The Power of a Safety Pin

The 2016 election has left a divided feeling in many individuals. America as a whole is taking time to heal. Some are protesting while others have accepted the election results. One group is taking charge to try and unite groups of people by sending a message.

The power of a safety pin. Individuals have been wearing safety pins to represent their support behind minorities like immigrants, women, and members of the L.G.B.T. community. “I believed after learning about the new president–elect I wanted to visually show support for people being ostracized.” Chloe Johnson, an 11th grader at STEM. She continued to say “The safety pin is beneficial to the person who wears it and the person who sees it because it tells them that they are safe.”

This movement was started by an American woman living in Britain. After the Brexit movement, which dictated weather or not the United Kingdom would leave the European or not, there were many protests by people who thought that there were more negatives than positives with leaving the European Union. After observing these protests, this lady tweeted a suggestion about wearing safety pins to show support for minorities. People who have been showing their support are doing it because they feel like it’s an easy act that they can do every day. They also want to make sure that they are getting the message of minorities belonging here not only to minorities but to people who might not feel the same way on this topic.

Spreading this message comes with a consequence though, people who don’t agree with the way the message is being spread. Many people got onto to Twitter to tweet about their disagreement with this movement. Many individuals feel like there isn’t a lot coming out of this movement because they felt like wearing something isn’t the same as taking action to help these groups of people. I asked Chloe about how she would respond to these accusations and she answered that by asking a question. “What are they doing?” She explained that this is an action “It is an action because it is the first action to show people that we are with them.”

Wherever you stand on this issue, this is another case of evidence that you can organize a peaceful protest to unite people all over the country for a cause. If you want to fight for something, show your passion for the issue and spread the positive message around the world.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016//14/fashion/safety-pin-ally-activism.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/wear-safety-pin-support-marginalized-trump-america-article-1.2868986