“People’s Caravan” rallies against bigotry and hate outside RNC

Activists from the U.S. and Latin America rallied Thursday outside the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to denounce racism and xenophobia in US politics. FSRN’s Ariel Goodman reports.

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They call it the People’s Caravan. It’s a collection of grassroots community leaders that have arrived here in Cleveland to make themselves heard. They unfurl a banner that reads, “It takes roots to weather the storm” and pledged to resist racism, misogyny and hate in communities.

Naychelle Harris is part of M.O.R.E – Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment. She says their purpose is to bring a positive message of hope to counteract the fear she says is being peddled inside the convention center.

“As people representing frontline communities throughout the country, [we] have a different vision, and we wanted to bring that vision here,” Harris explains. “We wanted to bring that vision to the people that may be on the line, not sure whether or not they support Trump and his hate, or if they think there might be another way to fix the problems that they see.”

The Caravan isn’t singling out the Republicans. As the RNC winds down in Cleveland, these 45 activists are getting back on the road to take their message next week to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.