Throughout the week of November 11, news of a youth-led protest happening on November 15 in Philadelphia began to circulate around LM: Unite For Our Rights. This protest, advertised via flyers distributed in school, was held by outside organizations not affiliated with the school or any school clubs. Despite a reported low turnout of LM students at the event, word still spread throughout the school, and the posters hung in every stairwell left many curious about why it had been promoted in the first place.
Word of this event at LM first started on social media, with reports of fellow students post about this upcoming event. One of these students in particular, Maya Fohrer ‘25, had a more personal connection with the event, sharing, “I posted the info on my Instagram story and helped handing out flyers at school because I thought it was important to spread info about the upcoming rally as much as possible and to encourage people to come. I think the rally was such an important event because it was talking about things that are and will be relevant to all of our futures, what Trump has planned will affect every single one of us. so I think listening to what all the different people at the rally had to say and share is something everyone should have heard, especially lm kids because we are all very fortunate and privileged to go to this school.” Former alumnus Noa Fohrer ’23 was one of many volunteers working on promoting and organizing this event among the other social justice groups. When asked what her role was, Fohrer stated that,” I organized the unite for our rights rally in response to the presidential election results. Our nation has devolved into a silo mentality making the voice of the people weak and scattered. My goal was to unite all people within the greater Philadelphia area as one voice to advocate for all of our rights, the nation’s people’s rights.” Fohrer also shared how she was the former president and founder of LM Environmental Club and had previous experience organizing demonstrations and accumulating large amounts of the student body to participate in them: “During my junior and senior year, at LM, I was spearheading different environmental activism movement, and organized various protests for different causes. Through involvement in the environmental club Evan Tedgi often got involved with the projects I was leading, and eager to help with protests, so knowing his passion I figured he could help mobilize young students from the Mainline With that in mind, when it came time to advertise the gathering, Fohrer incorporated present LM students in getting the word out.”
The rally itself was held at Philadelphia’s City Hall and its surrounding premises: Philly based organizations and other groups organized the event in wake of the Presidential and Congressional Election results from the previous week. The organizers began to advertise to prospective participants by posting on their respective social media accounts, as well as creating a post on the Action Network website that provided specific arrival instructions, protest protocols, and other specific acknowledgments. These groups sought to organize a powerful and energetic demonstration by urging participants to “bring signs, speak or recite written work, and sing songs” while marching through the streets of Center City, according to The Unite for Our Rights website, the mission of Unite For Our Rights was not only to express concern and disappointment over the election results but, as described on the organizations website, also to highlight the failure of both the Democratic and Republican parties to “serve the needs and demands of our nation.” The website further explained that the protest aimed to address issues such as Immigration, LGBTQIA+ Rights, Transgender Healthcare, and the “possible threat to Democracy.” Once it came time to rally, protesters would begin their demonstration at 4:30 PM on November 15.
While the first discussion of the protest among LM students happened on social media, word quickly spread into the school building after a group of students began walking around campus distributing flyers and posting them on bulletin boards. The trio of students who passed around flyers were Maya Fohrer ‘25, Willow Melton ‘25, and Evan Tedgi ‘25.
When talking about this experience advertising the event, Tedgi shared how, “Some LM students seemed interested in the goals of the protest, including Protecting abortion rIghts, trans rights, and more, but when it comes to mobilizing, people tend to freeze. I am not surprised at all that a privileged suburban community favors inaction, considering Trump’s administration thrives on protecting the comfort of the upper-middle/upper class” Many students voiced that they saw these flyers but didn’t really know what it was about. “A bunch of my friends got the flyers but had no idea what they really were,” disclosed Sasha McKenzie ‘25. At the rally, there was a small turnout from LM students, despite the existing efforts made to promote it. In that regard, Mckenzie also claimed how,” It would have been beneficial to put more information on Instagram or try to be on the morning announcements as a protest relating to the efforts from one of our social justice clubs.”
Though the interested students had some difficulties gathering peers to participate in this event, echoes of the event were nonetheless heard by many students. Those involved hoped that the posters and their prevalence in the building could spark more discussion and awareness about student activism.
