My #NoBanNoWall speech from the Edinburgh protest

Good evening everyone.

Thank you so much for coming this evening. For coming out to show solidarity with Muslims and others who are bearing the brunt of the racism, the xenophobia, the fascism of Trump.

I stand before you as a woman. A nasty woman.

I stand before you as an immigrant. An immigrant from the global south. But an immigrant whose skin colour and accent gives me status, privilege and advantage that many of the people Trump demonises and dehumanises do not have – and can never have.

And so, I stand before you, with you, and with all those at similar protests in Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, and in so many other places across Scotland, the UK, the world.

Together, we stand in solidarity.

We stand together, for the rights of those who need freedom of movement most: refugees. We stand together against those who attacked a mosque in Quebec, and the Trump administration’s description of their policy as ‘very successful’. We stand with those who have spent hours in limbo in airports. And we stand with those lawyers who have given their time freely to help those stranded in airports.

We stand together here in solidarity. But more than that. We stand together in HOPE. And in love.

And together, we have strength. Together we are not afraid. Together, we will win.

We will not be silenced. We will use our voices, our bodies, our hearts, to resist the petulant bully that is Trump.

We will not be discouraged. We will take courage and strength from each other and use that courage and strength to tear down the walls of hate and division that Trump wants to build.

We will not be defeated. Because we have hope and love on our side.

We will show Trump that his bigotry and hatred has no place in our politics. No place on our streets. No place in our communities.

And we will show Trump that he is not welcome here. We will not welcome him to our parliament. We will not welcome him to our country. We will not accept his racism, his prejudice, his fascism,

Over the last few days, weeks and months, I’ve often felt like crying in despair because of all the truly awful things that are happening. But you all, gathered here in hope and love tell me that coming together in solidarity really is the way forward.

So thank you. A million times, thank you.

Let us continue to stand together. In love. In hope. And in resistance.

Together, we shall overcome.