"Not my President."

The day after Donald Trump was elected president in one of the most contentious elections in US history I arrived in Harlem New York. I walked down to Trump Tower on 5th Avenue where people gathered to protest the election and the President-Elect.

It marked the beginning of days of protests across the United States including in my hometown of Kansas City Missouri. There, days later hundreds gathered outside City Hall to register their opposition to the new President’s immigration and refugee policies as well as show their support for friends and neighbors from immigrant, minority, LGBTQ and other marginalized communities.

Protests continued throughout the fall and winter until Inauguration Day in January 2017 when hundreds more marched in protest in Downtown Kansas City and across the nation. That night dozens of musicians played a concert at The Record Bar in Kansas City to benefit KC For Refugees, a non-profit that raises money and gathers supplies for asylum seekers and refugees.

A girl carries her protest sign outside City Hall in Kansas City, Missouri.

Police assemble on Grand Street in downtown Kansas City Missouri for a protest march on Inauguration Day in 2017.

Kristin Thompson Conkright and the band Emmiline Twist perform at the Record Bar in Kansas City at a benefit concert for KC For Refugees.

Meredith McGrade of Emmaline Twist performs at the Record Bar in Kansas City on Inauguration Day, 2017.