TRNN’s Eddie Conway speaks to demonstrators determined to challenge the Trump/GOP agenda

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Story Transcript

EDDIE CONWAY: I’m Eddie Conway. I’m down here in front of City Hall at the Plaza. There’s a demonstration down here against what Trump is doing. They’re asking for Sessions to resign. Apparently, they intend to have this demonstration on a weekly basis. I’m going to interview a couple of people that organized this.

REBECCA MARK: I’m the Baltimore organizer of Maryland Working Families. We’ve been working to assist a national movement. There are cities across the country, that every Tuesday, for the first 100 days of Trump’s Administration, we’ve been gathering in front of either, our City Halls, or in front of our Senator’s offices, and demanding accountability from our City, State and local and Federal leaders.

So, there are a lot of issues on the topic. We try to highlight speakers that represent different organizations in Baltimore, to give opportunities to be able to plug into local issues. But then we also want to be a consistent presence to show that constituents of Baltimore are not happy with the Trump Administration, and that we expect the elected leaders that we voted in to represent the sentiment of the people.

And this is a volunteer-driven effort. We’re just helping. We’re kind of helping them to give it legs. And now it’s really a volunteer-driven effort.

EDDIE CONWAY: Why you’re out here with your children?

BETHANY GREGG: I think that I’m scared. I’m scared of what’s happening in the country, and I’m scared what messages are being sent to them by Trump, and by all of his policies that are coming out. And this is something that we can do together. I home-school my children, and I think it’s an important part of their curriculum to know what’s happening in our country, and to realize that they have the right to protest. And they have the right to come out and say that this is not right.

And so, you know, I don’t know if there’s one particular issue that is most troubling to me. There are so many things that are really troubling to me, that are happening. And I just think our entire country is moving in the wrong direction with Trump.

And I think that, you know, I want to protect them from some of the harsh realities, but I also want them to be a part of the movement, and the resistance movement, and to make them feel empowered that they can voice their opinion to make a change.

EDDIE CONWAY: They’re climbing, when I saw them… what struck me, is that they’re going to be, like, maybe 20-some years old and the climate — what Trump is doing now, with denying the Paris Accord, and the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the rest of that stuff, that he’s doing to the climate. It’s going to impact them directly, in terms of being able to breath, in terms of having a planet to live on that’s safe.

BETHANY GREGG: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely – I, 100% agree, and you know, he’s being very selfish, making decisions that are going to affect the next generations in a negative way. And I think that they have a right to be here and protest as well, because it’s their Earth, and all of our Earth, that we need to fight for.

EDDIE CONWAY: What’s your name?

CHILD: CT.

EDDIE CONWAY: Okay. Now, why are you here? I understand you all have been coming since the beginning of this protest?

LOU PHAM: That’s right, we came… we initially came to the Women’s march in D.C., and of course, before that we felt incredibly afraid, and isolated. But we have people here. This is… These are seeds that we’re planting. Each human being here is a seed that’s going to sprout over time.

EDDIE CONWAY: Yes.

LOU PHAM: But we have to keep cultivating and nurturing it. This is my seed here, for the future of humanity, of this Earth, of this country, too.

EDDIE CONWAY: Uh huh.

LOU PHAM: I came here as a refugee, and I don’t take for granted anything that we have here in this country, because of my background. And I don’t want my daughter to grow up taking for granted anything. So, she chose herself, she is the one that tells me every Tuesday, “Can we go now?”

EDDIE CONWAY: Okay.

LOU PHAM: So, it’s her decision about this, and I support her to come out here.

EDDIE CONWAY: Okay, and just if you have one main concern. I mean, Trump is guilty of so much stuff. I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint anything in particular. But if you had one main concern, what would it be?

LOU PHAM: That there is a common good, and we all have to fight for the common good. And it’s not just… it’s not about being selfish in this life. We need to learn how to live with each other, protect each other, whatever that means. And we need to be able to look deeply enough to know what kind of action we need to take in order to do that. And I don’t see that happening right now. I see very shortsighted, fear-based, hate-based decision-making.

EDDIE CONWAY: Uh huh.

LOU PHAM: That’s not what I want to see in this world. That’s not what I… I think I have some power to shape the world in a different way. And I’m going to do whatever little bit I can to make sure that happens.

EDDIE CONWAY: Your voice will be heard.

LOU PHAM: Thank you.

EDDIE CONWAY: It will be. Okay. All right, thank you. If people are interested in maybe joining your movement, your protests or organization, is there some way they can get in touch with you?

REBECCA MARK: Yes sir. You can look up, “Maryland Working Families” on Facebook; also, the hashtag online “Baltimore Resist Trump Tuesdays”. If you want a sense of what’s going on nationally, look up the hashtag, “Resist Trump Tuesdays.” And we are standing in solidarity with cities across the country right now today, and every Tuesday.

EDDIE CONWAY: Okay, so every Tuesday there will be some sort of demonstration somewhere?

REBECCA MARK: Yes.

EDDIE CONWAY: And it will be on your Facebook page, and people can look and come?

REBECCA MARK: Yes it will, and we want to have more input from the community, and as we’ve said, it’s a volunteer-driven effort. So, we hope to take this in different locations, have it a different time slots, and keep on working together to make these actions more accessible to everybody who would like to participate or learn more.

There’s a lot that can be done outside of just demonstrating and action, but it is good to show a physical presence. And sometimes it takes that vision for leaders to do something, to see their constituents out here.

EDDIE CONWAY: Uh huh. Okay, thank you.

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