This commentary is by Calvin Dame of Brattleboro.
There has been an unrelenting assault on our culture and our country since the inauguration of the current president and his administration. By design: trying to overwhelm our capacity for reaction and response and resistance. By design: trying to convince us that we are powerless. They know what they are doing.
Well, it is true that many avenues for moderation have been constrained or ignored, Congress being one of them. But it is also true that this band of bullies has been pushed back, that they can be constrained when they face resistance. We are fortunate that our delegation, Vermont’s delegation, Bernie, Peter and Becca, have been at the forefront, raising their voices, focusing attention and encouraging our actions. Again and again they have reminded us that now is the time to speak up, to be seen and to be heard.
Brattleboro has already seen and heard many voices so far. People are shocked, angry, insulted, dismayed, startled, aghast, overwhelmed, afraid and furious. Marches have drawn as many as 300 people. Smaller protests have grown from one or two to dozens of participants, speaking up, being heard. Cars pass by with honking horns and a thumbs up. Protests here in Brattleboro coincide with hundreds of protests across our country: we are not alone!
But we are not so big, either. 150 or 200 or even 300 folks together is exhilarating and reassuring and energizing. It gets us up onto our feet, out of our houses, into the common space, to speak up and be heard — but we need to get louder and more visible.
I wonder, as this goes on, what the threshold of action is for other people. What would it take? If throwing capable people out of their jobs without due process doesn’t spur people to action, what will? If snatching legal residents from their homes and hiding them in Louisiana, alleging that freedom of speech is a terrorist act, does not get people out, what will? If cutting off veterans’ services, including the suicide line, doesn’t do it, what will? If stiffing farmers with signed contracts to help expand their farms doesn’t ring a bell, what will?
A couple hundred people on the march in Brattleboro doesn’t make the news beyond the Massachusetts line, or even that far. But imagine when a thousand of us show up!
