Despite a rainy evening and the looming unease of Friday’s inauguration, the Bloomington community came together to celebrate the presidency of Barack Obama and raise money for Middle Way House.
Last night, the Root Cellar had a “Last Night of Obama” benefit show in honor of the local rape crisis center Middle Way House.
The evening featured music from local artists Nice Try, Full Sun and Bugg. Underneath the ground floor of Farm, dancing beneath the glow of Christmas lights and vintage Victorian furniture, the event aimed to unite Bloomington residents in a love for music and support.
Students and community members came together to unite and show their opposition for incoming President Donald Trump and his history of lewd comments about sexual assault.
Organizing the event is former legal advocate for Middle Way Bella Bravo.
Since leaving Middle Way, Bravo has been trying to find ways to continue to contribute to their mission, she says.
With concerns that sexual assault and rape culture will become even more normalized after Trump’s inauguration, Bravo said she wanted to amplify the voices of the women who have come forward with their stories of being sexually assaulted by Trump.
“Election Day really kicked my butt, to say the least,” Bravo said. “I decided that I needed to do something so these women’s real and important experiences didn’t fade into the background post-election. Since the election, I’ve adopted ‘this should not be normal’ as my mantra. While I think sexual assault is all too common, we shouldn’t have to live in a culture that accepts it as normal.”
In addition to featuring local musicians, the show also featured animations accompaniments from Hadley Gephart, Sarah Dunevant, Janelle Beasley and Miles Grimmer.
The show-goers were able to enjoy live music from local musicians, donate to Middle Way House and get information on how to volunteer and become active in fighting against sexual assault over the next four years.
This act of community empowerment and activism is just one of multiple events happening around Bloomington this weekend in response to Friday’s inauguration. Student and community organizations across the city organized day-long celebrations of community activism, teach-ins and workshops, marches, rallies and free musical performances at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.
For those interested in becoming a volunteer with Middle Way House, the next volunteer training session will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in the Downtown Transit Center.
Community organizations like Middle Way are hoping events like these can help unite the community during a time when many need it most.
“I think Middle Way House is also a supportive community for anyone,” Bravo said. “Whatever age, gender, race, religion who is interested in figuring out ways to change harmful social norms.”
