By Ryan Geraghty
Over 500 protesters gathered in Manchester on Friday to show their opposition to Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States.
Manchester Stand up to Racism, along with Manchester Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Campaign Against Climate Change, Stop the War Coalition and Bolton Green Party, teamed up to organise a mass-protest against racism and Donald Trump’s election as President. This was one of many protests across the country to support the anti-Trump protesters in the U.S.
The speech, which took place in St Peter’s Square, began with an appeal for the environment, expressing horror that a man who denies the existence of climate change now sits in the White House. One speaker said: “We are inaugurating the resistance to Trump, the resistance against everything he stands for.
“Today we stand together against Donald Trump […] We will not allow him to normalise racism, hatred and bigotry”.
A speaker from the CND discussed the terrifying prospect of Trump having his finger on the nuclear button. She described his policy on nuclear weapons as one that would lead us to “an apocalyptic annihilation of all life on Earth”.
Comparison was made to Nigel Farage’s campaign in the UK, where immigration and nationalist pride were used to appeal to the working classes. “These men who masquerade as champions of the working class, they are no such thing!” said the speaker from the CND.
Later, the crowd broke out into a chant of ‘say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here’ along with others such as ‘Donald Trump has got to go’, but the protest remained peaceful and friendly, with nothing more sinister than a few boos at the mention of British journalist Piers Morgan.
What really stood out from the demonstration however, was the genuine feeling of camaraderie and solidarity. It was a movement of protest yes, but one fuelled by love of multi-culturalism, tolerance and human decency. This culminated in the crowd building a ‘wall of resistance’ where the protesters linked arms with one another in a display of solidarity.
As the evening came to a close, everyone was shivering from the harsh cold they’d endured, but the crowd was abuzz with smiles and discussion, there was a feeling of optimism and family that can only be brought about by people coming together as one, for a cause they care about.
Ryan Geraghty is a freelance journalist and political writer based in Manchester. He is a contributor to The Word newspaper and is currently studying MA in Multimedia Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @RP_Geraghty
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