On the morning of November 9th, the day after the electoral college elected Donald Trump as President-elect of the United States, a student at Sonoma State created an event: a protest inviting students to come together and take a stand against the racist, sexist, homophobic rhetoric that Trump promotes.
According to the Facebook event created, over 300 people attended the protest and over one thousand were invited. As someone who was at the protest, I can safely say there were at least 300 people in attendance; for Sonoma State this is a rather large fraction of our student population, and a coming together that I have never seen before in my three years attending Sonoma State. SSU has a reputation for being uninvolved and apathetic, and that night we changed that reputation. From the people marching to the students who came out to support Trump, everyone altered Sonoma’s reputation that night.
The protest was a peaceful event designed to support marginalized communities and give voices to people who may be hurt by and afraid of a Trump presidency. The march took us around campus from the Seawolf Plaza to the dorms, down East Cotati, and finally ending at the Green Music Center. There were chants like “Pussy grabs back”- in regard to Trump’s comment “grab her by the pussy”- “Not our president,” and “Love trumps hate”. Students were joined by members of the community, professors, and even people who just live in the area. A variety student organizations were there, from Students for Quality Education who helped organize the event to the Vagina Monologues.
It was empowering to be part of such a diverse crowd of people all standing up for what they believe in, and refreshing to see such passion and activism at Sonoma State.
Related articles:
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/women-trump-response-cosmopolitan-magazine
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/why-should-college-women-care-about-politics
http://www.hercampus.com/school/sonoma-state/shes-not-bossy-shes-leader-reflection-double-standards