This was my first protest. (I had 3 small children during the 60s). But I felt today’s gathering would benefit from an octogenarian to show generational support.
When my daughter called today to ask if I wanted to go to a gathering at the airport in opposition to Trump’s latest immigration outrage, I didn’t have to think twice. I put aside my food blogging for the day for what I considered a far more important task.
“Do you have any posters?” I asked, realizing that all self-respecting protesters go armed with a message.
“We don’t have any poster board,” she said pitifully. “Could you throw together a couple of posters. We’ll be by in 15 minutes or so.”
“Okay, okay,” I said as I began searching for magic markers that worked and finally had to settle on my granddaughter’s crayons. The only poster board I had was the expensive, colored-on-one side sheets, that I had purchased for food photography set ups. I would press them into duty and replace them later.
Food for Thought
One poster featured a truism we need to remember: “We Are All Immigrants!” Our arrival time was just different. We were all in different boats, as it’s been said, but we’re in the same boat now. The other sign, “Never Forget This,” was inspired by a wall plaque outside the rubble of the Old Synagogue, that I saw in East Germany shortly after the Berlin Wall came down. The historic building was one of the first things destroyed during Kristallnacht in the 1930s, when a religion and people were targeted by a tyrant.
Hastily constructed posters for the airport protest
When we arrived you could hear the chanting from the park lot and a goodly crowd had gathered already. Below are some candid shots in slideshow format of the signs and people.
A Few Observations from the Protest
- There were people at the airport of all backgrounds and ages. I was especially glad to see those in their 20s and 30s. I really believe that this generation gets what our country is all about America has always been an idea; one that we never knew would work or not. Remember what Ben Franklin said when asked what kind of government we had concocted? “A republic, if we can keep it.” The improbable concept has been tested by civil war, worldwide tyranny, and the civil rights movement. We have endured, because down deep we know who we are: “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
- The gathering was more like a love fest than an angry protest. From the tone of many of the signs, I got the impression many of these people might have attended a religious service that morning. Their signage expressed a core set of beliefs for themselves and their country.
- I gained renewed hope that we will survive these times all the stronger. Carl Sandburg summed it up best. He said, “We are Americans. Nothing like us ever was.” Those are good thoughts to recall. Now we must prove him right.
