Trump protest: Michael J Fox, Jodie Foster lead Los Angeles rally ahead of Oscars
Just ahead of the Oscars, Jodie Foster and Michael J. Fox led an anti-Donald Trump protest in Los Angeles. The United Voices rally was staged by Hollywood’s United Talent Agency in place of its usual pre-Oscars party.
Foster said it’s “time to show up” and Fox told the crowd “we are the lucky ones” and that he wanted to “share a bit of that luck” with refugees who want to enter the U.S.
The reference was likely in response to President Trump’s staunch efforts to curb illegal immigration and refugees entering from Syria.
photo/ donkeyhotey
“I believe that when so much good has been done unto you it’s natural to feel a sense of civic or even global responsibility,” the Back to the Future star told the Beverly Hills rally.
“I consider myself an optimist and that can be a tall order at times for me personally, and more as I see a growing intolerance and lack of compassion and empathy in the world around us.
“But one’s dignity may be assaulted, it may be vandalized, it may be cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it’s surrendered.”
Fox added that he believed “in the power of the arts to change not just our hearts but the world.”
Foster told the crowd during her impassioned speech. “I’m not somebody who’s very comfortable using my public face for activism.
“And so in my life I’ve found the small ways, much like most of you, to serve and to show up and to give somebody a lift at the bottom of the hill when they’re going to the top.
“But this year is a very different year and it’s time to show up. It’s a singular time in history. It’s time to engage.”
The Silence of the Lambs star added: “When we get to celebrate excellence in film like we’re doing today, like we’re doing this week, we can’t forget that this industry is in the business of humanism.
“It’s that compassion that makes us strong. It’s doing the right thing that makes us just.”
Actors Keegan-Michael Key and Wilmer Valderrama also spoke at the event.
Many European countries are taking intense measure to roll back the immigration into the EU or their respective country. More details HERE
Syrian refugees in Hungary
photo/ Mstyslav Chernov – Wikimedia Commons
