On January 21, 2017 and January 20, 2018, I donned my pussy hat and brought my hand-made poster to downtown Chicago to join the Women’s March protesting the election of Donald Trump. Both times, the weather was glorious for January in Chi-town. Both times, showing resistance to the man who unbelievably defeated Hillary Clinton in the electoral college to become president gave me a sense of hope. Look at all of the like-minded people filling the streets. Somehow, we would overcome.

In the face of injustice ... resistance.

Now it’s eight years later and we are back where my nightmare began. Sadly, there are some painful differences. My marching days are over, as these years have not been kind to my back or knee. And for now, my fighting spirit is a bit broken. I love reading Heather Cox Richardson’s blog Letter from an American. On December 7 she wrote:

“Donald Trump and his cronies have vowed to replace the nonpartisan civil service with loyalists and to weaponize the Department of Justice and the military against those they perceive as enemies. They have promised to incarcerate and deport millions of immigrants, send federal troops into Democratic cities, silence LGBTQ+ Americans, prosecute journalists and their political opponents, and end abortion across the country. They want to put in place an autocracy in which a powerful leader and his chosen loyalists make the rules under which the rest of us must live. Will we permit the destruction of American democracy on our watch?”

When she puts it that way, I have to shout NO and think of how I can once again become part of the resistance. I remind myself, as Robert B. Hubbell wrote in his Today’s Edition Newsletter on December 7,

“We must remember that Trump is sowing the seeds of the GOP’s defeat with every outrageous nomination and ludicrous pronouncement. If we can hold that thought, we can make it through the next few months. Don’t cringe and cower; remember and prepare. The 2026 midterms have already started—and Trump is undermining his party every day. Let’s do everything in our power to leverage Trump’s depravity to our advantage.”

So, I cautiously return to watching a tiny bit of news again. Living in a blue bubble, I actually thought Kamala Harris would win. When she lost to Trump, I went on a bit of a news boycott, but I am slowly returning. I can’t spend the next four years being an ostrich with my head in the sand. I vow to find ways to resist the terrible people he has appointed to his cabinet. It is likely most of them will be confirmed, but reaching out to the few Republican Senators willing to join the Democrats to keep out the worst of the worst will be a decent use of my time.

While I can’t physically be there, I will donate to support The People’s March on Washington slated for January 18, 2025. I will protest whatever cruel actions the Trump administration takes. And I will work to help the Democrats take control of Congress in the 2026 midterms. In the face of injustice, resistance.

Laurie Levy
Boomer. Educator. Advocate. Eclectic topics: grandkids, special needs, values, aging, loss, & whatever. Author: Terribly Strange and Wonderfully Real.

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