I went down to the demonstration and got my fair share of joy, energy and purpose.
This was in front of the court house in the town aptly named Cape May Court House, the county seat in the reddest county in New Jersey – as red as Trump’s necktie – at the southern tip of the Garden State.
The rain had stopped as nearly two thousand peaceful No Kings protestors gathered in a forest of signs and flags to vent their anger and frustration at the endless efforts of Donald John Trump to tear down the democracy that has withstood a horrendous Civil War, two cataclysmic world wars, and misquided military adventures in Vietnam and Afghanistan.
The crowd, the majority who seemed to be over forty, was now a force together after long weeks and months of being mostly alone or in small groups of protest. They had come out en masse now to show their solidarity and there was an air of near relief in their chants and speeches. The steam was being let off in loud and creative protest.
I’m eighty-seven and didn’t feature standing for a couple hours, so I hiked up the court house steps and sat near the top among the folks from Indivisible, who ran this orderly and peaceful demonstration. From there, I had a birds-eye view of signs like these: the caption on one read “A throne fit for a king” and showed Trump in an electric chair in striped prison garb complete with red tie, another said “no dicktators,” one said “Not a paid protestor – I hate Elon for free!,” a tee-shirt said “Compost the rich!” and of course the overall theme of “Fuck Trump” popped up here and there.
Bullhorn leaders led in chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Donald Trump has got to go!” and, of course, the original Black Panther mantra of “Power to the People!”
A few feet below me, speakers regaled the throng with high-energy urges to keep up the fight, including Tim Alexander, a tall, bald, Black dude who is running for Congress against the current rep, Jeff Van Drew, a sleazy little dentist who switched parties and is now one of Trump’s chief ass-kissers. Alexander was one of only three Black people I saw and there were precious few younger people, as well.
The main event was a die-in in front of the court house. Volunteers lay down, holding cardboard tombstones on which were written things like “RIP Wildlife and Ocean Life,” “RIP Cancer Research,” “RIP SNAP Benefits,” “RIP Freedom of Speech” and many others. One volunteer was so old that the Indivisible people had to help him to his feet.
The demo was on Main Street and traffic still flowed, most of the cars beeping in solidarity. Twice, trucks waving Trump flags passed, met with loud chants of “USA!” “USA!”
As I walked to my car, on the other side in front of a Trump merchandise store a guy yelled gibberish at the passing traffic.
I gave him the finger.