WINDSOR TERRACE — Forget tweet storms and fake Facebook news — one mom has turned to old-fashioned paper and ink to broadcast her feelings on the 2016 presidential election.
Elena Tavares and her two kids posted more than 100 homemade signs in Windsor Terrace and Kensington with a message of support for groups who felt targeted by Donald Trump's inflammatory campaign rhetoric.
The sign reads in part: “These are tough times. Know that there are people in your community who stand against intolerance and hate. There are neighbors who have your back.”
Tavares said she made the signs because she wanted to send a message "just to our little community." The concerned mom took her kids out of school early Nov. 14 and together they blanketed the blocks around P.S. 130, where her kids go. The school is known for its diversity. It's on the border of Windsor Terrace and Kensington, home to many recent Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
"I just feel like the message from the election is that racism and bullying and division are OK, and that the country is OK with that," Tavares said. "That wasn't a deal breaker for electing the person to represent us, but it's a deal breaker for me and I wanted some way to vocalize that."
Though Trump is a born and bred New Yorker, he found little support among his hometown's voters. Just 18 percent of voters chose him citywide. Tavares, whose family is Puerto Rican and Jewish, was among those who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton.
She said she felt "disgruntled" and "helpless" after Trump's victory, but couldn't attend protest rallies that followed. She saw a social media post about signs with a message of love and tolerance appearing in Los Angeles and decided to copy the idea because it was a gesture her kids — Mateo, 6, and Edie, 5 — would understand, she said.
So far the signs have been greeted with a "99 percent" positive reaction, Tavares said. A few were taken down, and one person raised concerns about the environmental impact of the plastic sleeves Tavares placed around the posters to protect them from the elements.
Locals who saw a photo of the sign in neighborhood online groups showered Tavares with praise and gratitude.
“You have expressed publicly what I am sure many of us have been saying to each other,” wrote one neighbor.
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