31 Comments
User's avatar
Susan Schiller's avatar

Is there anyway this next protest- April 19th could be pushed off until after Easter? Most women are doing what women do- cook and host dinner or brunch for their families. I just would hate to see the size of the protest go down!

Expand full comment
Kaitlin's avatar

I completely get it, as a mother myself. But part of standing up for what we believe in is sometimes having to make sacrifices, and that is a tiny sacrifice to make. I would say that fighting for democracy is more important than cooking, myself & my family will be there on April 19 & there will still be plenty of time to cook after.

Expand full comment
Annette D. (North Carolina)'s avatar

It’s not just a matter of choosing protesting over cooking. For many of us it is a time to gather with our family which is so important. I will be traveling that day, on my way to visit family that I have not seen in a long while. I think a different date makes sense.

Expand full comment
Swell's avatar

Nope. April 19th also happens to be the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War when America fought for its independence from a king. So maybe either the men can cook Easter dinner this year or there’s also nothing wrong with ordering takeout or frozen pizza.

https://www.revolution250.org/250th-commemorations/

Expand full comment
Devon Williams's avatar

Order takeout from a local restaurant, god knows they need the support.

Expand full comment
Kaitlin's avatar

Right! I attended April 19th. I was only gone from home for around 2 hours (protest was from 12-1:30) so it wasn’t a major inconvenience for my day & it was 100% worth it! Family is extremely important & we are protecting our families by getting out there & doing our part to protect democracy. Also at the time everyone was asking to change the date, this is a nationwide movement, once a date has been set they aren’t going to change it otherwise it might leave millions of people confused & attend on the wrong day, we need solidarity, protests in all 50 states. Thank you guys for those that showed out on Saturday & for those that couldn’t, I hope you make the next one!

Expand full comment
Deb's avatar

As above, I asked the same thing of

50501. Not a

Good weekend and I do feel

And told them, too soon.

Expand full comment
DMR's avatar

Dawn in AZ: Phoenix had a great turn out (esp the "grey population!) and great speakers.

But please convey to organizers, those who spoke are "preaching to the choir". We need to hear how to keep our heads up, next action steps (large and small), how to get the word out peacefully to others (real people, neighbors) who aren't hearing the call, and promote MORE media coverage in our cities and towns.

Thanks for all your amazing efforts!!!

Expand full comment
Deb's avatar

Said the same thing to 50501. Was in DC and we needed amplification as well.

Expand full comment
Mary's avatar

I was at Boston and it was beautiful. One thing I noticed at Boston and in the photos of other cities, is the young people were missing. Where were the college kids and people in their 20s, early 30s? It seemed the biggest representation was middle age and up with Baby Boomers being the most (I am in that group). They need to get the message. Was targeting done to the younger people? Tík Tók? Campus representation? We are fighting for their futures and they need to get in the game.

Expand full comment
Canyonhiket's avatar

“To learn who rules over you….

Simply find out who you’re not allowed to criticize”

Voltaire

Expand full comment
Nancy's avatar

Everyone should download the "5 calls" app.

This app tells you who your representatives are and even gives you a script when you call!!!

Expand full comment
Wendy Gelernter's avatar

Thank you for your efforts! Can you provide info on how the 5.2 million number was reached? Online signups? Newspaper reports? Other?

Expand full comment
K. Starling's avatar

Alt National Parks worked with the organizers to reach that number. I think it’s likely true.

Expand full comment
Kathy's avatar

YES!!! There is way too much reporting on the Hands Off protests that is fragmented and piecemeal, but NO reliable reporting on the TOTAL of people protesting in America! This is very frustrating and leads people to doubt and conspiracy theories in the actual numbers of people who protested. Why can't we get reliable info with sources to back it up? We the People need Facts!

Expand full comment
lunafaer (she/they)'s avatar

i was out in tampa. i am stunned by the number of folks there, as st pete is typically more progressive and tends to draw the crowds. the distance makes those protests impossible for me to attend.

this weekend, there weren’t JUST unexpected crowds in tampa. they were everywhere. people didn’t travel to protest in miami or orlando—they got together in their communities.

naples. the villages. inverness. west palm beach. places filled with the wealthy elite showed up in ways i couldn’t have predicted. there were poor and vulnerable people in the streets along with people of means who often stay home.

let me stress to anyone unfamiliar with florida politics: jacksonville, orlando, st pete, miami. these are the blue enclaves you can expect to protest. they are florida’s equivalent to boston/la/nyc.

the villages, naples, inverness…those are primarily retirement communities for the wealthy. they’re surrounded by red rural areas which host compounds full of white supremacists. they ignored their own fear and privilege and stood up.

beyond florida, indiana showed up in ways i couldn’t have predicted. i grew up a little north of ft wayne which came out. valparaiso is a small college town that stood up.

the ONLY reported violence took place in lafayette-across the river from purdue which is my alma mater. i’m not surprised by that but i am disappointed. what is thrilling is that the people who run the land grant university in indiana took to the streets. a land grant university teaches agriculture as part of its mission. i graduated from the school of forestry within the school of agriculture. these are hard core rednecks and generational farmers. this is the rural republican base.

it’s growing and you know it’s serious when montana gets involved and utah is a sea of rainbow flags.

Expand full comment
Kevin Collins's avatar

I needed to stop yelling at the TV,

and do something !

Expand full comment
Wendy Gelernter's avatar

Thanks for the quick response! I’m one of the organizers of the San Diego event, which we estimate (using published protocols for estimating crowd size [https://digital.sandiego.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1022&context=krocschool-faculty] ) was about 35,000–3 times the police estimate of 12,000. We need as much accuracy and transparency in publishing numbers of protesters, so any further details on how the 5.2 million number was calculated would be extremely helpful.

We are working on a “how to” document, to be shared with others, on estimating crowd size —

So important for perception of our strength and unity and also for future planning efforts where routes, locations and crowd safety all depend on how many show up.

Expand full comment
K. Starling's avatar

Thanks!!! Alt National Parks shared that they collaborated with 20,000 volunteers and law enforcement to reach their count.

Expand full comment
Leila Gough's avatar

We def need counter programing to the military/birthday parade Trump has planned for June 14, Flag day of all days…

Expand full comment
Loree Harrell's avatar

Love to you for all you have done.

Expand full comment
thecatechronic_ills's avatar

Congratulations America, please keep going. Other countries are supporting you. We are also relying on you. What happens in the US affects our economies and (more importantly) our democracies. Here in Australia, our right has been moving more right, forcing our left to be more centralist. Current polls for our upcoming election are predicting that 30% of Australians aren't going to vote for one of the two major parties. This is a huge shift. And our major party leaders are also watching the US 💙✊️👏👏👏

Expand full comment
LisaMT's avatar

Thank you for this. Important summation of how the movement has grown. We definitely need to build on what we've accomplished so far, by organizing in our separate 1300+ locations, holding meetings and figuring out how to grow our numbers - esp. among under-50-year-olds. Here in Butte, MT we will be holding a town hall to educate the public about (1) all the cuts and how they're already affecting our community, and (2) the trashing of democratic guardrails - not so much an "empty chair town hall" (Bozeman and Missoula have done that already) as a "fill-all-the-seats" town hall.

Expand full comment
Deborah K Davis's avatar

I'm in no way an organizer or strategist, but recognize that your ideas are exactly what we need at this time. I'll be forwarding this letter to folks in my Indivisible group who do have these skills. I will also point them to Angus Laird's comment to your letter as we are all in Oregon. Thank you!

Expand full comment
rz95's avatar

No mention of the Palestine flag?

Expand full comment
Devon Williams's avatar

We want to protest as a family, it's just that our schedules never line up. We'll do our part eventually.

Expand full comment