Women gather in Plainfied to march and rally against presidential candidate Donald Trump. Watch video
PLAINFIELD -- Linda McLeod was inspired by Eve Ensler to organize Saturday's protest against Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.
McLeod attended a lecture by Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues at Rutgers, New Brunswick, two weeks ago. Ensler's comment that any woman not outraged by Trump and ready to take it to the streets.... should be, McLeod said. That got her and a few friends thinking about organizing a protest.
The rest is history. McLeod along with her friends, Alexis Moloney and Jennifer Gregory formed "Get Up, Stand Up NJ," a nonpartisan, multicultural group.
"We will no longer remain silent when someone is denigrating women, Muslims, immigrants, and the disabled," said McLeod.
According to McLeod, Saturday's rally is the state's first women-led protest against Donald Trump.
About 75 protestors attended the noon march and rally that started at the Netherwood Train Station. Plainfield police escorted the protestors as they walked along 7th Avenue for about 1.5 miles holding various anti-Trump signs.
The protestors' main chants were "Spread love, not hate," "Dump Trump" and "Build a bridge not a wall" as they walked through the neighborhood.
At the end of the march the protestors gathered back at the train station to listen to speakers from the Muslim and Hispanic communities.
Faheemah El-Amin, an African American and a Muslim, was one of the speakers. She addressed Trump's attitude toward women and toward ethnic groups.
"This candidate insulted woman our Latino community and our Muslim community, while his supporters cheered him on for insulting us! That is not America," she said to the crowd.
"We will not tolerate Donald Trump insults to our women and our community," she added.
El-Amin, a former member the Plainfield city council, is well known in the city for having run the popular Faheemah's Child Care Center for many years.
Patti Sapone may be reached at psapone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @psapone. Find NJ.com on Facebook.