Accompanied by go-go music and a giant rat balloon resembling President Donald Trump, a group gathered in D.C.鈥檚 McPherson Square and marched to the White House for a combination celebration and demonstration as the 2020 presidential election draws to a close.
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The gathering, organized by Shutdown DC and the immigrant advocacy group CASA in Action, featured a lineup of speakers who reinforced the importance of working for progressive priorities in what is increasingly likely to be a Biden administration. They also continued to call for every vote to be counted.
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Sulma Arias, of Community Change, recounted her immigration journey from El Salvador, and said of women and people of color, 鈥淲e are saving this democracy. Let鈥檚 own that.鈥�
She added, 鈥淲e are ready to fight to make sure that the promises that have been made to our people get fulfilled.鈥�
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Sofia Lozano, of CASA in Action in Pennsylvania, addressed the likely new administration, saying, 鈥淲e showed up for you at the polls; show up for us in the policy decisions you make.鈥�
Immigrant advocacy groups and climate activists joined up for a short march from McPherson Square to the White House not long ago, along with a gigantic inflatable effigy of Trump as a rat. A few nights ago they had one of him as a chicken.
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews)
Crystal Gong, from Sunrise DC, recounted how her parents left a 鈥減retty cushy life鈥� in China to move to what she called 鈥渢his dumpster fire of a country,鈥� where they were 鈥渢errified for their children鈥檚 lives鈥� in the middle of a pandemic and had to drive an hour and a half each way to get to a Chinese-speaking therapist. She said she asked her mother recently whether she would move to the U.S. all over again.
鈥淎nd she told me, 鈥極f course I would; I would move to the U.S. a hundred times over.鈥欌��
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Gong said, 鈥淚 have rights that they would not dare to dream about having in their life in China. 鈥� I can never take that for granted.鈥�
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Gong added, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to take time this week to celebrate 鈥� because joy is crucial to sustaining a movement. But once we鈥檝e finished celebrating, we need to remember that electoral politics is only one of the pillars of power that we need to seize.鈥�
She said she had only been an activist for about a year, and that it had changed her. She advised the crowd, 鈥淛oin an organization and get stuff done.鈥�
What’s a D.C. event without some go-go? (小萝莉影视/Alejandro Alvarez)
Maria Ogden, of Putney, Vermont, came as part of Shutdown DC, and told 小萝莉影视, 鈥淚t鈥檚 disgraceful that in what we call a democracy, not every vote is being counted.鈥�
小萝莉影视’s Mike Murillo and Alejandro Alvarez contributed to this report.
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