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StoryCorps — How A Protest Brought A Trump Supporter And A Muslim Student Together

It was days after the 2016 election when Joseph Weidknecht, a Trump supporter sporting a sign that read “Proud to Be Deplorable” and a “Make America Great Again” cap showed up at a march protesting the election of Donald Trump in Austin, Texas.

Amina Amdeen, a Muslim student at the University of Texas, was one of the marchers who came to the peaceful rally that day before part of the protest broke into violence.

Though they come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, they came to StoryCorps to remember a moment that day that unexpectedly brought them together.

We’re presenting this conversation through One Small Step, StoryCorps’ new national effort to encourage people to engage in a conversation with someone they may not agree with politically. 

KCUR is one of six public radio stations selected for StoryCorps' One Small Step Communities initiative to facilitate this kind of conversation between Kansas Citians on opposite ends of political issues.

Click or tap here to learn more about the project and sign up to be part of it.

This story was originally published as part of StoryCorps' One Small Step.

Cody Newill is an audience development specialist for KCUR 89.3. You can reach him on Twitter @CodyNewill

Matthew Long-Middleton is a community producer for KCUR 89.3. Follow him on Twitter @MLMIndustries.

Cody Newill is part of KCUR's audience development team. Follow him on Twitter @CodyNewill or email him at cody@kcur.org.
Matthew Long-Middleton has been a talk-show producer, community producer, Media Training Manager and now the Community Engagement Manager at KCUR. You can reach him at Matthew@kcur.org, or on Twitter @MLMIndustries.
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