Final day of the Republican National Convention brings creative minds together

The path to nominating a Republican presidential candidate has been rocky, to say the least.

Between an absent endorsement from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, an allegedly plagiarized speech by Melania Trump and overtly xenophobic speakers, the 2016 Republican National Convention continued that trend. Thursday served as the final day of the event, which began Monday, July 18, at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, and concerns over the public reaction to Trump’s official victory lingered.

But judging by the tone of attendees scattered across downtown Cleveland Thursday, the frustration and anger seen among Republican leaders hadn’t seeped far outside the arena’s walls.Trump supporters were there to celebrate. Detractors were there to critique. Nobody was there to fight.

While earlier in the week there had been conflicts, including one over an American flag burning Wednesday, Thursday went off without a hitch.

Paul Sherlock, a Cleveland resident, led a group offering free hugs and high fives to passersby. According to Sherlock, the stress of this year’s election has taken a toll on quality connections.

“There’s just so much going on with this political season that we just want to be non-political and a force of love,” Sherlock said. “People come in here tense. They see this and they breathe a little better. We’re not out here trying to save the world. We’re trying to make things a little easier for everybody.”

Sherlock’s group stationed itself on East 4th Street, alongside tables of merchandise and media booths. Vendors sold buttons, Trump bobbleheads, T-shirts and tank tops while women from the Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic led a group in yoga and others dined at restaurants lining the street.

A man played his guitar – which featured a Trump sticker — while a woman played a saxophone and another man danced with an “End Racism” sign. At the end of their impromptu jam session, the guitar player declared, “It won’t take one leader or one party to fix this country. It’ll take all of us, united like this right here.”

Meanwhile, a man in a hot dog costume rode by on his bike. Attached to the back was a flag reading “Trump eats farts” and “Hillary eats farts – but lies about it.”

New York resident Vishavjit Singh, a cartoonist, writer and cosplayer donned a Captain America costume and matching blue turban for the convention, holding a sign reading “Let’s kick some intolerant ass with compassion” on one side and “Piss off your fears” on the other.

“I just feel like it breaks a lot of barriers for people to talk to me,” Singh said about his Captain America cosplay.

Singh said the main mission of his cosplay and ComixCast — the group he is a member of — is to respond to racism and bigotry with their characters.

“[Convention-goers] are going to have this image in their head for the rest of their lives,” Singh said about dressing as Captain America with a turban. “It can have some impact [on changing assumptions] in the long run. Even if it’s only a few people, to me, that’s progress.”

Only about three blocks away, in Cleveland’s Public Square, protestors argued for their own definitions of progress. Groups protested Trump’s comments about race and class, as well as capitalism more broadly. Drum circles formed with people dancing together through the plaza’s fountain, and chants of “Black Lives Matter” filled the square.

Still, despite the critical angle of its messaging, the overall tone of the protests were similarly optimistic. They called for unity and improving how individuals treat each other.

Together, the opposing ends of the cordoned-off area created the environment of a block party. The opposing viewpoints generally stayed in their areas –- the protestors in Public Square and supporters down East 4th Street. The two would occasionally blend into one another, leading to some high-volume debates, but police quickly separated arguing parties before tensions could escalate.

Before long, music and casual policy debates would settle in again.

Cleveland residents Scott Antall and Tim Tringhese didn’t know if the large police presence of 5,500 officers from 15 different states caused there to be fewer protesters than expected, but they were happy about it.

“Every time the volume level goes up [in Public Square], police just appear,” Antall said. “There are groups of police on every corner, everywhere you go.”

Ali Akbar, a political consultant living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said the city and police had done an excellent job of keeping the peace. Akbar said while protestors made promises of large demonstrations before the convention, they hadn’t delivered them yet.

“We do want people to demonstrate their political opinions and we’re wondering where they’re at,” Akbar said. “We’ve seen at most 2,000 protesters. The minimum expectation was 30,000.”

While the presence of organized protest groups was unexpectedly low, individuals expressed their own take on the election with varying levels of creativity.

Performance artist Vermin Supreme made an appearance in his trademark boot hat and a latex buttocks, chanting, “Communism is good, Christianity is stupid.” Cleveland resident Rich Rhines simply held a sheet of printer paper reading, “I protest.”

“I don’t want to be confrontational with people, but I wanted to protest. I’m sending a message,” Rhines said. “I’m more concerned about people being safe, but people seem to be in a good mood — happy.”

As those happy individuals began entering the arena shortly before the first speeches of the day, they were serenaded by an anarchist wearing a floral dress.  

“RNC, RNC — it’s okay if we disagree,” Ryan Tobbe rapped as his friend Cob played a beat on his guitar. After their performance, Cob mentioned his plan to run for public office himself.

“I’m open to challenging [Cleveland’s] current mayor, Frank Jackson, to a push-up contest, hot dog eating contest, arm wrestling match … for the presidency of Cleveland, if you will,” Cob said.

Why not pursue a normal election?

“As Emma Goldman said, ‘If voting changed anything, they would make it illegal.’”