Posts Tagged ‘protest’
Starting Small
By the end of the day yesterday, we were seeing reports of the massive gatherings that happened in cities across the country, and contemplated what it would have been like to be in a gathering that large. At the same time, we highly value the chance to contribute our energies to smaller communities of rural citizens.
We are only up at our lake place in Hayward, WI, for the weekend, and didn’t have a lot of information about the local plans for No Kings Day. The pin on the location map put it at what I thought was an odd intersection of highways 27 and 63.
When we arrived at a spot to park our car, there was no hint of any atypical activity anywhere. Undaunted, Cyndie was ready to forge ahead no matter what. Then a car pulled up with two women who asked if we were there for the protest. That made four of us, and we walked to the corner and stood tall with signs, quickly receiving supportive honks from passersby.
In minutes, five others walked up, and shortly after that, the group doubled in size again. Checking with each other, we found that everyone was visiting from Minnesota, which brought a laugh. Soon, we learned that Hwy 27 travels along Hwy 63 for a few blocks and then turns to the east. The locals were all at that intersection, roughly three blocks to the south of us.
An intersection that made a lot more sense.
The hosts of this gathering were reporting headcounts of 500 early on and then 1200 not long after, in a city with a population of around 2600. I appreciated the chance to visit with someone who has been living just outside town for years after retiring and moving from a suburb of Chicago. The number of participants in the protest was very impressive to them.
The gathering was on all four corners of the intersection and stretched a long way down each of the blocks, generating an exciting amount of honking from like-minded supporters. Only occasionally did we receive scowls and middle finger gestures.
Glancing behind me at one spot, I noticed a guy sitting on a cement planter and wearing a red MAGA cap, silently holding a small sign that said, “God – Guns – & – Trump.” Eventually, he stood up but remained silent, and the people all around behaved as if they had no clue he was there.
I tried to surreptitiously snap a photo of his sign, though it meant the man remained out of sight behind the folks in the foreground.
It wasn’t a massive group we stood with in the small town, but there was no less energetic fervor shared in objection to all the offensive actions being enacted by the current administration.
It was pretty special to see the quiet little vacation community so vibrantly engaged in participating in the lawful, peaceful protest. Gosh darn, I wish all those people who didn’t vote in the last Presidential election had exercised that right when they had the chance.
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Public Protest
Sitting beside two women I didn’t know, I asked them if they ever imagined this would be happening in our lifetimes. The response from the elder of the two was that it was her second protest of a President because she previously took to the streets in objection to Nixon.
I didn’t know what to expect in terms of numbers but it seemed a little thin at first. We had no difficulty finding a place to park our car. Walking a short distance, we found a line of sign-carrying folks coming down the sidewalk toward us and chanting.
As they reached us, we fell in with the marchers while passing cars honked on our way to the small park where a soap box would be presented for people to speak their minds.
While people robustly expressed their deep dissatisfaction with everything the current administration has been doing, passing cars continued to honk in support of the “Hands Off!” theme. This occasionally triggered those gathered on the other side of the road to start chanting, which drowned out some of the words of the speakers, but we always got the gist of each message.
The small gathering in River Falls drew people from Minnesota on the other side of the St. Croix River, from Hudson, and from Red Wing. It was inspiring.
I learned of the somewhat subtle silent protest of “8647” on a sign, which I think is clever. There were plenty of other witty and creative slogans I found entertaining, as well. Among the many spoken messages shared by citizens, I was particularly pleased to hear one gentleman describing having just returned from a trip around Europe. He shared that the people of several countries they visited were not thinking poorly of us –sympathetic, maybe– but their beef was with our leaders, same as us.
“How are those cheap eggs working out for ya?”
The most moving speaker was a Hispanic immigrant who talked about working long, hard hours milking cows and searching for work that others don’t want to do. She just wanted a little compassion amidst the callous aggression being doled out by masked, plain-clothed ICE agents who are “disappearing” people with no acknowledgment of whether or not violations had actually occurred.
Most of the people who stepped up to the microphone were retirement-age so one guy put up a challenge to the crowd that the next person to speak needed to be under 30. It worked, and soon we were hearing the opinions of several from younger generations.
A lot of people expressed pride in our country and that is why they are protesting. I’m more inclined to admit I was protesting because I’m not proud of my country at this point.
At least, for now, we were still granted the freedom to assemble and exercise our right to free speech. No AI bots and no fake news. Just real people telling it the way they see it. It was cathartic if nothing else.
Rating: 10/10. I’d do it again.
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Filing Objections
It is April 5th, a “national day of action” the banner professes. Cyndie and I intend to join the mix of college students and rural folks from around River Falls to express our dissatisfaction with the destructive chaos that has been underway since the inauguration in January.
There isn’t a sign big enough to hold my objections.
I object to the President of the United States of America being a blatant small and large-scale grifter.
I object to people making decisions that impact millions of others based on greed and their ill-informed prejudices.
I object to our government disrespecting our allies.
I object to people trying to force their religion into this country’s laws.
I object to government leaders behaving like bullies.
I object to the decisions and behaviors of everyone who has enabled or abetted foreign interference in our elections.
I object to the discounting of the severity of the global climate crisis.
I object to blind adherence to ideologies.
I object to people ignoring their hypocrisy.
I object to the ugly confidence to publicly display hatred for others.
I object to the blatant disregard for the rule of law.
I object to the blatant disregard for human rights.
I object to the blatant disregard for proven science.
I object to the assumption that this administration can simply state that we are going to own another country.
I object to unilaterally issuing orders to deny equity and inclusion of our diverse populations.
I object to the assault on education and the sweep up of graduate students.
I object to the allowing of an unelected appointee to dismantle government institutions.
I object to the incarceration of innocent travelers by our immigration officials.
I object to the intentional destruction of our national and global economies.
I object to people lapping up mis- and disinformation like it was Kool-Aid that keeps them alive.
I object to the theft of good people’s sanity through the unending flow of drama and excrement coming from Donald Trump and every single person who supports him, including every billionaire or foreign leader controlling him from behind the scenes.
It’s time to go stand with the crowd to show how we really feel.
I’ll let you know tomorrow if it makes me feel any better.
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Sad Truth
No matter which side of the current democracy debate happening in the U.S. is bombarding my inboxes, they share a common trait: it all comes down to the almighty dollar. Apparently, Elon Musk offered up $1 million to entice voters to pick the Republican party’s favored Wisconsin Supreme Court judge. At the same time, the latest email from MoveOn.org in the name of Robert Reich outlines “the most sweeping assault on the American mind in modern history.” It goes on to tell me “we need a massive movement” and then asks if I will help in the form of $5.00 a month.
So much for my dream of wandering in the wilderness for four years to avoid news of the most despicable people to ever gain control over every branch of our once reasonably sound government.
Since the current administration of evil-doers is rushing to slash funding of practically any government program you can think of that was created to help people, all those organizations that were barely functioning on what little money they received are now looking to the citizens for more cash. The occasional fund drive weeks of public radio and television will become full-time pleas.
The sad truth is that when Public Radio begs me one more time to give even more than my current amount of sustaining donations, I may need to tell them I can’t afford any amount if the Social Security program falls under the destructive cash-grab by the kleptocrats in office.
How many ethical judges will be able to survive the methods of achieving autocracies that have sadly been proven successful throughout history?
If only someone would have warned us this might happen and encouraged citizens to get to the polls and vote to save our democracy last November. I guess they should have also offered a cash incentive bonus.
To their credit, MoveOn did send me one protest effort that didn’t immediately ask for money. The “HANDS OFF” national day of action (Saturday, April 5) looks to rally thousands of people across the country for nonviolent protest of the brazen power grab underway. I fully support their intentions but don’t believe for one second that protests by the masses will worry the bullies in the White House one bit.
I’m not sure whose attention we need to get in order to turn this ship around. We can stop shopping at every big corporation’s retail businesses, but it seems like it’s the power holders in Russia who have control over the U.S. now. I don’t think they care one bit about the possible collapse of our economy. Wait. What am I thinking? That is probably an integral part of their plan.
They let the Orange-One and Musk think they are all powerful and getting wealthier by the minute while Putin sits back and watches Russia’s one-time nemesis of global order and Olympic competition wilt away into irrelevance. If I were Musk and his boss-in-crime, I’d be supremely cautious around high windows and flights of stairs in the presence of Putin’s goons. As far as theories go, seems plausible enough to me.
I wonder if goon is a high-paying position. Remember, it’s all about the money, and one probably needs to keep their goons contented to the extreme.
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Not Spending
Since I have been avoiding news, it was only a few days ago I learned of the call to U.S. residents for an economic resistance to occur today in protest of “the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations, and both major political parties” in America. I will have no problem spending absolutely nothing today, but I don’t think it will have much impact. I spend nothing most days. I don’t think anyone notices. Marketers still bombard me with advertisements.
“BOGO!” (Buy one, get one for a reduced amount [used to be: get one free]).
“Last Chance to get this offer!” It’s funny that I keep getting that email over and over.
“Buy Now, Pay Later!” Everybody loves to offer me credit
I’ve read some debate on the logic of this 24-hour economic boycott. Won’t this have a bigger negative effect on the small businesses? Won’t people just make their purchases the day before or the day after?
I don’t know the answers, but I like the idea of enough people in the country adjusting their behavior at the same time to achieve a measurable result that could be noticeable to those in power. I hope it works. If collective action by masses of ordinary citizens (while we still legally can) reveals a significant level of dissatisfaction, maybe it would inspire those with power and influence to take more meaningful and visible action to interrupt the dismantling of all that was sacred in our formerly great nation.
I’m curious how soon the folks who voted for this current mess and the folks who chose not to vote at all will notice the undoing of our democracy does them no favors. Will those same people be spending feverishly today to counter the protest? I suspect the majority of the people who chose not to vote would likely choose not to participate in a boycott, either. Apathy tends to reflect “the body at rest remains at rest.” The mind that doesn’t care continues to not care until the consequences finally bite into its tender backside.
Personally, I feel it’s a crying shame that organizational frameworks seeking to promote fair treatment and full participation of all people are seen as so threatening to some people. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion does not seem scary to me. I guess what’s scary to the big corporations is that the new administration in Washington, D.C., doesn’t want fair treatment for all people.
Let’s rally our like-minded friends and relatives to save their money today and join those sending an economic message to the big money machine that we don’t appreciate the direction things are going.
I’m going to go talk with the horses and see what they think about the state of the world today.
The only thing I will be spending is time.
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Flowing Again
Problem solved. A full day in operation and the water level is holding. It was indeed the orientation of the waterfall that was contributing to the surprising loss of water every day.
The peaceful meditations of splashing water have returned to grace our idyllic surroundings once again.
Pretty good timing, given the visceral angst boiling over in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers in the middle of a global pandemic that had seriously derailed the economy while killing vulnerable people with abandon.
With such a wallop of bad vibes unceasingly resonating far and wide, people understandingly are reacting with a protective perspective of wondering what more awful situation could be around the next corner. If we expect the worst, maybe it won’t hurt so much when it arrives. I remember that mindset from my years of depression.
Thinking like that may come across as protective on the surface, but it doesn’t actually work as well as the alternative. We can hold space for best possibilities.
Neither method can entirely control outcomes, but it is hard to argue that they don’t have some influence. Consider how strongly people feel about the power of prayer.
I no longer brace myself for the next possible calamity to befall us. I have grown more inclined to visualize the best possible outcome humankind can achieve. It is easier for me now that I have narrowed my focus to the power of love. Love is the answer. Love can heal all wounds.
It is time to get love flowing again, equally among all races, all income levels, all orientations.
Let the love flow and splash down over everything and everyone.
Amen.
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Different Tracks
Our grass is growing fast and the ground is saturated from recent rains so I decided to use the power trimmer to mow areas with standing water to avoid creating muddy tire tracks. While focused on the grass in front of me, I was oblivious to what was happening behind me.
As I shuffled along at a slow pace, I was leaving muddy tracks behind me. Ha ha! Oh well.
I trimmed along the paddock fence from the outside and then stepped inside to clean up around the overhang. With no horses grazing the paddocks, the grass in there is growing pretty tall.
It feels very satisfying to transform the place from looking abandoned to freshly trimmed. It’s only partially abandoned.
This morning we are abandoning the property for a few hours to attend a socially distanced graduation ceremony for Cyndie’s niece, Althea, on her family’s driveway in Edina.
I appreciate the attempt to accomplish some traditions amid the upside-down turmoil of a global pandemic and civil unrest.
In the middle of my afternoon of mowing yesterday, I claimed a block of time to watch coverage of the launch of the manned Dragon capsule as it happened. In the evening, I watched the news broadcasts of police and national guard soldiers arresting violators of the curfew put in place to quell the looting and riots that have unfolded amid the protesters who are fed up with police abuse and unchecked murder of black citizens.
Remember when kneeling during the national anthem was the attempt to express protest over police misconduct?
While I am making different tracks in our wet areas, protesters are seeing a need to use different tactics to bring a change in the unacceptable status quo of equality being professed but not enacted.
We shall overcome, someday.
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Can’t Breathe
Anger boiling over in the form of roiling balls of flame with no visible public servants on hand to contain the rage as daytime turns into night makes for a disturbing meditation in the moments before nodding off to sleep.
It is hard to breathe through our masks.
It is hard to breathe through the smoke.
It is hard to breathe when being choked.
It is hard to contend with the fact that all I was going to do was breathe in our forest air yesterday and beam love to the world, yet the Pentagon needed to put military police on alert as protesters ignored curfew orders and ignited numerous new fires.
Morning turns the tide and reasonable people emerge with brooms and trash bags to pick up debris in an attempt to hasten the healing of the damage done overnight.
It’s an interesting dynamic to watch the venting of angst built up over multiple generations and centuries of time followed by the immediate effort to clean up the present damage which will actually require generations of repair to remedy.
How many years of treating people of color (and women and LGBTQ and homeless and impoverished and mentally impaired human beings) with equal respect to their white counterparts will be needed to complete healing that is the dream of healthy well-meaning communities of enlightened citizens of the world?
I’m not sure I can breathe that long.
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Relative Something 