On Saturday, January 21st, Kristen and I joined our friends Laura Grill and her wife Reina to go down to the Women’s March on Washington DC.
SO, I’m bad about taking things personally. I try not to. But I read into things. I have gotten into the bad habit of assuming the worst. It’s a social media thing perhaps – where people say things that they’d never say to your face, perhaps without thinking – perhaps without caring.
And so – when someone says “gosh, I’m glad my wife is a good conservative Christian woman who doesn’t need to go to marches” I TRY not to hear “rob, Kristen’s a heathen – what’s wrong with her that she needs to go to the Women’s March today? And what’s wrong with you that you are planning to marry a woman like that?” and when someone says “All you whining liberals this…“ “All you nerds that…” “All white people…” “Men all think…” “You East Coasters…” “Straight people…” “Atheists…”
Though the presenters were very inclusive, the actual marchers were primarily white women – but just about everyone and everything was represented. (well, the pro-Life feminist group was uninvited and there was apparently a Christian group that got into a shouting match with someone – and that’s probably the other way around – and the Bikers For Trump didn’t get to do THEIR thing because the March for Women was twice as big – and twice as long – as expected and no-one EVER said anything pro-atheist – but lets not get nit-picky…)
It WAS incredible to see this tide of humanity washing from the Capital to the Elipse. The “march” per se didn’t really go off as planned because once that space is filled… well, you can’t march through it because you’ve already occupied the area. It’s like how an ocean is not a river.
All these broad categories into which I fall – into which millions and millions of people fall – generalizing about who and what I’m supposed to be – it makes me want to SCREAM “YOU DON’T KNOW ME” – I THOUGHT you knew me, but evidently you didn’t – because you think I’m one of THOSE. And when I stayed at your place or you crashed at mine, when we played music together, when we stayed up till four in the morning, when we kissed – was THIS what you were thinking? Or did you forget that there are exceptions to your rules in your hurry to passionately through your convictions into the universe?
The guestlist was arguable too long, but the guestlist was amazing and full of surprises. I would never have expected to see Madonna perform (introduced by Amy Schumer), but I got her, the Indigo Girls, Alicia Keys, a powerful speech from Scarlet Johansson, America Ferrera’s speech kicked off the day and was particularly powerful – Gloria Steinem was greeted with massive adulation and was worth every bit of it, Michael Moore’s rambling speech was at first powerful and charming, but then eventually simply HAD to be cut off by possibly the high point for me – a slam piece by an artist from Nashville, TN named Nina DOnovan performed by Ashley Judd. Holy crap… there were more, so many more… Janelle Monae, Maxwell… though we never really got closer than a block and a half from the staging area, the Jumbotrons and speakers kept us well-informed…
I hope so.
As people fall further and further into their echo chambers, they are more and more willing to insult, to ridicule, to condemn those people that are out-of-sight and other-than-stereotypes, out-of-mind.
And so I’m trying to cut generalizations out of my own language. I’m trying to be less-tolerant of it in my own immediate circles. And online? Well, I’m going to generalize and say that online, people are all too-willing to cut ties and kill friendships, to threaten family and forgo common decency – to air in public what they should’ve put in their fucking JOURNAL – and so online I must admit I try to remain ignorant of what people say. My mother says be like a duck. My Dad said words can’t hurt me….
And yet those words still gets around.
I know what you said. I’m just not sure if you really believe what you just typed or you think you’re just letting off steam. Language matters. Relationships matter. People matter. Get out and meet some.
There’s a LOT of people here at the DC Women’s March. They prepared for 200,000 but Metro records alone point to closer to half a million. When I read that Obama had an estimated 1.8 million people for his first inauguration its unimaginable. (I’m not getting into Trump’s numbers – I’m just saying a) the idea that yesterday the march almost doubled the population of Washington DC and that b) the inauguration of the first black president had around 3 times that many people – that’s just nuts!)I guess people might’ve thought it was cooler if I’d caught a pic of the National Guard trying to hit a protester, but that’s not what happened. MTA / transit police and Metro peeps were friendly and helpful and some even worry pussy hats. The cops were stern but helful for finding lost grandmas and kids. The National Guard stood on their HUMVEES and helped “make a hole” when people got fed up with the crowds ort, in extreme cases, went into labour.Emerging from a packed Metro train onto a packed Metro platform into a packed Metro station up the packed Metro stairs and up into the grey, grey day.More traditional “women’s issues” like reproductive rights and support for Planned Parenthood rubbed shoulders with environmentalism and voter’s rights, LGBTQ rights and #blacklivesmatter.
Below is a photodump of my friend Chip Py’s photography from the day….
