ABOVE: Students rally in Red Square.
Story and photos by Alexandria Baker // AS Review
On November 8, 2016, the country elected the next president of the United States of America–Republican candidate Donald Trump.
It was a contentious campaign from both sides, with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton facing off against Trump at every opportunity. Both candidates fought hard, and this may have been the closest election in living memory.
In an unexpected turn of events, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College, leaving Donald Trump as the President-elect. In 2000, the same thing happened when Al Gore won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College to George W. Bush.
For many people, this was a hard thing to accept. Washington state is a known Democratic stronghold, and there seem to be few Bellingham residents who were satisfied with the outcome.
To underscore this, on November 9, the day after the election, students gathered in Western’s Red Square to protest Trump’s victory. The protesters held signs reading “Not my president” and “I will not go quietly back to the 1950s” among others.
The protesters offered pens and paper to anyone who wished to write down their thoughts and participate in the protest.
The group struck a chord with the student population, as the rally lasted for several hours, and only grew as time went on. The protest remained non-violent, giving students a safe way to express their dissent.
One participant held a sign simply offering “Free Hugs” to anyone who felt the need.
According to a King 5 article, a rally of several thousand people moved through Seattle to protest the election results on Wednesday night.
The article also said that there were protests nationwide, including Portland, Oregon, Oakland, California and Austin, Texas.
The protests do make one thing clear; they indicate that people want to take charge of politics, and they give a sense that people everywhere are invested fighting for what they believe is right.
Read the full King 5 article on the Seattle rally at http://www.king5.com/news/politics.
BELOW: Students hold hand-made signs in Red Square to protest Donald Trump’s election.
