A crowd of students gathered in the rain around noon Wednesday at the center of Washington Square Park holding signs to promote a message of love and positivity after the news of Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election. As the gathering grew, songs like “525,600 minutes,” “Amazing Grace” and “Where is the Love?” were sung in unison.
Fewer than 20 students arrived around 11:30 a.m. in the rain. They pressed their markers to neon-colored poster boards while they waited for others to arrive at the park.
Katie Danaher, a Parsons illustration student, and Michael Waller, a musical theater student at NYU, organized the event through Facebook. Danaher and Waller explained mass-inviting all their contacts on their profiles and encouraging friends to spread the information to their friends as well. The Facebook event page was created at 4:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, almost immediately after receiving news of the election results.
“Even though what happened last night happened and we can’t do anything that changes it, we’re still going to stand here. Hate won’t win,” Danaher said.
Later, the crowd would grow to over 100. 381 people indicated they were attending the rally on Waller and Danaher’s Facebook event page, titled “LGBTQ+ for Liberty.”
The rally began with the reading of Clinton’s concession speech. Waller and Danaher recited the words in the fountain as only a handful of friends and fellow students listened and held signs with messages like “Love Trumps Hate” and “Hate Won’t Win!”
Students shouted “Mic Check” and took turns reciting poems, singing songs and sharing personal testimonies. These personal stories ranged from accounts of sexual harassment and assault, coming out as LGBTQ, and the shock of Trump’s upset victory.
Another Parsons student present at the rally, Celeste Burns, held her dog draped in a rainbow-colored cape. Burns emphasized the significance in partaking in such an event despite the election results.
“It’s not as much as sending a message. I’ve been trying to do that for the last 2 years. It’s more about telling people… that their efforts are not to be forgotten and they’re not alone. It’s more about letting people that they’re not alone,” Burns said.
As the rally progressed, the crowd grew to over a hundred individuals. Passing pedestrians began to gather around the outer ring of the fountain. One by one, some traversed the slippery fountain edges to join the crowd in the center. They were welcomed by smiles and hugs.
Others still on the outskirts began to tear at the testimonies. Others embraced one another.
Andrea Iriza, who is from Miami, was one of the onlookers who happened upon the rally while crossing through Washington Square. While wiping away her tears, she expressed her disappointment with the election results. She explained how the rally helped to uplift her spirits with its positive message of love.
“I know that a lot of them are probably very upset but they’re trying to shine a positive light on it because clearly, we’re going to need a positive light on it to face the next four years,” Iriza said.
Another spectator, 60-year-old Magda Molina, watched in awe as the group chanted and sang. She described the event to be an example of “the power of youth to find a way for this world and these people.”
Tensions rose when one NYU student, sporting a Trump Pence jacket, shouted “Make America Great Again” as he passed the fountain. He was immediately welcomed into the fountain by the students. He sat briefly for a few minutes on the edge while being embraced by other peaceful protesters.
A man dressed as Abraham Lincoln was also present at the rally, giving a short speech resembling the Gettysburg Address. The man, named Brian Warren, received applause at the end of his speech, outstretching his arms and giving peace signs to the crowd before turning and leaving.
Close to two hours into the rally, Waller and Danaher took time to thank each individual for attending and sharing their stories. Then, at what appeared to be the end of the rally, people began chanting again, “Love Trumps Hate,” and continued to share poems and testimonies to the crowds that have gathered.
“America is a country where everyone has opportunity. Everyone can share in the love. We don’t discriminate. More than half the country doesn’t fall into that hate and prejudice that Trump preaches. I just want people to know they’re loved and not alone,” Waller said.
Seung Won is the Video Editor for the New School Free Press and currently a senior at Lang majoring in Journalism+Design and minoring in Visual Studies. Born and raised in North Jersey, Seung Won has embraced and mastered the commute into the city, seamlessly weaving through crowds and covering miles of distance without breaking a sweat. When not in transit, Seung Won likes playing music on his guitar, sipping through several cups of coffee, and chillin’ with his cat on the weekends.
