On January 21, 10,000 women, men, and children marched peacefully through the streets of Olympia and millions more across the world in solidarity for human rights, dignity, justice, equality, democracy, tolerance, kindness, love, freedom of speech and religion. All these values I have taken for granted as the bedrock and soul of America, and here we are fighting for them 225 years after the Constitution and Bill of Rights were ratified.
You’d think these values would have become more ingrained with time, not eroded, but perhaps it’s like the pig on the fridge whose power to restrain us from overeating fades after a few days. In two centuries we have become complacent, blind to the warnings. Lately, at least in some quarters, it’s like we swung open the fridge and totally indulged, reneging on the promises we made to ourselves in those venerable documents.
The marches were only “protests” in that we were protesting against the abandonment of these values, which Donald Trump seems to have done. Oh wait, I forgot honesty. Put that on the list, too.
Our marches said loud and clear we will not be silent or afraid; we will not lie down and let you trample our rights, our lives, our beliefs, our values. We will not fear Big Brother, who seems a real possibility now. Wait, what am I saying? He is already here – our phone calls, tweets, emails, Facebook feeds, on-line purchases, etc., are or can be monitored. If Trump wanted to find all the people who criticized him I’m sure he could just order a search for his name and nicknames on social media and find us.
What would he do? He’s already condemning the media and individuals who criticize him. He shut down the National Park Service’s Twitter feed after a retweet that showed the difference in crowd sizes between the march in DC and his inauguration. In other countries, in oppressive, totalitarian governments, people are imprisoned, tortured, disappeared, killed. In our own county, Americans were blacklisted in the McCarthy era. Perhaps these are the 50’s to which Donald Trump wants to return. Well, we’ll just have to have the 60’s again, won’t we? But peacefully, like we did yesterday.
I say I won’t be afraid but I am. What I will be is brave and politically active. I will try to engage and talk openly and respectfully to people whose beliefs are different from mine (honestly, this is the scariest thing). I have no right to complain if I don’t speak up; if I just sit on my couch and yell at the TV or in my car and rail at the radio, or rant with my friends who are the choir. What good does this do? It won’t change anything.
I’m going to start by reading the book, Becoming A Citizen Activist, by Nick Licata, a former Seattle city council member. The back cover description is: “Every citizen has the power to effect change. But it takes skill, an understanding of power, and a bit of passion to meaningfully participate in a democracy. This is the playbook for citizens wanting to improve the world around them.” In fact, maybe I’ll start a book club around it, and create a “salon” for social and political discussion in the style of Jane Addams at Hull House. Jane Addams, the founder of social work and an ardent political and social activist, is a role model of mine, and probably the reason I became a social worker. Did you know she won the Nobel Prize? I’m going to read her biography by Louise W. Knight, Jane Addams: Spirit in Action.
But darn it, I’m not going to just study and talk about political action and participating in our grand democracy, I’m going to stand up, show up, and speak up!
Fiftyish and Feisty 
‘Thank you for sharing your thoughts. You are saying what a lot of us are feeling, so you are in good company. Robert Reich has been posting 100 days of resistance, which your readers may also seek out. The key is action. It’s time now.
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