All the small protests around Tesla dealerships and Congressional offices made me happy left me elated.
Elated is a crossword puzzle standard and I have been this many days old before using it. Thanks for giving me the opportunity; I will not abuse the privilege.
A three and a half hour lunch with the Cruise Club today allowed us to vent and wonder and kvetch to our hearts' content. He is so dangerous. How can they forget 1930's Germany? What is wrong with Congress/Democrats (but not Mark Kelly)/people in our lives/the world in general?
We all received an email announcing the nationwide Hands Off! events happening Saturday. Someone asked what it was protesting; I said everything. The official recruiting poster included in the email made our conversation public. Just look at all those things that are wrong.
We half-joked about my track record at outdoor political events and eventually moved on to travel and classes we're taking (Yes, I did that course on Zoom when I was in Antarctica...... I love these women!) but the idea was germinating in my head so I went back to the website where I found this:
A core principle behind all Hands Off! events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values.
There's a
Know Your Rights: Hands Off Rally Prep Zoom session at 8pmET tonight presented by the ACLU. I hope it's a
we didn't start it defense rather than the naive hope that it will be enough to calm the waters, should they begin to boil.
I read further down the announcement and got to this gem: Wear White as a symbol of peace! Now, I'm seriously questioning my cynicism. Maybe I should hone in on my inner 18 year old, protesting the government taking my friends to fight a far-away war against people who'd never harmed them. We were passionate and we showed up, believing that our presence made a difference.
At this point, since I'm already making those three phone calls a day every weekday, showing up is all I can do. If I'm going to say I am a part of the Resistance, I have to show up.
If it's a giant group in
the park, I'll be along an edge, hopefully on a bench. If we are spread out along the roadway as we have been at the smaller events I'll be standing a little bit away from the curb, eyes on the cars as they drive by, waving my upgraded sign.
I will adhere to the promises I made - I will be vigilant and aware of my surroundings
I hope that I leave
elated overjoyed.
I had lunch with a friend earlier in the week. She has her poster made. She plans to wear her cleric's collar, not something she does on any regular basis, and she's taking her neighbor. She asked me to go, too, but I turned her down. I am no longer one for crowds. Our daughter is going to the protest is San Mateo. She has quite a group of people who have been doing these protests for various outrages.
ReplyDeleteI think a part of it is defiance toward our shooter, that he can't take it away from me, but mostly I like feeling the warmth of like minded humans. I'm making my sign now.
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Our group will be small, unofficial, and mostly old people. That suits us, but want to SHOW UP too.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for you! You must be feeling better... or so outraged that the adrenaline rush overrides the ouch.
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From what I have seen, all over social media, is that the protests were attended by an older than usual group. I believe it's because our age group has seen the power of demonstrations.
DeleteTucson skews older, so I wasn't surprised that our cohort was well represented. But there were young families and trans young people and enough 30 and 40 somethings to make me feel vaguely hopeful.
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