Four Days Before the Women’s March on Washington
I wrote too much on my protest sign, of course. It was the “#WhyIMarch” that did it to me. I described my attempts to formulate a succinctly worded sign to my best friend, Jackie, who is also attending, as “Trying to fit Stephen King’s entire The Stand series on a grain of sand.” I wondered, What’s the page limit on a protest sign? Fortunately, my sign has two sides, and I used better restraint on the second one. I mentioned my lack of brevity to a class, and one student, Jennifer, who knows me well and was not at all surprised, said, “You need one of those giant sticky note flip pads.” As I finished coloring in letters on my sign tonight, I imagined sticky noting D.C. and in the process, walking up to Donald Trump and sticky noting him, adhesive strip placed firmly across his big mouth.
What I didn’t realize was that the mere act of making my sign would be cathartic. I could actually give voice to my anger simply by penciling the words on foam board. Admittedly, I have been angry for a long time, but not with the intensity that I feel in relation to Trump’s misogyny and the history and current views of his incoming administration. I didn’t realize how much I needed this release. If this simple act is one of empowerment, I wonder how protesting with over 100,000 of my sisters (and supportive brothers) will feel on Saturday? I can’t wait to find out! Before it closed, I used to go to a lesbian bar, The Patch, in Calumet City, Illinois, as a straight ally. A sense of sisterhood permeated the place, such as I’d never known outside of it. I anticipate feeling that again on Saturday, only with much greater intensity due to the focused energy of the marchers. The thought brings tears to my eyes. And I am grateful that my tween daughter, Jianna, will have the experience and be able to see women, the power of women, through new eyes.
One thought on “#WhyIMarch”
kathrynpagecamp
Catharsis is good. We all need it now and then.
I’m not surprised that you filled up the board. As long as the letters are large enough to be read from a distance . . . (There’s a lot to be said for white space when trying to get a message across.)
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