I had a great time! There was such a vibrant sense of energy and resolve in the crowd — thank you, Portland, for a much needed bit of communal therapy.
I was so impressed with the display of humanity I witnessed that I’m motivated to push back on David’s criticism of the lack of diversity. Yes, the activist space from which yesterday’s march emanated is certainly a White one. So what? Does being White mean I should not oppose the ascendence of authoritarianism in our country? I would have loved to see more minority representation in the crowd. But I DID see lots of beautiful diversity coming together to be heard, and I’m giving my huge ‘thumbs up’ to what we accomplished instead of wringing my hands about the many, many ways such a rally falls short of what the moment requires.
The implicit premise that David invokes (that political action that is not lead by and doesn’t center BIPOC activists is hollow and performative) is an example of the type of corrosive gotcha analysis that impedes the development of broad coalitions that combine the energy (political power) of the many factions of the contemporary American left. We’re all in this together, and we need to build solidarity across class and political divisions. To do so we (really) need to avoid fighting amongst ourselves. So let’s talk about diversity. And Israel. And housing. And patriarchy. And racism. And immigration. And capitalism. And the dependence of democrats on wealthy donors. But let’s be clear that everybody to the left of full scale christian nationalism needs to row the same direction right now!
And to David’s question about transportation, I rode the bus and it was full of protesters both ways. Many in the crowd had bikes (some with speakers), and there were bikes locked all over the place. I presume, given the huge amount of people, that lots of them drove there. And, yes, it was a gorgeous day.
