SUSOSH’s inauguration reaction provides a space for expression

The 20th of January marked the Inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the new president of America. And on this occasion South’s students came together during sixth and seventh hour in the auditorium to share their thoughts, emotions and fears about the new president. This special event was organized by South High’s SUSOSH (Stand up speak out South High) and was referred to as an inauguration reaction.

All students interested went to the auditorium and, after dividing into groups, shared every thought and emotion they had about the 2016 election. The discussions were carried out with the help of SUSOSH facilitators. At the end of the sharing everyone wrote a thought or an emotion about how the were feeling towards the inauguration on a post-it, and stuck it onto the auditorium doors.

Afterwards students were welcome to share their thoughts on a larger platform during the auditoriums open mic session. Every person who spoke felt the snap of fingers and sign of approval made by their fellow students.

“People were pretty like minded there was a lot of disbelief and disappointment, I think people are more mad then they are sad now” said Junior Viola Onikoro-Arkell, one of the facilitators that helped to organize the event. “The Election Day I got here early, I got here at like 7:30 to kind of just watch people come into the building, and it was really quiet and then every word that was said was about Trump,” she said with a bit of melancholy in her voice.

“The Election’s Day I was stayed up late to watch the election’s result and when I saw it was basically over, I was really upset about it. I cried and the next day at school I left during the middle of the day because I couldn’t stay at school, I couldn’t do anything and I was just upset. Me and my family were all pretty shocked about it because we didn’t believe that he has actually won. It was just like shocking, upsetting” said Lydia Zupanc, another facilitator of the event.

Feelings of disappointment, denial, anger, surprise, disgust, fear, upsetting and sadness are just some the reactions that many students expressed during the discussion. “A muslim girl in the bathroom couldn’t stop crying on the election’s day” explained one student during the discussion, “a lot of people were really sad.”

The Auditorium gave students a space to process the inauguration. No matter the opinion each participant had all were welcome to express personal feelings about the day, and examine the next four years ahead.