Local activists plan anti-Trump events for Friday, Saturday
The inauguration Friday of President-elect Donald Trump may be painful for them, but grieving Democrats in Allegheny County do have some consolation: Many of their most ardent Republican neighbors will be celebrating in Washington, D.C. That leaves the local turf to a series of anti-Trump events, including a pair of dueling marches on Saturday.
As Mr. Trump is sworn in at noon Friday, activist group One Pennsylvania will hold a “People’s Inauguration” at Freedom Corner, the intersection of Crawford Street and Centre Avenue in the Hill District. Speakers will address a range of social justice and environmental issues.
“It’s not about the inauguration in D.C. at all; it’s about inaugurating ourselves as leaders,” said One Pennsylvania executive director Erin Kramer. “We’re taking an oath, but it’s an oath to each other.”
Other events planned for Friday include a 4 p.m. gathering at Point State Park organized by Socialist Alternative, whose organizers say that to oppose Mr. Trump, “We must build mass movements, without which no victories for working and oppressed people have ever been won.”
Saturday morning will feature not just one but two marches coinciding with the Women’s March on Washington.
Penn Ave. The march, which will end at an all-day Summit Against Racism at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, stems from a dispute about inclusiveness with organizers of the Downtown march.
“There was no black woman leadership” even though “black women have been doing organizing work in this town for a very long time,” said Alona Williams, an organizer of the East Liberty event. “People talk about inclusiveness, but we get erased from the narrative a lot.”
After a heated dispute on social media and a fractious meeting, Ms. Williams said she and other organizers “decided we would take this moment to celebrate. … This has turned into something beautiful” — a chance to affirm black women and their allies.
Organizers of the Downtown march could not be reached for comment about the dispute Wednesday. The East Liberty march, for which the organizers have no city permit, is backed by groups including Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania.