Not my Presidents Day.
Though they carried different signs, that’s the message of protesters across the country who rallied Monday to oppose the policies of President Donald Trump.
In Kansas City, hundreds of people gathered at the J.C. Nichols fountain just off the Plaza.
“The sign that I have says, ‘El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido,’” says Regina Sanchez of Kansas City, Missouri. “‘The people united shall never be defeated.’ My grandparents used to march in Chile with the same sign.”
Since the election, Sanchez says she’s been called hateful names and told to go back to her country. She doesn’t think her parents and grandparents would have wanted to immigrate to Trump’s America.
Northlander Amy McCann carried a sign that read, “I am the liberal feminist my family warned me about.”
McCann says her family was conservative, but her own political views changed when she went to college.
“This is my first protest,” says McCann. “I’ve been political. I’ve always voted, as long as I’ve been old enough to do so. My family in general is very political – of course, on the other side of it. This is the first time I’ve felt the urgency to act.”
Donna Byers of Raytown says her chief concern is the environment.
“I don’t like who they put in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency,” says Byers, who carried a pair of signs she had just made.
Byers says she’s worried Scott Pruitt, who was confirmed Friday, will roll back protections that keep waterways clean.
But perhaps Lee’s Summit resident Kim Hersh’s one-word sign said it all: resist.
Elle Moxley covers Missouri schools and politics for KCUR. You can reach her on Twitter @ellemoxley.
