Fredonia marches on Washington
At the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Saturday, a crowd of an estimated 500,000 marched to Capitol Hill. A much smaller but equally passionate crowd paraded from the State University of New York at Fredonia campus to downtown Fredonia.
Around 70 people gathered just outside Mason Hall, where they prepared to march in solidarity with the protest in D.C. There were many issues that the demonstrators wanted to bring to the forefront, but among all the issues, newly inaugurated President Donald Trump seemed to be the most talked about.
“I cannot accept the way he instills hate,” said SUNY Fredonia student Melissa Fuchs.
Many of the protestors were carrying signs with slogans on them, mostly directed toward Trump, while others touched on social issues. Some bared the words, “Love Trumps Hate,” “Respect For All,” and one stated, “Eat your words Trump,” with an image of some of his notorious tweets from his Twitter account.
Another issue touched on was education, specifically the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos, according to Jessamine Daly-Griffen, didn’t know about IDEA, so her primary goal was to educate people on this issue.
“During her interviews, (DeVos) spoke as if she didn’t know what the IDEA is,” Daly-Griffen said.
Daly-Griffen, who was sporting a pink hat in connection with the march on Washington, has a very personal connection to the IDEA. Two of her three children have Tourette’s syndrome, so the act is very important to her family.
“Of course, equal rights for all people is a really important thing; it’s hard to narrow it down to one,” she said. “Today we decided to advocate to educating for DeVos.”
The general purpose of this rally, according to its organizer, Physics lecturer J. David Swift, was to give the people a platform to express their concerns and emotions who couldn’t afford to go.
“I didn’t expect anyone (to come) here,” Swift said. “I’m overwhelmed.”
The peaceful protest remained just that — peaceful — although at one point, when the crowd made it downtown, someone in a passing car yelled out, “Go Trump!”
There were also references to former Nazi Germany leader Adolf Hitler by a few people when talking about Trump. The word “impeachment” was also mentioned during the rally.
Local resident Paul Leone was also there and was delighted to see all of the people that attended the march.
“We all know what we got,” Leone said, referring to Trump’s presidency.
“I think it’s necessary for us to oversee anything that comes out of this administration … it puts our whole value system in jeopardy,” Leone said. “The person who’s now in charge of our lives, our government, our representation in the world, is a vile person. This government needs to be held accountable.”
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