My first march

Saturday I participated in the March for Equality and Justice. I said that I would when I was writing about the Women's March.

I had been planning on it for a week and a half. I don't know when the DAPL protest in Pioneer Courthouse Square was planned, but I remember seeing at least a few marchers who were planning on doing both. The protests that happened at the airport on the same day came up much more suddenly, due to one horrible executive order that may have taken some attention away from a horrible appointment.

I mention that because it looks like there are going to be many opportunities to march and protest, and many reasons to be involved, even if you have never done this before.

This was my first time. Well, I have been at a rally before, but it had been a while. I want to capture my thoughts anyway, but also it may be helpful for others contemplating marching in the future.

I have walked 5Ks before, which is slightly longer, but there was a lot less chanting. (Except for that one time with the Hari Krishnas.) There were times when I was not chanting. At first I felt bad about this, but then I realized that different people at different places were starting chants, and then eventually stopping and someone else would start a different one. If the ones leading the chant cannot maintain it for the entire walk, you probably can't either. Do what you can, and keep moving.

The march route was about 2.7 miles. I looked that up after, but it would have been smart to look it up before. You do have a physical body that will feel things, so think about that. It makes sense to wear good shoes. Maybe you want to carry water or a source of protein. For me, I need to know that I have glucose tablets in case my blood sugar gets too low. I hate being delicate enough that I have to think about it, but I would hate the problems that me fainting would cause infinitely more.

I did occasionally see people pull off to the side and rejoin later. This mainly involved families having to adjust carriers and strollers. There are two things with that.

One is that I appreciate the common struggle where your child might stubbornly want to walk when it would be easier to push or carry them. I appreciate that despite the frustration those parents participate anyway, and that they are teaching their children to care and be engaged. I believe that in the long term it will be very rewarding, and I hope it still feels good overall in the short term. The groups I saw seemed to be in good spirits.

The other thing is that if you are near the front, chances are you can rejoin well before it has passed you by. There were a lot of us. The accounts I have read only say that there were hundreds without being more specific, but you don't necessarily know it at the time. There was one moment, where I kind of could tell. When we turned onto Fremont, the road dipped a little and I had a better view of the crowd stretching in front of me. There were many of us. I still don't know how many were behind. I just know that they had to move the rally to outside of the church so that more could be a part.

My energy did flag at times, but there were little boosts all along the way. Some cars honked in support, but sometimes it would be a whole string of cars, and you feel that. At various points people waved along the sidelines. There was a big boost as we walked past Planned Parenthood, and in the neighborhood as we got nearer to the church. The one I will remember most is an woman with snow white hair waving at us and clapping from her apartment balcony. I bet she marched in her younger days. Not everyone has to walk each time.

Not all of the responses were positive. I saw one driver grimacing at us while stopped at a light. We were chanting about how racism has got to go, and I don't truly know if that was the reason for his scowl, but it didn't feel friendly. Then on my way back I caught a bus that was already full of many marchers. Another man got on and complained that the protesters should have walked. Well, we had already walked; that's why we needed a ride back. Also we had paid fares, so there's that. But those were exceptions.

It was overall a positive experience. There were two more trains of thought that I will write up now, and one that may come up later on the Provident Living blog.

The marchers were mainly white; not at all surprising in Portland. I did have worries about how good we will be as allies. We are representing now, but the next time we are asked to listen instead of talking over someone, or the next time we have to examine our own behavior and it's uncomfortable, how will we do? But I was also thinking how I never feel like I do enough, and then I thought maybe by marching I am aspiring to be more, and becoming more. We can try.

My other thought was remembering the '60s, and how many of the actions were important for publicity, but they were followed up with political and economic pressure. I am not sure how we do that now. Back then there was a federal government that had reservations but was nonetheless sympathetic to civil rights. In addition, many of the Jim Crow policies were carried out through businesses, so there were obvious targets for boycotts.

Now I am not so sure. Many phone calls stopped one threat to ethics oversight, but a new threat popped up. It looks like some of the protests are making an impact on immigration policy, but with Bannon's increased role this government is not going to become more racially progressive. There are concerns.

Perhaps the march then becomes a reminder that there are shared concerns, and there are people who do make plans, and people who respond. We can be vigilant, we can mobilize, and we can be better.

We do need each other to do it.

There was one example of that during the march. On the way to the Maranatha church, where we were going, we passed the Allen Temple CME church, which is undergoing renovations after some electrical fires. A sign posted said that during the renovation they will be meeting at the Maranatha church. Help is being given and received.