Americans opposed the early actions of President Donald Trump and his allies.
Among the demonstrations hosted by the 50501 movement and other activists were gatherings outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The attendees at the rally sang, “Solidarity forever, our union will make us stronger,” with signs that read, “Immigration will make America great.”
The loosely organized event had the feel of an open mic as participants were invited to step up and share stories of why they felt forced to push back into this moment.
Virginia-based Jackie Orkin, who works for a nonprofit organization supporting refugees, said lawmakers consider it “surprisingly quiet” in their response to Trump.
“The new administration is making illegal judgments about the money allocated in Congress. It’s illegal and Congress is now surprisingly quiet about it,” Olkin said.
“It scares me and makes me worried. I feel like people need to come out and stand up to democracy saying it’s wrong,” she added.
She is a Democratic voter, but she expected elected members of Congress to follow the constitution, regardless of party affiliation.
“I always believed that the people of Congress were sworn into the Constitution, so I always believed that in the end they would endure the separation of the Constitution, power and control, of the law. And I am Congress. “I’ve never seen anything from Republicans in the country that suggests they’re trying Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who weren’t correctly elected,” Olkin said.
Protest details: 50501 (originally short for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 day”) is a grassroots movement created to oppose the policies and actions of the second Trump administration, according to the group’s website is.
Yvonne Baisic, a retired Maryland school teacher, is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and described this political moment as a horror story.
Baisic says her family came to America at the age of 11 for her belief in democracy and has since fought to support this government system.
“Of course there were problems, but somehow the Constitution is going to save us, and we settled on the idea that such a acquisition is impossible and we are here,” she told CNN.
