We were up early and drove the 30 minutes north to Franklin KY where we get massages. We each got an hour massage and then headed to Nashville. We drove to James and Natalie’s so Natalie could drop us off at West End Avenue. The event was scheduled for 12-2 PM and was adjacent to the Earth Day celebration in Centennial Park. Protest lasted 2 hours. There were volunteers making sure that protesters did not block the ability to walk on the sidewalk or block driveway access to any businesses. Protesters extended about 5 blocks on each side. We walked up and down the sidewalk on both sides rather than just standing. From overheard conversations it seemed that many had NOT protested on April 5th and were very encouraged and surprised by the turn-out. There were more veterans this time. Protesters certainly skew to older persons but I think there may have been more late teens and twenty somethings this time. Craig’s sign is a crowd favorite and he probably had at least a hundred people ask if they could take his photo. He created a harness to support his sign and I found my leather tool belt worked great to support mine.
One of the biggest challenges to building momentum in a “red state” is that there are no congress or senator member office to help facilitate organization and communication. Staying abreast of protest opportunities takes A LOT of time. The Mobilize website which I joined prior to the election is a good aggregator of activities across the country. However work of mouth is hugely important. We found out about Friday protests outside Marsha Blackburn office in Nashville and Thursday protests at Nashville Social Security office.
The next big protest will be a May Day Protest. In Nashville from 9 AM- 10 PM at the Capital where there is lots of room. It should allow those that cannot take the day off will have an opportunity to join and have their voices heard. As luck would have it, May 1st is the day of my Social Security telephone meeting at 215 PM so I will need to carry my compute with me so I can take a break for the call.
We were exhausted when we got home. Participating in democracy takes energy.
Tamara Unleashed 