4th of July: No Kings 2.0

I joined with hundreds of others in Green Bay, Wisconsin for an hour-long demonstration that stretched over a bridge and down a couple of blocks. The good place I was told to park wasn’t (no way was I going into a parking garage), so I ended up driving back a few blocks and walking a few more to anchor the east end of the line. The heat didn’t hit me until I packed up to walk back to the bus. What did hit me was the energy. The anger. The despair. The fear. And the chants, cheers, and honking horns. It reminded me of the protests in the ‘60s and ‘70s … and I suddenly had tears running down my cheeks. War, racial injustice, women’s rights, gay rights, freedom of speech, police (ICE) brutality – we are having to fight it all again. Only this time I did not feel the hope I did then, when I was young and idealistic and believed we could change the establishment. I did not feel hope, I felt desperation. Maybe I was just too hot from the sun with my knee hurting from walking. It’s been four hours and I’m still not comfortably cool, in part because I had to deal with bailing the fridge and distributing 20 pounds of ice, and also because I am not getting enough sun on my panels to run the a/c for long stretches. It’s 83 degrees now and will drop to only 76 degrees tonight, so I am going to hang the hammock early, set the fan on high, and try to chill.