‘We will not stand for this’

Former state representative Pam Snyder posed a question on Saturday. “If our country was functional, would we be doing this today?” Snyder, who also served as a Greene County commissioner in the past, was referring to those who gathered in Uniontown to protest the state of the country under the leadership of President Donald Trump. “America was always the beacon of light and hope around the world.

In under three short months, they have extinguished the light,” Snyder said. “The day after 9/11, 136 countries came to our aid. How many do you think would come today? Even our enemies, who he claims are our friends, aren’t with us anymore.



” Organized by the Democratic Women of Fayette County, Saturday’s rally was meant to deliver a message of opposition to the policies, cuts and tenor of the current administration. “In America, I have rights as a woman. In the past few months many of the basic human rights our predecessors fought so hard to win seem to be in question again,” said Maryellen Snyder of Chalk Hill.

Those at the rally bore a multitude of signs to support their message such as, “Power to the People,” “Truth No Lies,” “Pro Union Pro Democracy” and “America Has No King.” Many who drove by beeped in support of those gathered, while a few others yelled out their support for the president. Snyder came to the rally dressed as a character from the book and television show “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to represent her feeling that women are losing their rights.

“I feel strongly that women and men need to come together, as we have (Saturday) to fight for the rights of all people,” she said. “Our country will become Gilead, the fictional theocratic society in Margaret Atwood’s ‘Handmaid’s Tale,’ where religious white men rule the country. The rally started at the George C.

Marshall Plaza, with those in attendance walking to the Fayette County Courthouse. There, 14 speakers addressed the crowd, their topics ranging from protecting the rights of miners, the LGBTQIA+ community, and veterans, as well as the executive order to shut down the Department of Education. Angela Kern, read a statement from Melissa Brant, president of the Southwest Region of Pennsylvania State Education Association representing Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

In that statement, Brant said dismantling the DOE is “reckless,” and “a decision that threatens the very foundation of public education in this country.” By shuttering the DOE, Brant said, children may not receive an education that sets them up for success. Breanna Sheppard, a pediatrician who lives in Morgantown, W.

Va., but works in Uniontown, said she was there to speak “for those who don’t yet have a voice or, specifically for today, don’t get to have a vote.” “I think it’s my duty to advocate for their rights, their freedoms and their safety,” she said.

Under the atmosphere created by the current administration, Sheppard said, children are at risk of losing their innate innocence. “I want to create a space and a country where kids feel comfortable being who they are and saying what they feel without fear of retribution or repression,” she said. Ed Yankovich, who represented the Allegheny-Fayette Central Labor Council, addressed the crowd with passion.

He spoke of the Marshall Plan, which was aimed at rehabilitating the economies of 17 European countries after World War II “That made us stronger, because we made other countries stronger,” Yankovich said. “The first move of this administration was to do away with aid to other countries. Now, who’s going to fill that void? China is sitting back and saying ‘Thank God this guy got elected,’ because they’re going to fill that gap.

Everybody thinks this rally is about Donald Trump. It’s not, It’s about us. We will not stand for this.

” Tracy Wilson, president of the Democratic Women of Fayette County, said the group will hold some type of event every weekend, hoping to keep their concerns in the forefront of people’s minds. Next weekend, they’ll gather at Five Corners in Uniontown, she said, with the goal of taking their message to other municipalities in Fayette County in the coming weeks..