Today at 12 p.m. students from Roosevelt and 15 other schools from around the city staged a walkout in protest of the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 45th president. The Roosevelt walkout was orchestrated mainly by Xing Gilbert and Gavin Fortenberry, with their plan being to march to Red Square and meet up with the UW protest. It looked as if the turnout would only be a passionate few, with Gilbert commenting
“Unfortunately, there was not a lot of excitement about this.”
However, she emphasized the need for students to be active in their communities and in politics, as making a movement needs continued support and enthusiasm. The protesters did not accept the singular idea of protesting the inauguration, saying instead that they were protesting how
“Trump is a symbol of hatred, and those elements of our society that we want to be above.”
This protest would focus more on supporting the people in our communities, such as Muslims, immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and women. Thus referenced many times on posters was the hashtag “LoveTrumpsHate,” as the protesters want to emphasize their support for everyone, no matter their skin color, gender, or sexual orientation. The inauguration of Trump has left many people from marginalized communities in fear that their rights will be taken away, and the walkout was as much a show of support for them as it was a protest of Trump.
However, some people at Roosevelt feel that the walkouts are detrimental to the school, as they take time away from education, and seemingly punish the school for something they had no control over. To this Gilbert replies “I feel like this experience is an education,” encouraging students to leave their classes and instead learn in a different way. All of the protesters were very enthusiastic about their cause, committed to showing the nation that they will not be forgotten, that they will not allow the newly-elected president to infringe on anyone’s basic human rights.
Finally, protester Job Koscho wraps it up on a high note, saying, “I wanna send love to everybody who actually walked on the protest, you are really supporting this, really carrying this.”
Photos by: Natalie Kauper
