FSU members of SDS held campus wide walk-out and march to the capitol

‘The people united will never be defeated’

Friday afternoon, members of Students for a Democratic Society gathered on Landis Green to protest President Donald Trump’s inauguration. The event began at twelve pm, as students initiated a campus wide walk-out and encouraged bystanders to join the movement. A crowd gathered around as the protesters shouted their disapproval for who America had chosen to represent them, focusing on key points such as racism and xenophobia.

After several speeches to the crowd against Trump’s policies had been delivered, the group beckoned bystanders to join one last time before beginning their march to the Capital. They continued their march as police cars followed, ensuring they would safely arrive with no interference from oncoming traffic. The trek up the hill nor hot weather did not deter them, they continued to shout their chants through bullhorns and projected voices the entire journey to the Old Capital building.

 

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The protest was not all chanting phrases, but also included members of the SDS and others who were unable to attend the protest participating in performance. There were several poems written by local Tallahassee writers about their feelings towards the election results that were read, as well as a petite band who played for the group, among others.

Many honked and shouted from their cars at the protesters as they drove by, as well as a few small groups of Trump supporters standing on the other side of the street, but no fights broke out.

During the protest, The Tab asked protesters and bystanders their feelings towards former President Barrack Obama leaving office, and Donald Trump taking his place.

Regina Joseph, SDS member

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“What that means to me is apathy. Even though Obama was the first black president, he didn’t serve the interest of everyday black people, he served the interest of the 1%. He deported more immigrants than any other president combined, he has been bombing seven countries in the last couple of years, and that being said, I never considered Obama as someone I looked forward to. If anything, it is Obama and the Democrat machine that allowed President Trump to take power by doing things like sabotaging the DNC, by purposefully saying things [such as in the Wikileaks] like they were going to elevate Trump. So Obama leaving doesn’t mean much to me because we know that it wasn’t Obama that made gay marriage legal, it wasn’t Obama that put in DACA, it was the blood sweat and tears of working class people and organizers that made these changes.”

Pat Shafer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Obama being a person of color didn’t change the fact that racism is present in this country, but I think that [the issue is] not just Trump but his administration and his cabinet. I think they’re only going to highlight the problems within this country, because a lot of his cabinet members are a bit racist or they’re xenophobic or homophobic etc. and that poses a threat to many people that will be even more invisible than they had [been] before.”

William Gentry 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I think [Obama] was a decent president, I mean as far as policies, I don’t agree, I’m not democrat. I do not agree with a lot of the things he’s done, as well I don’t think he’s done too much. I call him a stagnant president. I just think he sat there for about eight years and looked good. As far as Trump is concerned, I did vote for him but I did it reluctantly for a lot of the reasons that they might not like him [for too]. I applaud him fighting the political correct culture, I think that is honestly, that goes beyond just not being able to say a joke. You can’t do really anything. But I never use the word fascism, because I think that’s a silly word to use nowadays, but there are some tendencies of [the protesters] to shut people down who want to recognize the fact that there are just two genders. So I think that stuff like that is unproductive and regressive rather than progressive. And I think everyone is progressive because everyone wants a better society. So that’s my take on it.”

Others attendees such as Stephen Olezek, a PhD student who teaches humanities and multicultural film at FSU, didn’t agree with the method of SDS and their protest, saying “You can stand out on [Landis] Green and protest and scream until your ass falls off, but unless you’re presenting something constructive, you’re just making noise.”

As their Facebook description explained, their goals are to, “Channel anger into organizing, so we can defend our communities, and build sustainable movements independent of the political establishment that allowed Trump to win.” The members of SDS stand by their beliefs in what they’re doing, and they have no plans in stopping any time soon.

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