“This is what democracy looks like.
You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
-Mahatma Ghandi
Today, Waldo and I are going on a different kind of walk. We’re going to a “No Kings” demonstration in Marlborough, to be held at Union Common in the middle of downtown. The Common is a small patch of grass and trees on a gently sloping hill, about a block square. The “Union” part of its name doesn’t reference the Civil War North, but rather the “Union Congregational Church,” formed by the merger of two church societies in 1835.
Even so, the name has additional meaning because “John Brown’s Bell” is located in a tower monument there, on the corner of Bolton and Main Streets. The bell was originally installed in the Harper’s Ferry Armory, then in the state of Virginia. It was in the armory when John Brown took it over and tried to foment his slave rebellion in 1859. Later, in 1861, the bell was “liberated” by members of Company I, 13th Massachusetts infantry. It’s said that the removal of the bell was inspired by a desire for a war souvenir and, by the way, Marlborough needed a fire bell. Some say it is the second most important bell in American history, after the Liberty Bell.
The demonstration starts at 11 AM. It’s chilly and a little wet. There’s a light rain falling, really more like a heavy mist, and most of the 400 or so people who show up are wearing some kind of rain gear or carrying an umbrella. I’m just wearing the light jacket I use when walking Waldo and a leather cap. It doesn’t take too long and both Waldo and I are a bit damp, but we’re not soaked
We park in a lot about a half block away and are soon surrounded by people lining both sides of Bolton and Main Streets. People are shouting slogans, like, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Donald Trump has got to go!” and, “This is what democracy looks like!” while waving rainbow and US flags. The chanting is being led by a young woman shouting into a megaphone, but its volume is turned down pretty low. Still, the crowd is quite noisy and it makes Waldo a little nervous. His tail is tucked between his legs and it’s obvious, to me, that he’s thinking, “What the hell?” He doesn’t startle, whine, or shy when cars and trucks go by blaring their horns, but he doesn’t like it either. We make our way through the throng and come across some people handing out rainbow and US flags. I take one of each and stick them in Waldo’s collar so they stick up above his head. He is now a member of the resistance!
We move through the tightly packed crowd – I think it makes Waldo a bit more comfortable to keep walking. He weaves around people’s legs and they are appreciative of our presence, as is shown by pets and pats on a dog who is, by now, somewhat wet. Some are even moved to take his picture. Everyone is centered about the intersection, just under the bell, and spread out down both streets. The streets themselves are clear for traffic and it’s pretty obvious that many of the cars that pass us by do so in support of what’s going on.
After a bit, just to put in our daily distance, we leave the crowd and meander around the periphery of the common. At the top of the hil a police car is parked with a single officer as occupant. We say hello as we pass and he seems pretty bored by the duty he has pulled. There is another policeman at the intersection, in the middle of the crowd, who looks just as disinterested. That’s a far cry from the protests I remember as a college student back in the 1970s. I offer to go get the man a cup of coffee from one of the nearby restaurants, but he says, no thanks, he’s all set. I felt a little like how the hippies must have felt, back in the day, who stuffed flowers in the barrels of the weapons of National Guardsmen.
All in all, everything was peaceful. The only dissent that appeared was toward the end when a burly man raised his middle finger to us as he walked by. We, the crowd, ignored him and two policemen took him aside and spoke gently to him, trying to keep things deescalated. It worked. Soon after, having spent two hours out on the street, Waldo and I went home to dry out.
For me, being out there was not a way of venting frustration, but an effort to take part in showing the world that there are a great number of citizens who are not happy with the way things are going down. I can only hope it helps. Today’s walk wasn’t quite as long as our usual daily trek and it was a bit nerve-wracking for Waldo.
But maybe we did something good.
Waldo in full patriotic regalia.