Anti-Trump protestors co-mingled with demonstrators promoting environmental justice on Sept. 21 in front of Wellesley Town Hall, resulting in a shared event among residents with similar social and political sensibilities.
SunDay, a national event promoting clean energy and sustainable technologies, attracted approximately 100 people on a Sunday afternoon, representing activists opposed to recent presidential policies and climate advocates. The group occupied the lawn in front of Town Hall and spilled across a public sidewalk.
Many activists held homemade signs, some of which read, “It’s Science, Stupid,” “There’s No Planet B,” “Defend Democracy,” and “So Many Things, So Little Cardboard.”
Quentin Prideaux, a board member of Sustainable Wellesley, spoke to the crowd. He said Earth’s health gets worse every day, but hope for the future is embodied in citizen activists like those assembled in Wellesley. “The majority of the population of this country wants renewable energy,” he said. “You are the majority … you can help it happen a little bit faster.”
At one point, the crowd took up the tune of “Bella Ciao,” an anthem of Italian anti-fascists.
“We need to rise up,” protesters sang. “We need to open our eyes and do it now, now, now!”
Behind the demonstration, two tables offered direct and indirect ways to fight the Trump administration. One table provided postage-paid postcards for participants to write directly to voters in Virginia, encouraging them to vote for progressive initiatives. Another table dispensed multi-colored paper clips in response to journalist E. Jean Carroll’s call for the revival of the paper clip protest, a World War II-era silent dissent against the Nazis. Carroll accused President Trump of sexual assault, and later won an $83.3-million defamation lawsuit against him.
“We’re losing ground with our ecology, with our freedom…we need to stand up and be counted,” said Wendyl Ross. She sat at the edge of the protest. When asked what it meant to be “counted” she said, “Hopefully that our votes will be counted…that our voices will be recognized.”
Ross said she feels grateful to live in Wellesley, where the town government takes care of its citizens and houses a “world-class” recycling area.
Sam Hunt had a “No Stupid Kings” sign hung around his neck while holding a cane and an American flag. He said he attended SunDay specifically to protest Trump, and plans on writing a letter to The Boston Globe questioning what he called the newspaper’s unbalanced political coverage of the Trump administration.
“Let’s see if they put this on the front page,” he said.
Looking into the street, he said it was disappointing not to see more young faces.
Wellesley High School junior Jonathan Luu appeared as the second guest speaker. Taking AP Environmental Science, he said, taught him about human impacts on natural ecosystems.
“Buy less stuff,” he said, accusing many manufacturers of polluting the Earth. Luu suggested people shop at Wellesley Give-and-Take and thrift shops. Hand-me-downs, he said, make ecological and financial sense.
Near the end of the day, Raina McManus, a member of Sustainable Wellesley, said the cacophony of voices and opinions added to the impact of the event.
“If we don’t have a healthy, sustainable planet,” she said, “What’s the point of having a democracy?”