I was highly motivated and encouraged by the Women's March. It was massive, had great energy, and seemed historic, so that was awesome.
I wanted to keep the momentum of my new found political activism (aka more than posting on facebook about it) and go to another protest. The outright banning of any people coming in from Muslim countries really didn’t agree with my image of America or what we stand for.
So I joined the tail end of a smaller protest in Tompkin Square. It felt like it was a lot more like a rally than a demonstration. Far away from traffic, out of reach, it seemed like we weren’t protesting as much as cheering each other up
Banners were waved. Chants were chanted. Instagrams taken. A couple of speakers spoke about the power of the people and the resistant we needed to be. There was a prayer or two.
The thing is I found it pretty similar what I assume a rally would sound like, kind of reminiscent of a sports game. Just, excuse my French, circle-jerking. What could we do? Who were we affecting or showing? Cheering in a stadium is about as useful as pissing in the wind, relieving yourself, but not really helping anyone else.
I see the benefit of rallying and supporting each other. But here’s the thing, I bet Trump rally’s felt just about the same way. Giving some jolt of political life to groups that felt outcast or forgotten by the big cities.
I don’t think the opposition is as bad as we seem to paint them. They’re just wearing different colors, they’re still people. Yeah they believe something different than you do; there are a lot of narratives out there. We should understand that better than anyone; we come from such a variety ourselves.
And honestly, I think almost everyone is friendly if you just approached/listened to them with kindness and empathy.
Trump and his cronies though. They’re the scum of the earth.