Politics January 29, 2017
Via @malalafund InstagramWomen are continuing to prove that they won’t stop until they trump the current administration’s plans to change the nation.
Since being inaugurated into office on Jan. 20, Donald Trump has signed a series of controversial executive orders. He has not only frozen new grants and contracts issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), he has also reversed Obama’s policies on health care. In addition to that, Trump signed an anti-abortion executive order that prevents international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions from receiving U.S. government funding. Then, on Jan. 25, Trump has taken the first steps to fulfilling his plans to build a border wall and to deport undocumented immigrants.
His most recent action to temporarily ban immigration from Muslim countries has caused an outrage, especially with women. Here are five women currently standing up to Trump.
Malala Yousafzai began fighting for women’s rights and girls’ education in Pakistan at a young age, which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. In 2012, she made international headlines when she survived a gunshot to the head by a Taliban gunman. Since then, she has continued to speak on the importance of education, she became the youngest person to receive a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013 and, at just 18 years old, she opened a school for nearly Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon.
RELATED: Malala Yousafzai’s Extraordinary Beginning as an Activist
Now, she is speaking out in response to President Trump’s recent executive order, suspending the issuing of visas to people from Muslim countries. The executive order, signed on Jan. 27, bars citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the nation within the next 90 days and prevents refugees from coming to America for the next 120 days. Trump said in a statement, “We don’t want [them] here. We want to ensure we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting oversees.”
Malala, however, responded with a statement released on Facebook. “I am heartbroken that today President Trump is closing the door on children, mothers and fathers fleeing violence and war,” the young activist wrote. “I am heartbroken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants — the people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life.”
She then ends the message, pleading President Trump to “not turn his back on the world’s most defenseless children and families.”
Read the full statement on her Facebook.
Malia Obama, the nation’s former first daughter, has previously stayed out of politics. But now, she’s apparently keeping busy since father Barack Obama stepped down as president.
Instead of vacationing in Palm Springs with her parents, she spent her first week as a “normal” civilian showing her support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. This protest took place at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 23, after President Trump signed executive orders approving the construction of the previously halted Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.
Malia Obama joins Dakota Access pipeline protest at Sundance https://t.co/8RtAHZ9jQV pic.twitter.com/o7aboCYycG
— Mercury News (@mercnews) January 27, 2017
This story gained traction after actress and activist Shailene Woodley mentioned it in an interview with Democracy Now.
“It was amazing to see Malia,” she said. “To witness a human being and a woman coming into her own outside of her family and outside of the attachments this country has on her, but someone who’s willing to participate in democracy because she chooses to, because she recognizes, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn’t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children.”
In the last year, Shailene Woodley has grown to be one of the most recognizable faces of the anti-DAPL protests. She made headlines when she was arrested while protesting along the Native American community at Standing Rock. She was charged with criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot.
However, her arrest didn’t deter her from continuing to use her platform to spread the news about the importance of indigenous rights. After her arrest, she penned a letter on TIME, voicing the concerns of Native Americans across the nation. And recently, she appeared on MSNBC to remind people the risk the two pipelines pose to indigenous families.
NOW we need to stand together & make our voice heard. Stand with Standing get yer tee! Rockhttp://bit.ly/2ePXuuI pic.twitter.com/Nt6AX0Y1qp
— Shailene Woodley (@shailenewoodley) November 14, 2016
RELATED: Shailene Woodley Slams Donald Trump’s Pipeline Orders: ‘We Mobilize’
But even before her days as an indigenous rights activist, she advocated for women supporting other women. In 2014, she told the Daily Beast about what it felt like to work with such strong female characters in the “Divergent” franchise.
“In this movie, there’s no envy and no jealousy — no ridiculous girl-fights. It’s such an important message to send out there in this age of feminism,” she said. “A big theme in my life is sisterhood, and I think that this movie is a really great representation of that — of being there and supporting one-another without the malicious attacks that so often come in movies and media.”
Elizabeth Warren is not just the United States Senator from Massachusetts, she’s also been one of Trump’s most vocal critics. Since stepping into presidency, Trump has powered through his plans to “make America great again,” a slogan coined for his presidential campaign. Not only has he taken the first steps to building his border wall, he has also made a move to ban over 218 million people from the United States.
Warren, however, has challenged Trump’s immigration orders. She immediately took to Twitter to remind her followers, “We are a country of immigrants and refugees, of people fleeing religious persecution and seeking freedom.”
We are a country of immigrants & refugees, of people fleeing religious persecution & seeking freedom, a country made strong by diversity.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 28, 2017
She has also urged President Trump to “embrace the policies that reflect America’s core values.”
I urge @realDonaldTrump: embrace policies that reflect America’s core values & protect our ntl security. Rescind this executive order now.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 28, 2017
Since posting the Tweet, Warren has gone to the Logan International Airport in Boston to face the protesters. “We will not turn away families,” she told the crowd. “We will not turn away people who try to help Americans. We will not turn away anyone because of their religion.”
Read her complete message to the Trump administration here.
During the presidential campaigns, actress America Ferrera rallied behind Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. But Hillary’s loss didn’t deter her from standing up for what is right. Since President Trump’s inauguration, Ferrera has been at the forefront of a movement that keeps Trump accountable for his actions.
Ferrera was not only the chair of the Women’s March Artist’s table, the collection of artists who participated in the Women’s March on Washington, she also delivered a powerful speech calling for solidarity within the minority communities.
“It’s been a heart-wrenching time to be a woman and an immigrant in this country ― a platform of hate and division assumed power yesterday,” she said. “But the president is not America. His cabinet is not America. Congress is not America. We are America.”
Actress America Ferrera speaks at the #WomensMarch in Washington, DC: “Our rights have all been under attack” https://t.co/fVsrXa6oaj
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 21, 2017
Since then, she has joined the likes of Elizabeth Warren and other people fighting to counter Trump’s immigration ban. According to her Instagram account, she has made plans to join protesters at the Los Angeles International Airport to “reject the demonization of our Muslim brothers and sisters.”
The efforts of each of these women show that as President Trump powers through his plans for the nation, he can expect a great deal of backlash and resilience from various women in America.
RELATED: 5 Great Girl Power Speeches: From Blake Lively to Beyoncé
