On September 21, 2019, I was not as prepared to wake up at 4:00 a.m. in the morning as I had thought. Evidence for this being: I thought I would be waking up at 3:00 a.m., not at 4:00 a.m. Whoops. After quickly gathering ourselves, my mother, my grandmother, and I were on our way to the airport. A series of confusing events ensued upon our arrival, which were adapted to and overcome, resulting in our successful departure for and arrival in Washington DC. We were on our way to take advantage of our first amendment rights, in the form of peaceful protest. The “We the People March,” was a twelve-block march from the old post office building (I refuse to call it the “Trump International Hotel,”) to the lawn of the Capitol building. We were protesting against the mis-representation of the legislative, who should be communicating the values of the people, not themselves. At 10:00 a.m. people were still gathering for the march, and I took the opportunity to get a few opinions about the days’ proceedings. I interviewed a man who had been there who said he was there to “demonstrate why Trump must go.” and that he’d been there “too many times.” He pointed at a couple of women a few feet away; “That lady, that lady and I just got arrested for doing this a while back.” When I asked him what they were charged with, he replied, “The officer said that we were ‘colluding’ or something.” I asked a voting registrator what she was feeling about the march; “As someone who registers voters, I’m excited about the turnout, and I think more people need to turn to the streets, like with Hong Kong and Puerto Rico. I feel like people have become numb to it all.” I asked her what she thought it would take to make changes happen; “It’s gonna take people doing things like this to spur action in the Democratic party… They’re not doing anything and I’m disappointed.” I met Anne Pavone, who is running for Township Commissioner in West Norriton, Pennsylvania. She’s been campaigning for six months after she “Just got involved in politics trying to fight Trump.”
At this point in the day, about 10:30 a.m., there was a large crowd beginning to grow on the corner of the street. A wide variety of posters, banners, a giant, inflatable Trump-like rat with a heart containing the name Putin tattooed on it’s shoulder, and even a Mike Pence impersonator sporting boxer-briefs.
At 11:00 a.m., there was a shout over the megaphone announcing “The streets are ours!” All of the people flooded into Pennsylvania Avenue with cheers and chants. What happened next was the most surprising and powerful thing I’d heard that day; a sophomore girl, the same age as many of the students at ECHS, got on stage, and delivered a speech that reverberated off the buildings surrounding us. She told a story about children who had lost their lives and the lives of their loved ones because of gun violence. The speech was well spoken; girls with courage like that give me hope for the future.
At noon, we marched. The crowd began walking, chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as they went. The energy in the crowd was high, and as we marched, chants like “Marching to the people’s house!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” were often repeated crowd favorites. At this point, I was realizing a possibility that we might be on camera in some news stations on television. But, looking around, I saw zero reporters and cameras, save Unicorn Riot, a little-known internet news station. The march got no media coverage other than Unicorn Riot, and of course the Clement Chronicles.
We began slowing down, and I looked up to see what the problem was. We had stopped in front of the Newseum, a museum of press history, which has a massive carving of the first amendment on the side. We stopped in front of it and waved at the people on the balconies. Our chants only got louder and louder.
Continuing on in a herd, our chants never faltered. The chants were targeted toward the legislative, saying, “You work for us!” and asking Nancy Pelosi to get to work on impeachment proceedings in a way that I’m not cleared to write in a school paper. Use your imagination.
We were drawing closer and closer to the Capitol Building. When we finally arrived, people covered the front lawn of the Capitol Building. In the shadow of the People’s House, the procession began to split. Some were in the back, some on the side (like me), relaxing on the grass and watching the others who were gathering right in front of the building.
Because a majority of the people in this march had come on buses, some from places as far as Houston and Chicago, people quickly cleared out of the lawn. The area was silent, seeming as if we had never been there. I went home, proud of what I’d done and represented, but wondering what I had truly accomplished. Three days after the We the People March, Nancy Pelosi formally announced an Impeachment Inquiry on Donald Trump.
At this point in the day, about 10:30 a.m., there was a large crowd beginning to grow on the corner of the street. A wide variety of posters, banners, a giant, inflatable Trump-like rat with a heart containing the name Putin tattooed on it’s shoulder, and even a Mike Pence impersonator sporting boxer-briefs.
At 11:00 a.m., there was a shout over the megaphone announcing “The streets are ours!” All of the people flooded into Pennsylvania Avenue with cheers and chants. What happened next was the most surprising and powerful thing I’d heard that day; a sophomore girl, the same age as many of the students at ECHS, got on stage, and delivered a speech that reverberated off the buildings surrounding us. She told a story about children who had lost their lives and the lives of their loved ones because of gun violence. The speech was well spoken; girls with courage like that give me hope for the future.
At noon, we marched. The crowd began walking, chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” as they went. The energy in the crowd was high, and as we marched, chants like “Marching to the people’s house!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” were often repeated crowd favorites. At this point, I was realizing a possibility that we might be on camera in some news stations on television. But, looking around, I saw zero reporters and cameras, save Unicorn Riot, a little-known internet news station. The march got no media coverage other than Unicorn Riot, and of course the Clement Chronicles.
We began slowing down, and I looked up to see what the problem was. We had stopped in front of the Newseum, a museum of press history, which has a massive carving of the first amendment on the side. We stopped in front of it and waved at the people on the balconies. Our chants only got louder and louder.
Continuing on in a herd, our chants never faltered. The chants were targeted toward the legislative, saying, “You work for us!” and asking Nancy Pelosi to get to work on impeachment proceedings in a way that I’m not cleared to write in a school paper. Use your imagination.
We were drawing closer and closer to the Capitol Building. When we finally arrived, people covered the front lawn of the Capitol Building. In the shadow of the People’s House, the procession began to split. Some were in the back, some on the side (like me), relaxing on the grass and watching the others who were gathering right in front of the building.
Because a majority of the people in this march had come on buses, some from places as far as Houston and Chicago, people quickly cleared out of the lawn. The area was silent, seeming as if we had never been there. I went home, proud of what I’d done and represented, but wondering what I had truly accomplished. Three days after the We the People March, Nancy Pelosi formally announced an Impeachment Inquiry on Donald Trump.