HOLLAND — More than 100 people gathered in Holland on Saturday to express their dissent over President Donald J. Trump’s various policy decisions.

The group of demonstrators, which assembled just before noon, aimed to show support for many different groups currently targeted by the president's executive orders.

I AM Academy, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on empowering black and multiracial youths, organized the event along with Indivisible Lakeshore.

Henry Cherry IV, a co-founder of I AM Academy, said local immigrants are keeping lower profiles and aren’t reaching out for much-needed services to survive.

“We (I AM Academy and partnered organizations) do a mobile food pantry, and what we’ve noticed is a lot of our immigrant population aren’t showing up to our mobile food pantries due to the fear of ICE,” Cherry said. “That is our Latino and our Ukrainian population. So when you see them not showing up, and you know they have this need, that's when we knew we had to do something.”

The crowd gathered around a mobile speaker in the parking lot, and listened to speeches from multiple community members. 

“To me, love is about understanding that there are 8 billion people on Earth and that each and every one of us have experienced life in a different way,” Elijah Reynolds, a junior at West Ottawa High School and a member of the Boys & Girls Club of Holland, told the crowd. 

Participants listened to several speakers from the Boys & Girls Club before beginning their march toward Centennial Park. 

Similar to other protests Ottawa New Network has covered in recent weeks, demonstrators were marching for a wide variety of reasons. 

Sign messaging covered a variety of topics, including: “Immigrants get the job done, “Support our allies,” “Stop Project 2025,” “Environmental Justice is Human Justice,” “Free Palestine,” and “Hate Never Made America Great.”

“I’m here to stand up with — and for — our neighbors of all colors, all faiths, and all genders. And to be a part of a community that wants equality — a community that wants to care,” said resident Larry Terlouw, walking across Unity Bridge.

Along the (approximately) one and a half mile march to Centennial Park, the long line of demonstrators received indiscriminate honks from passing drivers.  

“We have a lot of people we care about who are feeling very sidelined by what's happening,” said Jeff Meyer, with his wife Vicky, nodding her head in agreement at his side. “We want them, and others, to know that there are folks who stand with them, and want to shape a world that is far more welcoming.”

As the march arrived at Centennial Park, demonstrators lined both sides of South River Avenue, between 10th and 11th streets, and crowd members began chanting, “Everyone is welcome here!” as cars drove by.

Lindsay Cherry, co-founder of I AM Academy and wife to Henry, said these community events provide a safe space for people to come together.

“I think this is going to be one of many,” she said. “We have four years of this dismantlement, and the American people know their rights — and the services that are afforded to us. As they continue to dismantle (services), I think there will be more marches, for sure.”

— Christopher Thome covers business and development and politics for ONN. Contact him at cthome@ottawanewsnetwork.org.