On Saturday, October 18th, hundreds gathered along Route 20 in Sudbury to protest against the Trump administration’s ideas. Named the “No Kings” protest, this was just one of thousands that took place all over the world. As cars passing by honked to show their support, we interviewed some protestors to hear what they had to say.
Kevin Mahony was one of the most active protestors, often leading “No Kings!” chants throughout the protest. He was also one of the most adamant people that believed that there needed to be change. Whilst holding his “RESIST!” petition sign, he told us, “It’s so important…I’ve seen lots of presidents, and this president’s gotta go…He’s making this country so much worse off for you young folks. This world is way worse off because you are gonna be paying for the [stuff] that he’s doing.” As a powerful message to young voters, he said “…when you get old enough to vote, vote with a conscience…Your power of voting is your most powerful tool you have…” When asked how it affected Sudbury, he also detailed how the current administration’s actions have affected citizens nationwide: “It’s a trickle down thing. Not specific to Sudbury, but to all Americans…What he’s doing, whether it be for climate change, or whether it be for authoritarianism…[it’s] going to affect not just me in the next few years, but you for the rest of your lives.”
Our next interviewee was a woman out dressed in a giraffe costume, also joining in with chants. She said she “…moved here from the United Kingdom. In part because I thought that this was a wonderful country with a true democracy, and I am sad that…the democracy is being undone.” When asked about the Trump Administration’s actions, she said “…two topics immediately come to my mind, because I have been both a teacher and a nurse. The increase in the cost of healthcare that is coming up at the end of this year, and…taking away the support for special education services from the federal government…Those two things are going to impact so many people nationwide.”
Our third interviewee, named Tania Vitvitsky, was one of the organizers and seemed very adamant about the topic. She said “We need to get out and take to the streets…because really we are in a very bad situation right now.” After mentioning the revolutionary war, she said “We’re going backwards.” And “I am very concerned for the next election because there is an attempt to make it so much harder for people to vote” She also stated that “I used to vote based on the person. Now, in my opinion, we only have one major party because the other major party is no longer republican. It’s a Trump party.”
Overall, the protest was full of people who were very adamant about what they wanted to change. We were met at the protest with lots of comments of how people were happy younger generations were speaking their opinion and were at the protest. Over all of the car honking, which often interrupted our interviews, there was lots of energy and enthusiasm. Hundreds of people were here just in Sudbury, which is just one of the many towns and cities this was done in.
