Women Form Human Wall Outside Trump Tower in Protest
A group of women on Wednesday formed a human wall blocking the exits and entrances of Trump Tower in New York City. The group used the hashtags #GOPHandsOffMe and #TrumpVsAllOfUs to amplify their demonstration.
It was the second day of protest in a row led by #AllOfUs, a group of multiracial women who also staged a sit-in in the lobby of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Yong Jung Cho, 26, is one of the founders of #AllOfUs and was at both protests.
“This morning outside of Trump Tower in New York City, about 60 women formed a human wall to demand that Republican leadership un-endorse Donald Trump. It’s no surprise [what was said by Trump in the Access Hollywood tape leaked on Friday] — Donald Trump has been saying things like this throughout his campaign and his entire life in the public eye: racist, xenophobic, and sexist comments that he’s been bragging about as well,” Cho tells Yahoo Beauty. “And Republican Party leadership needs to take responsibility for supporting and continuing to endorse him.”
Cho adds that the experience has been “amazing” so far. “I think the fact that both of these events were led by a multiracial group of women is the key. This response to Trump’s hateful comments, and dangerous comments, is a conversation around the previous racist comments made by Trump,” she says. “It’s important and felt really inspiring to be surrounded by other women of color, a multiracial group of women, to talk about the disgusting and dangerous things Trump has said in terms of misogynistic and racist comments.”
Cho says she felt incredible support from bystanders at Wednesday’s protest, and many of those passing by would stop to cheer on the group. Toward the end of their protest, she says, one woman came to the front of the line with her daughter and commented on how important she thinks it is for mothers, and for everybody, to be taking action against Trump right now.
Natalie Green, 24, is also involved in the leadership of #AllOfUs2016 and was one of the lead organizers of the sit-in on Tuesday in Washington. She tells Yahoo Beauty that the protest at the RNC headquarters was in response “not just to the Trump tapes that came out on Friday but to Trump’s entire campaign of racist, sexist, and xenophobic rhetoric over the past year and a half.”
Green believes that millennial women like herself are standing up and taking action during this year’s election because young people know they have the opportunity to put their voice into the political system. “We constantly read articles about what millennials are thinking, that they don’t care about politics, that they’re lazy — we want to push that narrative. We’re really passionate about this election, and as a generation, we’re frustrated with Trump’s campaign of hate.”
In Washington on Tuesday, Green says that the response she and her fellow protesters received was mixed. “When we first went into the RNC headquarters, there was a security who was honestly pretty aggressive,” she recounts. “He was pulling people out of the lobby area — physically pushing people, grabbing arms, pulling.”
RNC staffers, she recalls, made a point to use alternate entrances into the building to avoid their protest once word spread about it. One staffer who did enter through the main lobby “flicked us off,” Green says.
Those passing by, however, were “very supportive.” Green says many people stopped to take photos with them and that “a lot of women, and mothers with daughters especially, were nodding in agreement with what we were doing as they walked by. It really shows how Trump’s rhetoric is hurting so many people in this country.”
Which is why millennial women activists like Green and Cho aren’t stopping their work any time soon.
“The way America looks right now is very different than how it looked 20 years ago and how it will look 20 years from now,” says Green. “We are looking forward — we know we’re becoming more diverse and progressive as a country, and we want to make sure our political system includes us in its policy-making.” She adds, “Seeing progressive young people who look like me is so important — for other little black children and other little black girls, especially — to see.”
“I am really excited about the power of our generation,” echoes Cho. “I know there is incredible strength in women.”
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