I was speaking with my friend Fran this morning about the big event that is happening today all over the country. Hands Off National Day of Action is a grassroots, peaceful protest that is a clear rebuke of the Trump administration and what it is doing to tear this nation asunder. In big cities and small towns, people all across the age spectrum are gathering with their signs, their voices and marching feet to say that they won’t passively stand by. I have friends who will be in DC, Philadelphia, NJ and NY. I will be in my smaller local town of Doylestown where many protests, vigils and rallies have taken place since the first of his administrations that set the stage for what confronts us now. I will be speaking at the protest and then writing an article about it for a progressive publication called The Beacon. I hope the rain holds off, since it has been drizzling and then pouring intermittently all morning. I know that even if it does rain, it won’t dim the enthusiasm and passion for protecting our country.
In conversation, Fran, who was headed to a NJ rally, and I mused about people who ‘met the moment’ and spoke truth to power. NJ Senator Cory Booker stood for 25 hours and 4 minutes which surpassed the filibuster speech with words uttered by racist South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, who filibustered the Civil Rights Act of 1957 for 24 hours and 18 minutes. Booker addressed the actions taken and threatened by the current holder of the Oval Office. I caught the last 15 minutes after my work day ended and offered a standing ovation through my tears.
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde addressed a congregation after the inauguration, with a kind of ‘what would Jesus say’ sermon that rattled the sensibilities and raised the ire of the president and his supporters. How dare she speak about unity and the inherent dignity of all people in front of a man who holds neither of those sacred?
Former Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger put country over party by being outspoken critics of the president, horrified at what their party had become. They issued sincere warnings about what could happen if he was re-elected. Both were on the J6 committee that investigated the insurrection.
“He won’t leave office. He already tried not to leave office once. So I think there’s a lot of living in a fantasy world that’s going on with Republicans telling themselves, ‘Look, we’ll vote for him, it won’t be so bad.’ It may well be the last real vote you ever get to cast. It will be that bad,” the former congresswoman said.
It is that bad.
Idaho elementary school teacher Sara Inama was instructed to take down a poster in her classroom that read EVERYONE IS WELCOME HERE, because it was a personal opinion that flew in the face the Trump administration’s edict against equality. Her reaction had a ripple effect that spread far and wide. A local printer created t-shirts with that message. I will proudly wear it to the rally today.
Look around your communities and bear witness to those who attend town hall meetings with local politicians and in the case of my country predictably in the absence of Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick who claims to be Independent by generally votes with this administration. A town hall was held in the Borough Hall in Doylestown that was standing room only, with an empty chair to represent the erstwhile Representative.
These folks stood firm in their contention that love for our country means standing up in the face of challenge from those who demean their actions, and may threaten their livelihood or existence. They met the moment when it called.
What will you do to meet the moment when it calls?
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Internal image courtesy of author
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This Post is republished on Medium.
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Photo credit: iStock
