NYC high school students walked out of class today to protest Trump #walkout pic.twitter.com/jvzv3fiVfS
— Charlotte Alter (@CharlotteAlter) February 7, 2017
Tuesday afternoon, hundreds of New York students walked out of their classes and marched through the street to protest Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban, and to support the court order currently blocking it.
The march coincided, possibly coincidentally but not insignificantly, with Betsy DeVos’ confirmation as the United States’ new Education Secretary. As a refresher, this is the woman who bought her influence with the Senate:
Betsy DeVos literally bought and paid for those yes votes. [via @xdelmar59] pic.twitter.com/XICA1Ja8Ab
— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) February 7, 2017
Which she doesn’t even deny. She said she expected a “return on investment.”
“We do expect something in return [for campaign $$$]. … We expect a return on our investment.” —DeVos, 1997 https://t.co/L4d4uuJ4tX pic.twitter.com/PE0tJXhnnR
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) February 7, 2017
For the record, that’s what most Americans (meaning those not receiving paychecks) would call corruption.
The march was organized by Hebh Jamal, a teenage girl, in response to the Muslim ban, but watching videos of the students in the streets, you can see that that is one (crucial) element of the entire broad, terrifying landscape that they’re protesting. In addition to the ban and talk of DeVos, here are just a few of the messages you could hear the marching students chanting:
This is what democracy looks like.
No ban, no wall.
Sí, se puede.
Hey Hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.
Say it loud, say it proud, refugees are welcome here.
The American government is being awfully casual with the issues most important to so many young people: their education, the safety of their families, the very promise of a functioning government. Their leaders are being driven by money, by racism, xenophobia, and misogyny, by all the things antithetical to most Americans’ basic values.
These students have a message they’re eager to get across to everyone in the current government who’s not taking a stand against all of these things right now:
Favorite sign at the student walkout against Trump happening now in NYC ✊️ pic.twitter.com/Z9siaa1cBS
— Esther Wang (@estherxlwang) February 7, 2017
(image via Amre on Flickr)
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