During a May 3 protest rally at the Trenton Cultural Center protesters dressed as handmaidens from the dystopian tale “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is set in a futuristic totalitarian society in the United States, told individual stories set in the future that activists felt could come to pass if the Trump administration’s policies continue unchecked.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
TRENTON – Activists garbed as handmaidens from the “The Handmaid’s Tale” warned of the totalitarian dystopian future they fear if the Trump administration’s policies continue unchecked during a May 5 protest rally.
The evening rally, held on the grounds of the Trenton Cultural Center, began with people lining both side of West Road with signs protesting the policies of the Trump administration, ranging from cuts to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare programs, the treatment of immigrants, infringement on female reproductive freedom, interference with the judicial system, changes in voting laws, inflation, tariffs and more.
An anti-Trump portrait is on display during a May 3 protest at the Trenton Cultural Center.
Local activist Lorena Baran said she and the other protesters know that what is happening in Trump’s administration is not normal and people need to fight back.
“This is our one chance, and we are not letting it go,” she said. “We’re not giving up and we are not going to be sold out.”
Baran said it is important to continue to engage local people as one united group because it is less likely that people will turn against others when they realize that people are all part of the same community.
“We need to let it be known that this is on our mind every single day,” she said. “We will show up, we will not be quiet, we do not give up.”
Local activist and event organizer Jessica Schering with Downriver United 734 said the protesters’ message is that the people are issuing a mayday, which is a distress signal.
“We are the ones that are the last line of defense for this tyranny, for this autocratic dictator-wannabe, and we really want to show everyone the strength that we all have.”
Schering said they did not line up political speakers in order to share the voices of ordinary people.
“We want to be sure that everyone gets the message that we can help save ourselves,” she said. “And so, together, just like we have been in the weeks before, and with all of the other groups and group leaders, that is what we are hoping to achieve.”
Protestors gather May 3 at Trenton’s Cultural Center on West Road to protest the actions of the Trump administration.
Schering said she hopes the protesters share ideas and keep coming back to fight for the future of the country.
Local activist and event organizer Ashley Perry said they hope to shine a light on the fact that people’s rights are at stake.
“I think when ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ originally came out in the 1980s, people thought that will never happen,” she said. “That’s some dystopian thing, but it feels like it’s getting closer and closer, and we feel like if we don’t stand up now and we don’t demand our rights that they are not going to be there.”
Perry said people need to come out to protest to save themselves.
“No one’s coming to save us, and I think people so often think ‘Oh, this politician will do this; this politician will do that,’” she said. “We’re the people, and we have to do it ourselves.”
Perry said that while there are amazing politicians who are working hard, everyday people need to protest as well.
“They can’t do it alone and we can’t do it alone,” she said. “We all have to do it together as the people.”
Perry said she’s overwhelmed with gratitude by the people who turned out to protest.
“We have all found our community,” she said. “We have all found our tribe, we all kind of come together and believe the same thing, and believe, most of all, in our country and everything that our country represents and we don’t want to see that destroyed.”
Above and below, protestors gather May 3 at Trenton’s Cultural Center on West Road to protest the actions of the Trump administration.
Local activists Ashley Perry (above left) and Jessica Schering with Downriver United 734, and Lorena Baran (below) help with the logistics at a May 3 protest rally at the Trenton Cultural Center.
Above and below, during a May 3 protest rally at the Trenton Cultural Center protesters dressed as handmaidens from the dystopian tale “The Handmaid’s Tale,” which is set in a futuristic totalitarian society in the United States, told individual stories set in the future that activists felt could come to pass if the Trump administration’s policies continue unchecked.
