Dear Readers;
On January 21st I was privileged to attend the massive Women’s March in Washington D.C. I joined my good friend Mary and her granddaughter Katie and Katie’s friend Emily. What an experience. There was such a massive throng of people. Elders, like us, youngsters like the girls, and everyone in between from infants to people in wheel chairs to young men and old men….
While the crowd pressed around us I grew a bit frightened. Some freak action (or some crazed violent person) could get us trampled. But there was nothing but courtesy and good feelings. All the people we talked to were delightful. And so kind! After the horrid election campaign with terrible chants and scurrilous insults tossed about it was encouraging to meet so many truly NICE folks.
Some wisecracking Jersey girls entertained us with some funny stories. An Arabic man and his wife gave us space to get some air. Two very tall young men guided us out after the crowd got too much. A very kind server in a packed restaurant found a table and some food for us tired older women. Most of the protest signs were positive or made with good humor: “Love Trumps Hate”, “Keep Your Tiny Hands Off My Ovaries”, “I Can’t Believe I Have to Protest This Shit Again”, and my personal favorite, “Free Melania”. No talk of locking anyone up or even worse. It restored my faith in the American people.
But, and there is always a “but”, what comes now? I still believe most people would want the things that the Women’s March advocated: women’s health, reproductive rights, civil rights for LGBT and diverse ethnic communities, fairness to refugees and immigrants. How do we continue to advocate for these basic human needs with a president and Congress so opposed? It seems an oligarchy has taken over the country. Just look at the rich white males in Trump’s cabinet.
I know smarter people than me can analyze how and why this happened. Still we have to keep fighting for the rights we thought were won with the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Movement, the Gay Rights movements. But I guess liberty can never be taken for granted. Christopher and Patrick are already planning to meet with their educator friends to begin to lobby their Member of Congress regarding education policy. They are inspired by the creators of INDIVISIBLE: A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR RESISTING THE TRUMP AGENDA “to replicate the Tea Party’s success in getting Congress to listen to a small, vocal, dedicated group of constituents” (more info at https://www.indivisibleguide.com/).
I ask the readers of our blog for their suggestions to continue the March to greater freedom and equality. The arch of justice seems bent low now.
~Linda
Linda, Thank you for describing The March in the way only you could!!! A quilt of our country in the rainbow of hues we are. You remind us that we truly are people who care for and about each other and that is how we live our real lives each day. And now we have to take that the power of that and become the country we really are.
Very prolific blog. I wish I had been able to attend so that I might have shared in the overall commaraderie, if only temporarily. This restores my faith that good will prevail, but we must keep vigilant
I should have known you were there Linda! I was there too and thank you for expressing so much of the what the gathering of kindred spirits was like and what it means. Maybe I will see you in the 716 at a march or event. We need to persist and resist, and what a great start the marches all over the world were.
Well done, could hear your voice loud and clear.
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In Madison, Wisconsin we had 100,000 marchers. The crowd was good-natured just as you described. I think something important has begun, and women led the way.