On Monday, January 9th after interviewing Jacqueline Patterson head of Environmental Justice for the NAACP, my social justice group along with Suzanne and I head out to protest Donald Trump’s cabinet picks at Chuck Schumer’s office. Trump’s picks would be horrible looking through the environmental justice perspective. Most of his picks were climate deniers who owned large companies that just sought to make a profit. We wanted to stand up and make a difference. We wanted Chuck Schumer to demand that they not approve Trump’s cabinet. When we arrived outside of Chuck Schumer’s office on 48th we were ready to start protesting right away. We wanted Chuck Schumer to ask for tax returns as well as many other things that with he will vote no for Trump’s cabinet picks. We didn’t expect the protest to be too big but when we first got there we were surprised at how little amount of people there were. When we first got there we were given a sheet of paper with chants that we would chant. Some of the chants were like, “Exxon mobile CEO has got to go” Slowly but surely more and more people started to show up and even bystanders started to chant in with us. It was getting very cold that our group eventually decided to stop at Starbucks and warm up. When we came back there were, even more, people. We met some very cool people including some founders of local environmental justice groups. Someone that was protesting with us came out of the building and told us that Chuck Schumer would ask for tax returns as well as other important information. Something I want to talk away from this is how hands on work and dedication can get things done. The entire group protesting did something amazing that day we were able to all work together to create something amazing. We got things done and also raised awareness. That feeling of something made me feel proud and that I made a difference. Even with this knowledge know I plan to spread it to the students in my teach in so that they too can feel what I felt.
Photo of the rally outside of Chuck’s office
