“There is nothing more powerful to dramatize a social evil than the tramp, tramp of marching feet,” civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. once said. Millions of marching feet have hit the streets of America in the nearly 100 days since President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term on Jan. 20. Here in Athens, protests continued on Apr. 19, when about 400 people rallied at City Hall downtown to say no to the policies of the Trump regime.
Athens has been called the most liberal town in Georgia, but that’s like calling someone the greatest matador in Rhode Island. Still, the local protests have been sizable and spirited expressions of solidarity, good humor and nonviolence. On Feb. 17, Presidents Day, Athenians gathered to call for a nation where the president is not a self-anointed king. On Apr. 5, their ranks were swelled by a large crowd that packed the streets and sidewalks in front of City Hall.
Local activists again mobilized on Apr. 19 to voice their concerns about this nation’s precarious present and uncertain future. Political placards held aloft at the latest Athens rally mixed witticisms with worry over President Trump and his billionaire buddies like Elon Musk. “You Can’t Spell Felon Without Elon. You Can’t Have Organized Crime Without a Don,” said one sign. “I’m a Grandma Not a Paid Protester,” said another.
Other protest signs at the Apr. 19 rally voiced sentiments like, “I Love My Country, I’m Ashamed of My Government” and “Hands Off Our Democracy.” One participant tweaked former GOP candidate Sarah Palin with a sign saying, “Now I Can See Russia From My House.” Another sign said, “The Power of the People is Greater Than the People in Power.” Yet another sign held aloft outside City Hall said, “Imagine Being Scared of Diversity But Not of Dictatorship.”
The Apr. 19 protest in Athens was just one of many held nationwide during two significant anniversaries in this country’s history. In 1775—250 years ago—the American Revolution began when colonists weary of a king fired “the shot heard ‘round the world” and began a war that would topple a British king’s rule over what would become America. In 1995—30 years ago—168 people were murdered in Oklahoma City when right-wing terrorists detonated a truck bomb outside a federal building there.
The latest round of “dump Trump” dissidence spread across all 50 states in a broad campaign waged by a group called 50501 that stands for “50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement.” The movement began not long after Trump’s inauguration with rallies in all 50 state capitals, but it has expanded into a movement that has drawn millions to activist events not only in state capitals, but in towns, cities and rural hamlets across America. Thousands of Americans have turned out for rallies even in unlikely “red state” areas like Utah, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and South Carolina. More nationwide rallies are planned for May 1, the international workers’ holiday that began in the United States during the labor movement struggles in 1886. See the 50501 website for more information.
“Trump has defied court rulings, purged federal agencies, targeted political opponents and declared himself above the law,” says the 50501 organization. “Oligarchs are dismantling the foundations of our country.” On a more optimistic note, 50501 reminds Americans, “In all 50 states, local communities are taking action in their own way… This movement is growing, and it belongs to all of us.”
Protest movements should go hand-in-hand with electoral politics and local activism, but concerned citizens who have never attended protests should join the millions of Americans who are putting their feet in the streets to block the Trump regime’s headlong rush toward authoritarianism. Thanks to Americans who have mounted strong and strident street protests throughout our history, women won the right to vote, racial segregation was overturned, gay people came out of the closet, and wars from Vietnam to Iraq were questioned.
The movement continues, though the road is rocky. As American patriot John Dickinson wrote in 1768, “Keep up your spirits and gallantly oppose this adverse course of affairs.”
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