Donald Trump's Victory is Not the Last Word; 'Not My President': Anti-Trump Demonstrations Swell Nationwide

Trump's campaign has already been building a wall-not between the United States and Mexico but between American communities. His wall is with myths about white people under siege from black and brown "others"-immigrants stealing jobs, Black Lives Matter activists threatening "law and order," or Muslim Americans undermining shared values. We have the capacity to tear down walls so that people can unite and build an economy and political system that works for all of us.

LeeAnn Hall and George Goehl; Nika Knight Common Dreams and OurFuture.org
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Protesters hit the streets of Atlanta Wednesday night to make it clear that they are not ready to accept Donald Trump as their president.,WSB-TV - Atlanta
 
By LeeAnn Hall and George Goehl
 
November 10, 2016
 
 
Donald Trump's election to the presidency is nothing short of a disaster for America. He is a racist, misogynist and xenophobe. And we, like many of you, fear for our families, our neighbors, our country and the planet. But now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand. There is no time to mourn; we must prepare for what may well be the fight of our lives.
 
Trump's path to victory was set by decades of Republican fearmongering and a centuries-long effort by the ruling class to exploit race to divide working Americans from one another. Rampant inequality has fueled resurgent racism and xenophobia.
 
The economic and human crisis of what is happening across America is real. It makes sense that people are scared, angry and desperate for change.
 
The work in front of us is mammoth - and we are committed.
 
First and foremost, we will stand with the communities of color, immigrants, Muslims and women who Trump has spent his campaign attacking so harshly.
 
Second, we commit ourselves to unwavering resistance to Trump and his agenda. We must hold fiercely to our belief that we can live up to this country's yet unrealized promise of life, liberty and justice for all. We will join forces with those who share our belief across the country, and from the streets to the halls of Congress to the steps of the White House we will make sure that Trump cannot achieve the draconian ends that he has proposed.
 
Third, we commit ourselves to win back the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters who have been distracted by a campaign of fear and hate. We need to listen to our brothers and sisters in communities across the country who feel left out and forgotten, and come together around our shared interests: building strong local economies where families flourish, protecting the land and water that nourishes us, and ensuring that the nation respects the equality and dignity of every human being.
 
Even in this moment of darkness, there are victories that give us hope. In Nevada, we elected the first Latina U.S. senator, Catherine Cortez Masto. In Washington, we elected a longtime community champion to the House, Pramila Jayapal. In Minnesota, we elected Ilhan Omar, our first Somali-American immigrant to the state assembly. In Arizona, we removed one of the most vicious anti-immigrant sheriffs in the history of our country, Joe Arpaio. In Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington significant majorities of voters favored ballot measures to increase the minimum wage to bring it closer to a living wage.
 
The values that all of these candidates and ballot initiatives spoke to - of shared prosperity and inclusive democracy - are alive and well in the hearts of diverse communities across the country. These victories are a rejection of Trump's strategy of divide and conquer, of pitting working people against each other across lines of race, class and gender.
 
American history is filled with dark periods like this one. But out of those periods have come some of the greatest struggles for justice and equality, where everyday people have banded together in pockets of resistance to overcome injustices and move America forward. This is such a moment. We shall overcome.
 
 
[LeeAnn Hall and George Goehl are co-executive directors of People's Action and People's Action Institute, a national organization of a million people in 32 states fighting for economic, environmental, racial, and gender justice.]
 
 
 
 
 
By Nika Knight
 
November 10, 2016
 
 
 
Thousands occupied the street in front of Chicago's Trump Tower. 
Photo: Getty Images // Common Dreams
 
'No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here!' chanted thousands of protesters in front of Chicago's Trump Tower
 
In the wake of Donald Trump's shocking victory, Americans around the country took to the streets Wednesday evening to express their fear, anger, and opposition to what a Trump presidency represents.

"Not my president!" was the rallying cry in cities nationwide. "No Trump, no KKK, no fascists USA!" was chanted by thousands on the streets of Chicago; "Stop Trump's hate!" was shouted by demonstrators in downtown Boston; and a crowd of largely Latino high school students chanted "The people united will never be defeated!" in Spanish at Los Angeles' city hall.

Many protesters held signs expressing solidarity with Muslims, Latinos, LGBTQ people, women, and other groups insulted or threatened by rhetoric from the Trump-Pence ticket during the presidential campaign.

Rallies took place from Kansas City to Austin to New York to Seattle, among many other locales, and were largely peaceful, with few arrests reported.

Participants and journalists shared images of the massive demonstrations throughout the night on Twitter:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
[Nika Knight is a Common Dreams staff writer.]
 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License.

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