Empowered, Emboldened and Awed
We knew it was big. Towards the end of the rally, with legs rubbery from 5 hours of standing, I tried migrating to another vantage point; but I quickly ran into an absolute gridlock of humanity. From my perch, wedged in the middle of it all, it was hard to get a sense of the magnitude of the event.
Today, I have seen pictures, watched videos and read newspaper accounts of the DC March and the 600 plus ‘sister’ marches in cities across the country and the world. Wow!!! Many cities exceeded their estimates-including my home town of Madison, Wisonsin, where between 75,000 and 100,000 souls, incuding many good friends, filled State Street.
Early estimates are that 2.5 MILLION protesters around the world sent a powerful message that we will NOT be silent; we will notstand by quietly while our rights and the rights of our sisters and brothers, are trampled. Trump’s agenda of hate and willful, brash ignorance will be challenged, we will not simply go away or give up in despair.
Today, I am full of pride and hope. The sense of dread that descended on November 9th has dissipated in a sea of pussy hats and has been replaced with a renewed sense of empowerment and faith in our collective humanity.
I do feel bad about one thing — many plants outside the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum were mangled as several of us shorties sought higher ground for better viewing of the Jumbotron. At first we were careful of the vegetation, but eventually it just wasn’t possible to preserve the pansies. I have never been good with plants.. sorry!
Tonight, I pack away my March T-shirt, my pussy hat, my Nasty Woman pin, and my now blurry (I might have sat on it on the wet ground at some point) pillow-case sign. The sign may be a lost cause, but I suspect I will need the other items in the not too distant future.