"You want to be our president? You want to hear the people? Come hear us out. Come hear what we're all about." That was the message to Donald Trump from Ariana, a 23-year-old protester preparing for a march against racism and oppression at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland today.

"Trump's gonna go to a bunch of white neighborhoods that don't represent any of us," she said. "You really want to be a president? Go out to the projects. Go out to the ghetto. Because you all created it."

Ariana and Amaerani, two college juniors who traveled to Cleveland from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, are members of their school's chapter of Youth Empowered in the Struggle, a youth-led immigrants rights organization, and asked that I not use their last names.

As they were gathering with other activists on The Mall in downtown Cleveland, Republicans from across the country gathered a few blocks away at Quicken Loans Arena for the opening of the Republican National Convention. Today's theme: "Make America Safe Again."

"A lot of what Trump has stood for is hate toward our communities, the black and brown communities, Muslims," Amaerani, 22, said. "He's allowing racism to exist openly. And he does have a huge supportive crowd standing with him, which is what we have to stand against. It's all about fighting against oppression and [for] liberation for our people."

Ariana said Trump's racism "affects every child."

"I was born here. I grew up being legal," Ariana said. "I grew up with that safety of never being deported and now I'm growing up with all this racism and all this hate, not being appreciated even as a normal citizen... It keeps getting worse. I don't want my niece and my nephew to be growing up in a society where they'll be hated because they're Mexican or because they're half black."

Ariana and Amaerani said some of their peers are engaged this election season, but "not enough." Their families, meanwhile, are nervous for their safety today.

"My mom said just to be really careful," Ariana said. "She just texted me and said she loved me a lot and I said, 'I'm out here for you too."