Nov. 19, 2016 – Last week many of us watched in nauseated shock at what appeared to be a futuristic dystopian science-fiction allegory: an orange-faced reality TV star, alleged rapist and environmental villain standing beside his model wife as President-Elect of the United States. Donald Trump’s win brought hundreds of people from around the world together to protest white supremacy, misogyny and homophobia, including two protests in Berlin last Saturday, one at the Brandenburg Gate and one at Hermannplatz.

Holding a sign reading “I am afraid of Trump” with a vulva drawn in place of Trump’s mouth, Kayla Salisbury, an illustrator from LA said, “I’m black, I’m a woman and I’m from a lower-middle class family. So I’m scared.” Kayla has been studying in Berlin and is about to return home after her program ends. She gave a speech about her concerns at the Brandenburger Tor rally. “I’m really worried about how it will be for me when I get back to the US.”

Dread was echoed by other Americans. “Living in this imminent fear that your life is going to be uprooted in the worst way possible is awful,” said 38-year-old Amy Lin from New York. She makes art in Berlin and believes that going to demonstrations can be a comfort and a source of encouragement. “We need to process this frustration and pain. We can’t just take it lying down. Making a noise, seeing all these people standing together in unity means so much”.

Twenty-two-year-old Esteban Romo said, “I’m angry, not just as a Mexican but as an international citizen. I’m angry about the system – the way that Trump clearly shows how money can take people to places where they have no right to be.” Romo studies cultural anthropology and political science in Berlin. Like many of us, he’s struggling with the widespread validation of bigotry that Trump’s win signifies. “I cannot believe it’s really happening. I feel like someone is playing a game and just watching us to see how crazy we get.”

Several demonstrators mentioned the wave of far-right political parties that have been gaining in the polls throughout the West, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom (PVV) and France’s National Front (FN), whose leader, Marine Le Pen, has vowed to follow Britain’s lead and take the country out of the EU should she win France’s 2017 presidential election. 

“This is absolutely not just an American problem,” Simone, a 35-year-old artist from France said. “Trump is part of a growing fascist right-wing movement.” Simone relocated to Berlin because she feels her country is “extremely sexist”. She worries that a Trump presidency will damage women’s rights both inside and outside the US.

“The support that other like-minded movements such as the AfD in Germany – not just moral support, but also diplomatic and financial support – will gain from this election has to be stopped,” said Ryan Ruby, a 33-year-old American freelance writer and translator who stood beside his German partner. “When governments are supported by racists and homophobes and misogynists and xenophobes, this is a problem for the entire world. We were all shocked by Brexit and we’re all shocked by this. We live here in Germany – it’s our home – and we have to make sure this doesn’t happen here too.”

Mary Katharine Tramontana