes to fund a golf weekend,” read one sign, while others pleaded that Americans “Just say no to fascist pigs” and “NO! We refuse to accept a fascist America.” Also, an elderly woman carried a poster resembling a book cover entitled “The Little Golden Book of Alternative Facts.”
“My family immigrated into this country from the Dominican Republic,” said 23-year-old protester Maria Amoldinado of Yonkers. “My great-grandparents and grandparents came here to escape poverty and to get away from the dictatorship of President (Rafael) Trujillo. I don’t want my family to live under another totalitarian regime,” she added in defiance of Trump’s immigration policies and brewing authoritarianism.
Another protester, 33-year-old John Winterton of Hastings-on-Hudson, said he was most worried about Trump’s attitude toward the press.
“They’re here to shine light on the truth, not to create fake news,” Winterton said of the news media assembled to cover the rally. “Sometimes they get things wrong, but they usually correct it quickly and the overall performance of the media in this country is truthful. It’s not fake news. The real fakery here is Donald Trump and his team’s ‘alternative facts.’”
In Los Angeles, hundreds descended on City Hall chanting “Not my President!”
“Fear is contagious,” said Mike Stutz of Los Angeles, who painted his face orange and donned “Orange Fever” placards. “It can really destroy what we believe in as the American dream,” he said. “Don’t catch the orange fever. Embrace your fellow man, don’t reject your fellow man.”
While wearing a pink “pussy” hat, Marilyn Derr of Manhattan Beach said, “Everyone deserves a chance in this country. We’re all immigrants.”
Current Events
In Chicago, several hundred protesters demonstrated outside the Trump International Hotel & Tower. Protesters held up signs needling Trump for losing the popular vote, while others expressed their support for the media and slammed him as a “jabberwocky terrorist who combats reason with babble & blather.”
Among the protesters was 29-year-old Ursula Wheeler, who said she is concerned about what the Trump administration will do to reproductive health care for women around the world, particularly since one of Trump’s first action’s was to reestablish a Reagan-era policy prohibiting American foreign aid to health care providers abroad that discuss abortion as a family-planning option.
Prior to the election, Wheeler, who attended the rally carrying a sign that read “Facts are not a liberal conspiracy,” said she was not particularly politically active. However, within the last month, she has made nearly a dozen calls to her congressional representatives to express concern on policy issues. She’s also made a weekly effort to attend a community forum or make a small donation to a cause that’s impacted by Trump policies.
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Young protester at #Chicago#notmypresidentday rally #PresidentsDay pic.twitter.com/bRgmpH3gbu
— Aamer Madhani (@AamerISmad) February 20, 2017
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“Being here gives me a lot of hope, honestly,” Wheeler said. “Sometimes I feel kind of alone in my dismay, anger and sadness, but then I remember how many people are feeling in the same boat,” she said.
Barbara Evans, of Elgin, said she is optimistic that the protests will persist against Trump and that “he will get impeached sooner rather than later.” Evans added that the energy of the anti-Trump movement is beginning to remind her of the Vietnam-era protests when she was a young woman.
“It’s very exciting to me to finally see a huge percentage of the population is waking up, getting energized and joining us,” said Evans, who described herself as someone who “held her nose” and voted for Hillary Clinton in November. “It isn’t just Trump. The Republicans have been moving further to the right for many decades and becoming more and more extreme. The Democrats have been moving to the right to catch up and go for those corporate donations. It’s been terrifying to watch. Economic inequality keeps increasing and that’s fed the misery and discontent and the suspicion and resentment that led us to this moment.”
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Portland riot cops just tossed people to the ground. Nonviolent protesters arrested #notmypresidentsday pic.twitter.com/kA8mTJYcqj
— doug brown (@dougbrown8) February 20, 2017
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In Atlanta, more than 600 protesters attended an “ImPEACH Now” march, which was highlighted by placards featuring an image of a cut peach with Trump’s face in place of the pit.
In Philadelphia, protesters marched in a “Counter the Executive Orders” rally.
In Ann Arbor, Mich., about 600 marchers attended a “Bad Hombres and Nasty Women” event Monday night, featuring “uncensored performances” that benefitted Planned Parenthood.
Interestingly, although the ‘NOT My Presidents Day’ protests called for the impeachment of the president, it wasn’t always for the one you might think.
“Impeach President Bannon” posters were spotted in several major cities against Trump’s controversial White House chief strategist and senior adviser, Steve Bannon.
“No one voted for Steve Bannon,” California-based protesters wrote in an email to Yahoo News. “Yet he is the de-facto 45th president of the United States.”
Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News and chief executive of Trump’s presidential campaign, championed the so-called alt-right movement that critics have said is a rebranding of white nationalism.
“Thanks for helping us show this arrogant ‘mastermind’ that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is,” Alison Kay, one of the California protesters, wrote. “If Bannon thinks Trump is a ‘blunt instrument’ … wait till he sees what we can do.”
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i wish i knew i woulda gone