By Jenna Larson
Iowa City locals gathered for an anti-hate and anti-discrimination march Tuesday, followed by a peaceful discussion.
An anonymous note posted on a Sudanese-American family’s front door in Iowa City on Nov. 11 caused an uproar in the community, prompting Tuesday’s peace march.
The crowd met at the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center at 4:30 p.m. and marched to the Pentacrest lawn.
Many people carried posters promoting peace as they joined together.
The march began with a group of local high-school students announcing their need for change and for their voices to be heard without discrimination.
Mary Kate Pilcher, 40, one of the locals who gathered in reaction to the election of Donald Trump, said she wants to turn something negative into something positive.
“I think the unintended consequence of the election is that it is going to bring people together,” she said.
Making sure people’s rights are protected matters now more than ever, she said.
Pilcher brought her three children, and each had made posters for the march. The oldest, Greta Hayek, 9, explained why she was participating in the walk.
“Not everybody feels loved,” Greta said. “We can make everybody from other countries feel welcome.”
Pilcher’s kids were told to make everyone feel welcome and approach the situation in a positive manner, even after a presidential outcome they did not expect.
Jennifer Sotelo, 53, who works at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said she participated in the march to have her beliefs heard.
“I feel helpless about the whole election, and I want to make my feelings known,” she said.
At the hospital where Sotelo works, she enjoys the diversity that is encouraged there. Sotelo said it saddens her to see a president-elect who does not enjoy the same diversity.
“I want it to be known that we aren’t going to let it happen,” she said. “This takeover isn’t OK, racism isn’t OK, it’s not OK with me and anyone here.”
By having local marches, Sotelo thinks that it will allow those most endangered feel as if they have a voice.
UI student Kimberly Chexnayder, said the night wasn’t about Trump but rather about spreading love and unity.
“[Tonight is about] showing that we will not let politics and the rhetoric that has been used in this last political election to disenfranchise any more communities,” she said.
The United States has seen protests and peaceful rallies across the nation in recent days, which signals something to all Americans, Chexnayder said. These small events create ripples and show policymakers and people all across the world that not everyone stands for the same things, she said.
“It’s been awesome to see so many community members out here and celebrating the love of everyone who is in our community,” she said.
The march continued with the chant, “The people united will never be divided.”
