Above photo: Protesters gather outside Trump Tower in New York City on November 13, 2016. Photo: John Lamparski/WireImage
Washington, DC – On the Washington, D.C., streets this week, it’s already looking like Pick-Your-Protest-Land, and even Trump can’t tweet fast enough to respond to the torrent of backlash that’s broadening with each new insult he issues. I’m here from Seattle to participate in the Refuse Fascism movement, which seeks to stop the Trump-Pence regime from taking power. It’s a long shot, but anything that might stop this disaster in the making or potentially mitigate its damage is worth the effort.
The Trump Defense Camp claims that the resistance organizations that have formed since the election represent only jargon-spouting leftists on the fringe. That’s not what I’ve seen. The protesters I’ve encountered are schoolteachers, IT workers, scientists, paralegals, health care professionals, business owners, film makers and restaurant managers. Many have traveled here—they’re from Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Antonio—and several have never protested before.
When I ask, “Why have you come here?” There’s a common theme in their responses. They’re afraid, as citizens, of what Trump’s patently racist, xenophobic regime portends. They understand that the havoc Trump has already wreaked is child’s play compared to what might lie ahead—for our country and for the world.
The activists here, novices and veterans, are speaking for not just a handful of radicals. They’re also speaking for the millions of Americans who thought that this couldn’t happen and who have crawled into a corner because they think there’s nothing they can do to stop it. If you can’t get here, get involved where you are. And wherever you are, applaud and support the courage, determination and heroism of every protester who takes to the streets this week to remind the world that, for a few more days at least, America is still the land of the free.
Ms. Darves is a Seattle journalist and poet.