This morning I rose early and headed to the city to plan and haul a bunch of materials downtown for a protest by Refuse Fascism. VP Mike Pence and DHS director Kirstjen Nielson were inside 1 Bowling Green for a conference on Cybersecurity, so we set up right in front of the building with signs, banners, and *drumroll please* … red cloaks and white bonnets with “wings” (if you’re cool and you know The Handmaid’s Tale, you know exactly what I’m talking about). We also had a sound system with a mic, but the police told us we couldn’t use it (is that fascist or no?) so we resorted to call-and-response and the group repeated the words of the speaker.
These are some of the words we recited:
In the name of humanity,
We refuse to accept a fascist America
Drive out the Trump/Pence regime
I was really into it and felt very comfortable, but suddenly a question crossed my mind: why am I here?
The short story of why I protested is as follows: last week I finished watching both seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale. As with any great show I finish, I become sad once it’s over and I immediately go online to watch interviews with the cast, or bloopers, or anything to cling onto the show that I will so dearly miss. I typed “handmaid’s tale” into Google and there it was – Women Dressed in “Handmaid’s Tale” Garb to Protest Pence in Philly, an article on Philly.com.
Curious, I clicked the link and started reading when none other than Samantha Goldman’s name popped up next to her quoted words. Sam is my friend and former coworker. She does a ton of political activism on the side (#goals) for education groups and Refuse Fascism. I was so happy to see her out there in the news, doing her thing, and I laughed to myself — of course Sam would organize women to dress as handmaids and protest Pence while he’s in town. I texted her my support and posted it on my IG story.
A couple days later, I’m still sad about having finished season 2 of The Handmaid’s Tale, so there I go googling “handmaid” again, looking for more cast interviews, when I see something about Pence coming to New York City where he will again be confronted by handmaids. I could sign up, reserve my own costume, and join the protest — and maybe even see my friend Sam! So I did. I did it all. Seeing my friend was one of the best parts… but was that the only reason why I went? To wear the costume and see a friend?
Now here comes the rest of the story: I am not a “protester.” The last protest I went to was ten years ago when I joined scientists in Washington, DC to protest politicians’ denial of climate change (back when weather extremities weren’t even the norm yet!) Since then, honestly, I’ve stuck to signing online petitions and voting (sometimes… and almost exclusively via mail-in ballots).
I’ve become complacent, busy, and somewhat without hope, but today I felt a spark within me again. Let me tell you why I was there, from the bottom of my heart. Unlike our first lady, I do care. I care so much. This is why I protested as a handmaid today:
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Climate Change is real and I find it extremely scary that our current administration doesn’t believe it’s a problem. Pence said “for some reason or another, this issue of climate change has emerged as a paramount issue for the left, in this country and around the world.” For some reason or another? Maybe it’s an issue because dangerous heat waves, extreme storms, rising sea levels, and severe droughts are happening at alarming rates all over the world. No one is moving to Mars any time soon. Everyone needs to work together to make our one-and-only Earth a place where our grandchildren and their grandchildren can live. This administration does NOT care about the longevity of life as we know it. They do not care about our public health or environment.
*Sidenote: in the fictional land of Gilead in The Handmaid’s Tale, just about the only good thing is that it’s super green. Barely any plastic. Gotta give it to them! Other than that though, the place sucks.
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Handmaid’s Tale might be a fictional story, but there is truth in that fascist societies are created over time, step by step, and must be stopped before it’s too late. The press is demonized on the daily, women’s reproductive rights are completely on the line, and many immigrant parents are still separated from their children who still sit in cages and vacant corporate facilities (yes, this is a thing and it’s extremely disturbing). The “Number 1” country in the world, as so many of us like to say, is NOT number 1 if it strips its people of basic human rights like freedom of press, access to family planning, and safe housing for immigrant children (also access to their parents would be great). It is a nightmare. We may not all be living in the nightmare yet, but it’s not looking good.
Refuse Fascism was out there today to stop the nightmare. I may have only gotten the chance to join them because I like good TV and I love my friends, but that’s okay because I stepped out of my comfort zone and used my voice to stand against disrespectful leaders. And now that I’ve started, I’m not going to stop. Blessed be the fruit! 😉