'I Am Going to Fight for Us': The College Students Organizing Against Trump

According to exit polls, people of color—who Trump openly villainized during his campaign—overwhelmingly voted for Clinton, as did young people. Now these demographics face an uncertain reality: coming of age, entering the job market, and ensuring their own survival under a Trump presidency.

For Rose Khan, a Muslim woman studying in New York, Trump's win has been particularly devastating. "I am heartbroken and angry, ashamed that America would elect him," says Khan. "But most of all, I feel disappointed in myself because I had a faith in America, thinking it was better than hatred."

There are reports of Trump-related intimidation and vandalism at educational institutions throughout the nation, and even Khan's school, the notoriously liberal New York University, was not exempt from this: The morning after the election, students found the name "Trump!" sharpied on the door of a Muslim prayer room on campus. "That's all it took. That word is no longer just a word," she says. "It means We don't want you, you don't belong here."

Khan is now not only worried for her own personal safety as a Muslim woman, but also for the safety of every marginalized group. Rising reports of violent hate have only confirmed Khan's fears. "I'm scared for the safety of everyone who isn't a cis, white person," she explains.

Meredith Kelley, a queer student also studying in New York, feels similarly. "I've listened to my friends of color who now fear for their lives, who fear that their families will be deported," she says.

Last week, Kelley joined the thousands of people marching on Wednesday night to Trump Towers in midtown Manhattan, an experience she describes as "therapeutic." However, she says any feelings of empowerment she felt were fleeting: When she reached the luxury apartment building where the President-elect resides, she says, she noticed men standing on a balcony in the tower, "taking pictures of us, pointing and laughing. We were their entertainment for the night," she states. "It made me so angry, and I left feeling angry." She says she will keep protesting.

Chantal Atkinson, an NYU student originally from Georgia, was not surprised when she saw that Trump had won. "I'm a black, femme, grandchild of immigrants in America, this is how I have always viewed the world," says Atkinson. "This is the America that I have always known, the America that America wanted."

Since the election, Atkinson has avoided going outside her house, explaining that reports of increased hate and bigotry have made her fear for her own life. Though Atkinson's fear of violence and retaliation—from both Trump supporters and police—prevented her from joining the protests last week, she does not intend to be complacent, planning instead of spend money at black, brown, and LGBTQ businesses while continuing to contact her representatives, planning to tell them about the dangers of a Trump presidency and urging them to vote in favor of protecting minorities' and women's rights.

The majority of Atkinson's family lives in the South, in Georgia and Florida, and she worries for their safety even more than her own. "I am more scared of them than I am for myself," says Atkinson. "I can't even imagine being a marginalized person living in a red state where the KKK roams."

Kayla Smalls, a multiracial student who lives in Washington, D.C., fears for her black family members as well. Many of her white relatives voted for Trump, and she views the election results as an existential risk to many in this country. "I saw this election as a test of America's morals and values, and I am terrified for my future as a woman of color and for my black family," she says. "I am terrified for my Muslim friends, my queer friends, my fellow women friends, fellow people of color."

Along with thousands of others, she protested outside of the Trump Hotel in D.C.—"It was exhilarating to scream 'FUCK TRUMP,"" she says—but she isn't stopping there. Smalls is graduating college next year and is now seriously considering a career change. "I was going to work in media but now I'm strongly considering finding a candidate that I stand with and working on their campaign for the 2018 elections," says Smalls. "I am going to fight for us until I no longer can."

Khan, too, is considering a career change in the wake of the election results. Formerly a women's vote intern at Clinton's campaign headquarters in Brooklyn, Khan now isn't sure that she wants to stay involved in politics. She is now thinking about directly challenging Trump's anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti-anything policies in court. "I really want to study civil rights law, maybe work for an organization like the ACLU," she says. "All I know is that I want to make waves."

Most importantly, in light of the past week's despair, Khan still has hope. "We are all down right now and that's okay. We need to feel this way for as long as we need to but our activism cannot end in a few months," she says. Khan hopes that all young people and all marginalized groups will become mobilized and stay that way. "We're the popular vote, the majority. We are going to fight injustice in every way that we can," she says.