By Ashley O’Connor
For The Diamondback
A few days after Donald Trump was elected president, University of Maryland freshman Linda Kuo decided she was tired of feeling so emotional without any outlet to express it.
So she came up with the idea for Terps Trump Hate, a charity magazine designed as a peaceful form of resistance against the political climate and as a way to advocate for minorities.
The public health science major hopes to gather the magazine’s content by winter break, and publish it by mid-spring. She plans to donate all proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union, a non-partisan group dedicated to protecting individual rights.
“I’m a creative person and wanted to do something for people of color, Muslims, women, all minorities,” Kuo said. “Supporting litigation that can stop Trump from doing the things he promised in his campaign is really important.”
Since the election, the ACLU has received about 120,000 donations, totaling more than $7.2 million, executive director Anthony Romero announced Monday.
“This is the greatest outpouring of support for the ACLU in our nearly 100-year history, greater than the days after 9/11,” he wrote in a statement.
Since Trump’s election, there have been a number of hate incidents reported against minorities, immigrants and women, which the Anti-Defamation League has said seems linked to Trump’s election.
His campaign was marked by discriminatory rhetoric, referring to Mexicans rapists and calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. More than 10 women came forward with allegations of sexual assault against the president-elect.
As an Asian-American woman, Kuo said she was “frightened when the news broke” about Trump’s surprising win over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
“I have friends who are Latina, black, Muslim, and I understand that they have more at stake to lose,” she said.
The magazine’s name plays on one of Clinton’s campaign slogans, “Love trumps hate.”
Kuo said the publication will offer something new to students at this university, and will include poetry, prose, art and photography submitted by other students.
“I haven’t seen a publication on campus like this that could unite people,” she said.
Kuo is spreading the word about her magazine through social media, and also plans to make announcements in classes and partner with other like-minded campus organizations.
Kuo’s staff includes a few close friends, including Ming Gault, a freshman enrolled in letters and sciences, who helps with organizing submissions and laying out the design.
“I really believe art can be a therapeutic way to voice your opinion,” Gault said.