Do you remember where you were a year ago, when the polls closed, the votes were tallied, and Donald J. Trump was elected 45th president of the United States? In commemoration of this momentous anniversary, community members gathered Thursday night in Burlington for an original and colorful protest: For a $5-10 donation, guests could create their very own poster art by throwing paint-filled balloons at images of Trump and members of his administration.
Dubbed “Rage in the Face,” the event was created by local activists Mattison (who uses that name only), Hillary Read and Sarah Wright, and hosted by Giovanna and Michael Jager at Iskra Print Collective.
By 8 p.m., the concrete wall in the alleyway outside the printmaking studio was a messy rainbow of splattered paint. Luis Calderin — former arts, culture and youth vote manager for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) presidential campaign — deejayed upbeat tunes, and guests drank Zero Gravity and Fiddlehead from on-hand kegs.
Stylized black-and-white portraits of Trump and others were stacked on the tables, alongside five donation jars — one each for the Southern Poverty Law Center, 1% for the Planet, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Brennan Center for Justice.
Hanging from a long clothesline were the likenesses of the president, his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, former senior adviser Steve Bannon, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, presidential counselor and media mouthpiece Kellyanne Conway, Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), all dripping with exuberant splashes of paint.
“We were looking [to organize] something that could give people some release,” Read told Seven Days. Wright said that they wanted to provide tangible support to populations threatened under the Trump administration: women, people of color, LGBTQIA communities and the disabled.
“How do we channel our own righteous anger at the way people are being treated?” said Mattison. “I feel assaulted on all levels: I’m gay; I’m a person of color; I’m a woman.”
Among those who turned out for the event were writer and filmmaker Jim Carrier. Nearly 20 years ago, while living in Alabama, Carrier wrote the Southern Poverty Law Center publication “10 Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide.” Since moving to Vermont in 2015, he has continued to work with the organization, most recently working on the guide “The Alt-Right on Campus: What Students Need to Know.”*
Speaking with Seven Days inside the print studio, Carrier held a 16-by-20-inch poster of Sessions bearing an explosion of red paint. Why Sessions? “He was my senator [when I lived in Alabama],” Carrier said. “He’s a racist, [and] he’s taking us backwards. He’s a shameful public servant.
“I think this is a wonderful outlet for the anger and the pent-up outrage about Trump and what he’s done,” Carrier added. “He’s proven to be a complete Neanderthal.”
*Correction, November 10, 2017: An earlier version of this story misstated the publication most recently worked on by Jim Carrier. It is “The Alt-Right on Campus: What Students Need to Know.”
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Would this immature act have been so gleefully covered if the target faces had been Clinton, Obama, Sanders and their fellow Socialist, Liberal scoundrels? The unlikelihood only serves to demonstrate the bias of this and most media. The disservice is to America.
Actually I remember the outrage when people were sold whacks at a car that formerly belonged to a Vt state senator on the left side of the aisle. Hmm, maybe someone could ask her how she felt?
I have no problem with any faction burning effigies or some other foolishness, but don’t scream foul when it happens to your side.
I agree Vermont Patriot. The people in this article have lost their moral compass as evidenced by their self-righteous, arrogant, insensitive childish antics and ongoing temper tantrums. I could not disagree more with the points of view expressed in this article by these narrow-minded, left-leaning wingnuts. I voted for Trump. Many people I know in and outside of Vermont want the swamp drained which includes: jobs and money brought back to America, entitlements eligibility overhauled, a simplified tax code, enforcement of immigration laws that identify and expel anyone who is here illegally and encourages legal working status. Oh, and let’s set term limits for Congress and the SCOTUS so we can stop the partisan grandstanding and obstruction.
Amazing how grown-ups on the left act like a 2 yr old, matter of fact these liberals act worse than any 2 yr old. Throwing paint, screaming, protesting, beating people up all because their candidate didn’t win..You didn’t see the right side destroying property, beating people up, screaming, setting fires, stealing, blocking roads, threatening the president when obama became pres.. We bitched about it but we didn’t riot, we sucked it up and continue with our lives. Seems to me this Carrier is a complete Neanderthal.
People need to grow up, act like adults, Move on, get a life and stop blaming our President for their life and mistakes.