Protests and vigils in Columbus last week focused largely on fear of President-elect Donald Trump, outrage at his supporters, and grief over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton losing the election. But while over 200 demonstrators had a lot to say against Trump at the OSU Oval on Friday, they also pointed a clear path forward: mass organizing and rejection of establishment politics.
“This is our wake-up call. We’ve been asleep, and we woke up to a nightmare,” said Bilal El-Yousseph, a Palestinian Muslim. “My mother wears a head covering, and she shouldn’t be scared to go to her job.”
El-Yousseph supported Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, who polled better against Trump than Hillary Clinton did. He was angry when the DNC used underhanded tactics to give Clinton the nomination anyway. “The Democratic Party is not here for us,” he said.
“We have a rapist who’s going to be in the White House, who talks about women like they’re less than human,” El-Yousseph said. “That hurts me. I’m the man I am today because my mother who survived the Palestinian refugee camps in South Lebanon. I’m a strong man today because of a strong woman who influenced me.”
“I am a survivor of intimate partner violence,” said Taylor Gleason. “I’ve seen the damaging behavior that Donald Trump shows all of us. It’s not OK!”
“A sexist, racist bigot will be our President,” said Coco Smyth of the International Socialist Organization. “Our communities are under attack, and yet the Democratic Party, which until a couple of days ago was calling him a fascist, a racist, and a sexist, is now saying, ‘Let’s unify behind Trump. Let’s work with Trump.’”
Smyth urged the crowd to join left-wing political organizations outside of the two-party system.“We cannot look to the Democratic Party to save us,” he said. “We need to be organized. We need to be militant. We need mass actions. That’s the only way we can stop this fascist.”
The demonstrators marched from the Oval to 12th Avenue, where they sat down in the street. Police blocked access to High Street. There were no arrests.
The action was organized by the student group Reclaim OSU. The groups Socialist Students and Socialist Alternative Columbus are organizing another protest at the OSU Oval at 5 p.m. today.
