Protesting is Therapeutic
I wrote this post yesterday, after I returned from a May Day Protest in Northern NJ. I was so tired I didn't get it posted, so here it is:
May Day Protests
A fellow protester today said, "Protesting is therapeutic." She was a person I was standing next to and who received attention from the other protesters for her unique sign. It was a sandwich board, and on the front was the heading:
"This”
She had drawn and colored a pink heart.
Underneath were these words:
Empathy
Action
Caring
On the other side was "Not This":
Headlines clipped from the newspaper.
Federal employees fired
USAID slashed
Veterans programs cut
This was my 3rd protest against trump this year. This one was in Bloomfield, NJ, at a high traffic area near the exit for the Garden State Parkway. There is a beautiful park there, too, and the voluminous street traffic honked and waved at the well over 1000 protesters. Since the protest was from 3-6 P.M., people came and went throughout the 3 hours. It looked like the average person stayed about 90".
I was standing next to a woman and we had a conversation about the benefits of protesting. She said she feels better after going to a protest. I said it made me happy to see so many people from all walks of life, all races, colors, creeds, all ages, coming together to make their voices heard. It's one thing to post online with thousands and thousands of other people: it's another to actually see your fellow supporters in person.
Everyone was striking up conversations with each other, and having a good time: smiling, and involved. A person might start up a chant and the others would join in. It releases anger and disgust at the maladministration to chant "Trump has got to go!" It brings a surge of satisfaction when people at the traffic light join in, shouting "Trump has got to go!" out their window.
In the last hour of the protest, we moved into the park area (but were still visible from the street), and the Solidarity Singers, a group of about 12 singers, led a group sing-a-long. I recognized one of the two main leaders of the sing-along from the years when I protested bush. And before that, the republicans going after Clinton. One is a labor lawyer who is also a musician.
It was so much fun to sing with others! I haven’t done that in an age.
Therapeutic, yes. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
