I am 74, will be 75 in August. I SHOWED UP with my homemade sign. We need to be there, we need to let "them" know this is not the norm. I was in Leavenworth, Kansas, a "red" town in a "red" county.... I was one of about 200.... and I can't tell you how many horn honks and thumbs up we got.... and very, very few negative responses. We had been cautioned not to interact with them. There was a biting wind and it was only 40 degrees, but we all stayed about an hour and fifteen minutes and all left committed to carrying on. It has given me hope that maybe we are not all screwed. Thank you, Elliot, for reminding us the power lies in us.
Thank you so much Mary Ann, for your bravery. I, too, am 74 years old. I hope and pray to live long enough to see our country become a stronger, healthier nation for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
I am about to turn 74.My husband and I both went. Our community had about 5000 attendees. I was so pleased and proud. But I am quite disappointed however at the lack of any in depth mainstream coverage.
Thank you so much Mary Ann, for your bravery. I, too, am 74 years old. I hope and pray to live long enough to see our country become a stronger, healthier nation for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Yes, Elliot, this is indeed what democracy looks like. America is a very special melting pot as it used to be called. Let’s all keep up the good trouble.
My daughter and I stood with thousands yesterday in Tucson, Arizona. The local paper greatly underestimated the crowd as they always do. Today the organizers said there were at least 10,000 of us and possibly up to 15,000. The signs were creative and covered all kinds of topics. There was a good spirit. The traffic passing by was abundantly approving of us. It was a good day. I felt connected to people here and around the world who are resisting. We shall overcome!
Hope was in the air, on the signs, and in the chants from the crowd. The hope that comes from realizing that we have a lot of power and energy on the side of justice.
We were part of the HANDS OFF demonstration in Thousand Oaks, California. I was struck by the kindness & friendliness between demonstrators.
We don't have a capital building or town square. But Thousand Oaks (we live about 20 minutes away) has the largest indoor mall in the area. And the mall happens to be next to the always busy 101 freeway.
So, there were many demonstrators on the sidewalks at the major intersection by the mall & next to the 101.
Most drivers passing honked, waved, etc., in support.
My sister and I (both in our late 60s) joined our protest in Greensboro, NC (about 2000 in our town). It WAS a demonstration of democracy and the First Amendment! We felt encouraged by one another, as well as the shouts, honks, and fist pumps of people driving by! In our town people were displaying their concerns on signs for a variety of reasons: social security, science, healthcare, LBGTQ+ rights, Ukraine, and the being done damage to democracy itself!
I almost went to the one in LA but decided to go to the small one in my Orange County town. There were way more people than I expected, packing our city hall lawn and spilling out across and down the street. So many people honked in support and it was uplifting and settling to see my community show up. Building community is the only way forward from here, so while it's awesome to join the big protests (I did in 2016) I realize that beyond just showing up for a day real work is necessary to change anything. As much as I prefer LA energy to OC I'm not living there. The amount of people and the energy I felt in my town's protest reminded me I'm not a lone lefty in a sea of repubs. That's a start at least.
I read the same thing this morning on Liza Donnelly’s Substack. “This is what democracy looks like!” I heard the same chant at my local protest. This is an organic development. We know that our democracy is threatened. We need to speak out in numbers! Yesterday’s protest in my small city was the largest I have ever seen in all of my years here. And there wasn’t any counter protesters just a few thumbs down and a couple middle fingers. It was 2 hours of honking in solidarity with us. It was amazing. See you all on April 19
Kate:great post.We need to repeat " This is what democracy looks like" over and over. Experienced the same here in Marietta Georgia.We shamed a bunch of Tesla drivers. So glad people are getting out in the streets,our pols other than Bernie,AOC,Chris Murphy ,and Cory Booker are not going to save us.
It’s so lovely to hear your excitement and enthusiasm in this post. It’s a lovely replacement for some of the heartbreak and worry we’ve all been sharing since January-and it’s palpable in the voices of all the democracy warriors today…
This IS what democracy looks like!
We have a long way to go, but this burst of energy can only reverberate!
I am 74, will be 75 in August. I SHOWED UP with my homemade sign. We need to be there, we need to let "them" know this is not the norm. I was in Leavenworth, Kansas, a "red" town in a "red" county.... I was one of about 200.... and I can't tell you how many horn honks and thumbs up we got.... and very, very few negative responses. We had been cautioned not to interact with them. There was a biting wind and it was only 40 degrees, but we all stayed about an hour and fifteen minutes and all left committed to carrying on. It has given me hope that maybe we are not all screwed. Thank you, Elliot, for reminding us the power lies in us.
Thank you so much Mary Ann, for your bravery. I, too, am 74 years old. I hope and pray to live long enough to see our country become a stronger, healthier nation for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
I am about to turn 74.My husband and I both went. Our community had about 5000 attendees. I was so pleased and proud. But I am quite disappointed however at the lack of any in depth mainstream coverage.
Thank you so much Mary Ann, for your bravery. I, too, am 74 years old. I hope and pray to live long enough to see our country become a stronger, healthier nation for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
Yes, Elliot, this is indeed what democracy looks like. America is a very special melting pot as it used to be called. Let’s all keep up the good trouble.
From the UK, it's great to see Americans do what American people do best, fighting for their rights,freedom & equality.
My daughter and I stood with thousands yesterday in Tucson, Arizona. The local paper greatly underestimated the crowd as they always do. Today the organizers said there were at least 10,000 of us and possibly up to 15,000. The signs were creative and covered all kinds of topics. There was a good spirit. The traffic passing by was abundantly approving of us. It was a good day. I felt connected to people here and around the world who are resisting. We shall overcome!
We were there in Tucson with you. Agree with everything you said!
It gave me SUCH hope!!!
Hope was in the air, on the signs, and in the chants from the crowd. The hope that comes from realizing that we have a lot of power and energy on the side of justice.
We were part of the HANDS OFF demonstration in Thousand Oaks, California. I was struck by the kindness & friendliness between demonstrators.
We don't have a capital building or town square. But Thousand Oaks (we live about 20 minutes away) has the largest indoor mall in the area. And the mall happens to be next to the always busy 101 freeway.
So, there were many demonstrators on the sidewalks at the major intersection by the mall & next to the 101.
Most drivers passing honked, waved, etc., in support.
This is just the beginning!
My sister and I (both in our late 60s) joined our protest in Greensboro, NC (about 2000 in our town). It WAS a demonstration of democracy and the First Amendment! We felt encouraged by one another, as well as the shouts, honks, and fist pumps of people driving by! In our town people were displaying their concerns on signs for a variety of reasons: social security, science, healthcare, LBGTQ+ rights, Ukraine, and the being done damage to democracy itself!
Carla,great going,2000 in Greensboro is terrific.
I almost went to the one in LA but decided to go to the small one in my Orange County town. There were way more people than I expected, packing our city hall lawn and spilling out across and down the street. So many people honked in support and it was uplifting and settling to see my community show up. Building community is the only way forward from here, so while it's awesome to join the big protests (I did in 2016) I realize that beyond just showing up for a day real work is necessary to change anything. As much as I prefer LA energy to OC I'm not living there. The amount of people and the energy I felt in my town's protest reminded me I'm not a lone lefty in a sea of repubs. That's a start at least.
Thank you for writing this! It felt very inspiring and uplifting. Thank you for everything you're doing to keep the flame of democracy blazing!
Here in Wichita, I noticed the same thing you commented on; many different ideas of what folks want these looters to keep their hands off of.
There were more than 7000 of us at the Texas State Capitol yesterday! It was a fantastic experience!
Large crowd in Albuquerque estimated to be thousands according to the local paper. So glad to be there!
I read the same thing this morning on Liza Donnelly’s Substack. “This is what democracy looks like!” I heard the same chant at my local protest. This is an organic development. We know that our democracy is threatened. We need to speak out in numbers! Yesterday’s protest in my small city was the largest I have ever seen in all of my years here. And there wasn’t any counter protesters just a few thumbs down and a couple middle fingers. It was 2 hours of honking in solidarity with us. It was amazing. See you all on April 19
Kate:great post.We need to repeat " This is what democracy looks like" over and over. Experienced the same here in Marietta Georgia.We shamed a bunch of Tesla drivers. So glad people are getting out in the streets,our pols other than Bernie,AOC,Chris Murphy ,and Cory Booker are not going to save us.
It’s so lovely to hear your excitement and enthusiasm in this post. It’s a lovely replacement for some of the heartbreak and worry we’ve all been sharing since January-and it’s palpable in the voices of all the democracy warriors today…
This IS what democracy looks like!
We have a long way to go, but this burst of energy can only reverberate!
Rage, rage against the lying of the right!
Yes. We have inalienable rights! We are not sub-human workers as Tumpism makes us out to be. We must stop responding to Trumpism language.