Peaceful, positive demonstrations against Trump in SF, Oakland

“I’m here to show my support for those who are now feeling vulnerable,” said Emily Reisman, 29, a doctoral student at UC Santa Cruz who drove 90 minutes to attend the event. Around the Bay Area, thousands of demonstrators have expressed angst or worse about Donald Trump winning the presidential election. Among the hundreds of marchers were many families with strollers and children carrying signs and chanting against what they see as hateful rhetoric used by Trump and his many supporters. Some held signs reading “Love Trumps Hate,” “Thank you, Hillary” and “Make American Human Again” as they made their way along John F. Kennedy Drive toward Ocean Beach. “Many people don’t feel safe in their environment, and I don’t think the president-elect has made any indication that he won’t do what he said he’s going to,” she said, referring to Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric during the presidential campaign. Every night since Trump’s election, protesters in the Bay Area and around the country in cities like New York, Philadelphia and Portland, Ore., have taken to the streets, sometimes in violent demonstrations. “Not my president” and “stop shopping, join us,” they yelled as holiday shoppers downtown snapped pictures on their smartphones. Last week, Trump floated the idea that protesters were paid, saying on Twitter, Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Some senior advisers to the president-elect on Sunday amplified Trump’s remark, dismissing the thousands of demonstrators as “professional” and “paid” protesters, and they urged top Democrats to call for calm during the transition. Diane Johengen, a retired nurse from Berkeley, said that the Oakland event was her first demonstration and that she came to Lake Merritt because she was so upset about the election results. The Facebook invite went viral, with more than 8,000 people on the social network saying they would go. Organizers of the Golden Gate Park march asked participants to wear safety pins — a symbol of solidarity and safety — in a gesture that was first adopted in England after the Brexit vote to leave the European Union. “My vision for the future is pretty bleak,” said Candy Mitchell, who carried a sign reading Environment, Human Rights, Respect, Global Relations ... While many in Sunday’s march were focused on Trump’s divisive language during the campaign, Mitchell said she was concerned about the president-elect’s policies, something that was largely ignored during the venomous campaign. “I’m fearful of Republican majorities in both houses — I don’t see a lot of checks and balances there,” she said. Demonstrations against Trump have not ceased since the New York billionaire delivered his victory speech shortly before midnight on Tuesday.