I just came back home from the Bloomington No Kings rally.
Lots of people. Lots of Noise.
●
The march/rally in my beloved hometown Chicago looked like Woodstock.
●
Today made me think of that huge Women’s March in January 2017. Here’s how Wikipedia describes it:
It was at the time the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.
More than 400 marches and rallies were held in different US cities eight and a half years ago. Nearly half a million people turned out for the Washingt0n, DC march; 750,000 in Los Angeles; 150,000 in San Francisco; 250,000 in Chicago; 150,000 in Boston; 90,000 in St. Paul, Minnesota; 400,000 in New York City; 100,000 in Portland, Oregon; 175,000 in Seattle; 100,000 in Madison, Wisconsin. Overall, it was estimated more than one percent of the US population marched and/or rallied that day — and that’s huge. The only way you can get that many people to do a single thing in one day is to schedule a Super Bowl.
There were nearly a hundred other such happenings in cities around the world that day. Hell, there was even a women’s rally in Antarctica.
Remember all those pink “pussyhats”?
It was thought they’d be a symbol of resistance for years to come. I haven’t seen one since.
A woman ran for president in 2004. She was an experienced prosecutor, US Senator, and Vice President of the United States. She lost. To the guy against whom all those people in US cities and around the world protested in January 2017. After he’d been bounced out of office in 2020.
And who, I might add, fomented a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol on the day Congress was scheduled to certify the 2020 election results.
Here we are again. Same guy, back in office. Hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets to oppose him. He’s already dismantled much of the federal government’s social service infrastructure that has been laboriously erected since FDR’s New Deal began. His Justice Department is prosecuting his political enemies. He’s sent the military into cities run by Democrats. He’s hastening the takeover of corporate media by right wing billionaires. He’s etting the new American oligarchy in stone.
A lot of people I know feel all pumped up about the turnout today.
Me? Like I said, I saw a lot of people. I heard a lot of noise. And all I could think was, What do we do next?
For one thing, you can read this Substack about 50 or so things you can do:
https://amandalitman.substack.com/p/50-things-you-can-actually-do?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=email