FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
“Hands off universities, schools, public libraries.” And also, “hands off our allies, Canada, Ukraine, NATO, the European Union, trade.” Again, “hands off healthcare, vaccines, research.” But also, “jobs, pension funds, shopping carts.” A list so long that Mary Stebbins, a 46-year-old librarian, wrote on her board: “I have many reasons to protest, and not all of them are included.” She shakes her head as she says: “The moves of this administration infuriate me every day. But I would never have imagined the madness of the tasks. Trump and Musk want to impoverish everyone. They use chaos to consolidate their power.”
Despite the cold day and the pouring rain, New York did not hold back: on the contrary, many painted their own anti-Trump slogans ("We are a democracy, let's dare against kings") and anti-Musk ("Elon, not Napoleon: no one elected you"). In the Big Apple, at least 20 thousand people - but some say many more - took part in what was just one of at least 1200 protests that shook and woke up America yesterday. Which was joined by 150 organizations, from Greenpeace to the Human Rights Campaign, along with unions and numerous members of the Democratic Party. Over half a million people took to the streets united under the common slogan "Hands Off" – hands off, in fact – to protest against "excessive authoritarianism and the billionaire-backed agenda", filling the numerous events organized in all 50 states: from Boston to Minneapolis, from San Francisco to Portland and in the capital Washington, where the largest protest was held on the National Mall, just a few steps from the White House. But also in centers that are not usually shaken by protests, such as Ventura, California, where a thousand people showed up. And even in Fort Lauderdale in Trumpian Florida.
It is a diverse population that fills Bryant Park, in the heart of Manhattan, and then marches to Madison. It finds its voice under the stone lions of the National Public Library, chanting "Ehehe ohoho, Donald Trump must go", he must go. They seem relieved and happy to have found so many of them. Of course, many young people wear surgical masks, and not for fear of the flu: "We are foreign students, protesting is already dangerous for us. We are trying not to be identified," says Aldine, an Egyptian, an economics student at New York University, holding a sheet of paper on which she has written: "Complicity is contagious, but so is courage. Let's resist."
From the subway stations comes a stream of people determined to take back the floor with their homemade signs. Many of them are dominated by penguins from Australia's Heard and McDonald Islands, even victims of Trump's tariffs: "F#ck your tariff," proclaims one, the epithet softened by a snowflake instead of the U. "You can even find better toilets at Ikea than the one Trump installed," writes another. Mark Sullivan, a retired philosophy professor, dressed in a suit and tie, has only the American flag: "There is no more effective symbol. It is Trump who does not honor it." Three girls take shelter under the blue tents of the United Nations. See the flags of the EU, Canada, Palestine and Ukraine. A group of women parade with blue banners: "Pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy."
Parents brought their children: they hold up signs in defense of public schools. There are also theology students from Fordham University: “Hands off immigrants” is written on their banner. Susan Dwight’s sign stands out: “Do you remember polio? I don’t”: “I’m a researcher, a molecular biologist. Thanks to Elon Musk I just lost my job.” Many echo the phrases uttered by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker during his 25-hour speech in the Senate: “The most powerful and richest man in the world uses war guns to destroy democracy.” On the steps of the New York Public Library is Senator Booker himself. “This is just the beginning,” he immediately replies: “Americans will tear down Trump’s wall of lies together.”/La Repubblica
Lini një Përgjigje