Carry on Beautiful!

Last night in Liverpool, I attended an anti-Trump protest along with around 1,000 other people. Protests are a funny thing because people always seem to think they’re about anger and, although they kind of are since its an argument against something you don’t believe in, but mostly they’re about love. They’re about loving other people and wanting everyone to be able to have a home, a life, human rights and so much more because they’re things that every single person deserves to have.

I’ve seen lots of comments online saying it was a ‘waste of time’ to protest against something so far away and that doesn’t affect me, but the fact of the matter is that its affecting other people and I care about that. I care about people that can’t get home because of Trump’s Muslim ban and I care about the fact that, in my opinion, its wrong. Is Trump going to see this and change his ways? Of course not, but it’s showing Muslims who, in case you haven’t noticed, are people, that they’re welcome here, this is their home as much as it is mine and that applies to the whole world, not just England. This is our home, and that ‘our’ applies to everyone regardless of religion, race, sexuality or anything else.

The love for one and other that was at this protest was overwhelming, I’ve never felt so connected and united with strangers and it was beautiful. There was so much diversity of every kind and it was truly amazing to see everyone come together to listen to speakers, poetry and to chant together. It was powerful, awe-inspiring and I can’t imagine anything in my life comparing to the rush of pure human unity that I felt.

This is a huge part of the reason I love Liverpool. I wasn’t born in Liverpool and when I moved here I had not long moved from Denmark and very much felt like a ‘foreigner’ but people in Liverpool welcomed me in. I never had to feel like I didn’t belong or like I wasn’t wanted and I don’t want anyone else who moves here to ever feel those things. I love Liverpool and I love (most of) the people because it is such a friendly place. Any event you go to, including this one, you can just walk up to someone and start chatting, and have a new friend within ten minutes.

This protest really showed how much people in Liverpool care, regardless of whether they’re from Liverpool or a place I’ve never heard of thousands of miles away, we’re all people of Liverpool (not scousers like, but people of Liverpool :P) and even though theres plenty of people who were opposed to this protest and what we were standing for, we stood together and stood strong for our beliefs.

People’s creativity really came out through their signs and T-shirts, and the best way I can think of to describe the pure silence that came over the entire crowd while we were listening to people speak and recite their poetry is insane. Everyone listened, everyone felt  and most importantly, everyone stood up for what they believe in.

The people in the crowd were children, teens and adults, young and old, black and white, male and female. The diversity was immense and incredible, and it just goes to show that it really is possible for over 1000 people of different religions, nationalities and backgrounds to love each other, respect each other and support each other.

Whether you support Trump or not, whether you agree with this protest or not, what I want you to take away from this post is that in this time of political unsureness and lots of scary things happening across the globe, we need to love each other. Love is what will get us through, love is what will drive us and love is what will keep us moving forward towards a brighter future.

-Dana