TWU students attend rally in Dallas following Election Day

 On Nov. 9, three TWU students attended an anti-Trump rally located at AT&T Plaza at Victory Park, Dallas. Registrar Student Assistants senior Nutrition and Biology majors Jessica Dominguez and Wendy Guzman-Santos and Chemistry and Biochemistry Department Student Assistant Kimberly Gonzalez travelled together from Denton to attend. Dominguez shared that Gonzalez had brought together the group because she follows several activist groups on social media.   

The Next Generation Action Network (NGAN) organized the rallies in Dallas and Fort Worth for four consecutive days. Dominguez, Gonzalez and Guzman-Santos attended the first one, where over 400 people attended, according to The Dallas Morning News.  

Why Students Care  

Dominguez explained why it was important to her to attend the rally: “For me, it was less the anti-Trump, that I think was the big theme there, but more just to support the marginalized populations and all the people who, at the time, felt afraid to leave their homes and it was just more of the statement that ‘I’m with you.’” Together, the three made signs to bring to the rally. A popular slogan that has been emerging is “Love trumps hate,” also the title of a rally on TWU’s campus just two weeks ago, and the hashtag #NotMyPresident. 

On Fear 

Despite the aggression that law enforcement has demonstrated and the violence that has resulted in previous riots, Dominguez was not scared to jump in with other activists. “My mom was,” she conceded.  

As far as counter protesters go, the rally was fairly peaceful, “There were a few people who would drive by and yell at us, but we just took it in stride,” Dominguez explained. At one point, a bystander poured water on the protesters walking by, but Dominguez shared they were not bothered and started dancing in it.    

Future Activism  

As far as Trump’s win, Dominguez said she’s more concerned about people just standing by and letting their fellow man be bullied: “I’m worried about that hate snowballing and becoming normalized.”  

The rally showed her, if anything, how similar everyone is through the stories people shared at the rally and the collectively supportive environment.