The Wild Reed: Signs of the Times

Saturday, January 18, 2025

Signs of the Times

I share this evening a fews pics from the People’s March I attended in St. Paul, MN today. This march and rally was one of hundreds that took place around the country ahead of Monday’s inauguration of Donald Trump.

Despite the cold weather in many places (including St. Paul), citizens came out to rally against Trump’s return to power and what’s shaping up to be a total dumpster fire of an administration and its authoritarian agenda. Folks also gathered and marched to show support for all that is threatend by this agenda – democracy, environmental protections, reproductive rights, civil rights, racial justice, immigration, and gun violence prevention.

Writing about the People’s March in Washington, DC for The Guardian, Joanna Walters and Edward Helmore note the following.

Eight years since its gargantuan first protests as a reaction to the incoming president being serially accused of sexual misconduct and misogyny and campaigning on restricting reproductive rights, the Women’s March on Saturday reprised in the nation’s capital before the return of that man to the White House – with, as in 2017, spin-off rallies taking place in various other U.S. cities. Rebranded and reorganized, the protest was given a new name by organizers, the People’s March, as a means to broaden support, especially during a difficult and introspective time for progressive organizing after Donald Trump’s decisive win in November.

. . . This year in the capital, organisers said they expected 50,000 marchers but DC police estimated 25,000 – which included pro-science and pro-climate-action protests – amid the realization that a majority of votes for Trump can no longer be seen as an aberration or experiment.

Under the slogan “We are not going backwards,” thousands of people gathered for the weekend of feminist-led action.

But what the People’s March in Washington lacked in sheer numbers, the movement compensated for in geographic diversity: more than 350 protests in cities across every US state.

Unlike in 2017, I didn’t have time to make a sign this year. If I did, I would have made one that read: “How about we all agree to vote Green next time” . . . with a second line saying, “Let’s ditch the corporate duopoly and it’s billionaire funders.”

Following are some of the signs that caught my eye at today's People's March in St. Paul.