Acclaimed Seattle chef wants people to ignore Trump’s inauguration

A Seattle chef wants people in the city to do something positive on Jan. 20 and ignore the presidential inauguration.

“In all honesty, we are trying to take away attention from the inauguration and turn it into something positive,” Renee Erickson told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz on Thursday.

Erickson will close one of her Capitol Hill restaurant’s, Bar Melusine, to host a party and raise money for the Anti-Defamation League, she says. She is encouraging other restaurateurs to do something similar — close down and host a fundraising event.

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“On our end, we want to create an environment where we feel supported and able to have open and honest conversation about our future,” she said.

“Everyone has their own agenda and ideas of what they want to support, but it was a way to get the ball rolling,” she said of supporting the Anti-Defamation League, which “aims to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, and secure justice and fair treatment to all peoples.”

Since Donald Trump was elected president, local advocates and public figures have become vocal about their intentions to protest or ignore Trump’s inauguration. Seattle councilmember Kshama Sawant promoted a huge protest on Jan. 20.

“We must bring together millions of progressive workers and young people to build a wall of mass resistance against Trump,” Sawant wrote in CounterPunch. “And to defend immigrants, women, Muslims, LGBTQ people and all others targeted by his presidency.”

The way Erickson describes her idea, it is less about protest and more about starting a dialog.

“There’s a million things that got [Trump] election, but I don’t think hate is a driving force behind that,” she said.

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