As we stepped around the corner onto Monument Square, a gust of cold air rocked me backwards. The pavement was covered in a thin varnish of re-freezing slush, and our breaths fogged the air when we breathed. The crowd standing across the road was smaller than it had been the week before, and yet I was still struck by the fact that people were willing to stand in the cold for longer than it took to rush from their cars to the warmth of their homes. Why did they do it? What was so important?
It was 11:00 am on Saturday, February 7th, a brisk 20°F, and Scarlet and I were in search of answers. At the weekly protest against the Trump Administration, armed with a puppy (bait), and Scarlet’s phone (to record), we got to work. We approached everyone from a trio in bright red hats to a woman in an inflatable frog suit. We asked them all the same thing: Why are you here?
For the protesters, their signs said it all. Ranging from “Love is community” to “RESIST” to a bright yellow sign reading “Time to call Batman,” they held their home-made declarations with pride.
There were some common themes in the answers to the question we asked. Protesters are angry. That is what fuels them to stand outside in freezing weather. As one demonstrator put it, they are “fed up with the Trump Regime trying to control (them) and get rid of democracy.” This anger also becomes fear. Fear of “powerful people not being held accountable,” and “the erosion of American democracy.” But while it is anger and fear that brings them to the protest, it’s hope and community that keeps them warm. We talked to one woman who was passing out hand warmers. She told us “caring about my neighbors is why I’m out here.”
As we talked, many people relayed their wishes for younger generations. One woman expressed her desire that “young people grow up with empathy, and learn how to be human and caring and understanding”. When asked if there was anything they thought was important for young people to hear, everything we heard revealed the same truth: “This is about you guys. You gotta stand up (...) and take action, to make sure that you have the kind of world here that you want to have.”
To many of the regulars, who show up every week regardless of the weather, the idea of not coming to the rally was unthinkable. “There’s a whole lot of people kind of sitting on their hands,” one protester remarked. “I just don’t understand that. I really don’t.” But we also heard that for those who may feel uncomfortable with protesting in person, there is still plenty that can be done; “it just takes a little bit of looking, there’s tons of things you can do to help others.” A group we spoke with provided a perfect example of this. The trio all wore bright red hand-knit hats with a tassel at the top. They told us these hats “served as a nonviolent symbol of protest against Nazi occupation in Norway during World War II. (...) worn to boost morale and maintain hope, becoming so symbolic that the Nazis eventually outlawed them.” Now, these hats have become a new symbol for those protesting ICE, following a movement started in Minneapolis. The group explained that their friend knit their hats for them because she couldn’t make it to the protest herself
Another symbol of anti-authoritarian protest was the inflatable frog suit. Originating in Portland, Oregon, the idea is to show how protesters are “not domestic terrorists. A frog can’t be a domestic terrorist.” It is more than just a costume, it’s a visual rebuttal to the idea that demonstrators are a threat. Beyond a political message, “it gets people to smile and pay attention,” using humor to make rallies less tense.
As we left, chilly and a little bit frostbitten, a final message provided some warmth: “It’s important to remember that we’re all Americans, even the people we disagree with. Rather than yelling at each other, and calling each other the ‘other,’ and demonizing each other, we need to talk. The future of the country depends on us talking. We may not always agree, but we can come to common ground.”