There were two other events I considered going to yesterday, instead of or in addition to the No Ban/No Wall rally-- One was a rally earlier in the day to protest Betsy DeVos' nomination for Education Secretary, the other a protest of the Muslim Ban at BWI airport in the evening. If I'd gotten myself out of the house early enough, I could've easily gone to the DeVos rally near the Capitol and then headed to the White House for the No Ban/No Wall protest. And I could've probably made it up to the airport near Baltimore afterward for that one. But I chose one of the three. Was it enough?
I keep thinking of a post I saw at the Facebook page for the Betsy DeVos protest. Someone had said that they couldn't go because they had to take their kids to a soccer game, but they'd be there in spirit. This is what I worry about-- The Tea Party faction brought us to this point because of the passionate intensity of their beliefs. Yet we, the "liberal" opposition, pick and choose between protests, or support from afar because we have soccer games to go to. I can easily imagine Tea Party moms skipping their kids' soccer games in a heartbeat and dragging those kids to anti-abortion protests instead. Do we believe passionately enough to do the same?
And the causes we're protesting represent real people who've been, or soon could be, making sacrifices and even suffering because of these issues. Do we feel strongly enough for them to suffer ourselves?
I don't say this to shame anyone who's skipped a protest because of work or whatever. I'm struggling with it myself. This is all so new, it's been confusing and a bit overwhelming to figure out how best to respond, how to take action and feel that it'll be effective. I keep telling myself I'm taking baby steps. But I do wonder at what point we're all going to have to begin making real sacrifices, giving up those soccer games or taking time off from work, putting in the hours and becoming tired and worn out, in order to protect what we feel is right.
#IckyTrump
Images from the Women's March on Washingon here.
And the No Ban/No Wall rally-march here.
Posts
Yeah, i'm struggling to understand how much I can/should be doing and how much or little power I have. It's confusing at best and mostly depressing.
ReplyDeleteArent you in Washington? I'm getting on a plane to visit for my first time ever (reading a few poems Friday night at Studio1469). I plan to wander around the historic sites and I wish it was within the context of a different administration.
~Shawnte
Oh man, I wish you were reading another night! I am in D.C. (or at least, I work there), but I'm going to this on Friday-- https://www.facebook.com/events/616035338592810/
ReplyDeleteGrappling with the same questions here, though even further complicated by the fact that I fractured my hip a month ago in a bike accident. So no protests for me for a while. Being there 'in spirit' feels meaningless. I don't know what to do, but it's only been two weeks and look at the wreckage already! How will we survive four years?? I'm afraid to turn on the news in the morning. It's so hard to know where to direct my energy, what little I have at the moment.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your bike accident! I hope your hip is healing as it should and that your bike is ok. I would suggest that you could make phone calls, but our congresspeople here in Maryland seem to be on the right side. Though I guess it's worthwhile to thank them and encourage them to stay the course. I've seen a few ideas going around to inundate the White House the offices of his unsavory cabinet with postcards letting them know how we feel, but I go back and forth as to whether I think such things are productive. It's a way of blowing off steam and probably does cause a certain amount of annoyance for them, but would it really make any difference beyond that? I don't know.
ReplyDelete