Generally speaking, it’s not often that I post about anything but gymnastics, family and career stuff on social media. For this post, I had some thoughts to share about our local No Kings Day protests on June 14, 2025.
I do have strong opinions about the state of our union. That said, I try not to let those opinions be the focus of my social media pages. I prefer to post inspirational, fun stuff up to counteract the dour, depressing, often hostile nature of current events.
Given the state of our union and the planned protests on June 14, I had a decision to make. To protest or not to protest?
My reluctance to protest
I rarely attend protests in person. My reservations are not because I’m afraid to express my opinion. Rather, I am afraid of the errant crazy person who decides they’re going to ruin someone’s life that day. I don’t like making decisions out of fear, but I also need to be realistic in today’s world. Sometimes, crazy evil prevails. I don’t need to put myself or my loved ones in the middle of that chaos and trauma.
A side note: the fact that I have those reservations is an important footnote of our current political climate. We should never be afraid of repercussions when exercising our Constitutional rights. Unfortunately, we live in a time where caution must be exercised when we do so.
The decision to go
A few days prior, my daughter expressed the desire to go to our local protest on Saturday. While she didn’t specifically ask me to go, I didn’t want her to go alone. Though it was in our hometown in an area where we had gone for years, my spidey senses were tingling. I didn’t want her to walk into something dangerous without backup.
Many small protests had taken place at that intersection in the past. Sometimes, protests and counter-protests happened simultaneously. They were small and usually about some war effort that was happening in current events. I had a feeling that this would be a little bigger and potentially more emotionally charged.
I decided I’d go with her. This way, she’d have company and I could have a set of eyes on the environment she’d be entering. She’s a young adult, but I’m her mom and the protective instinct kicked in. Once a mom, always a mom.
The event was organized by a local group called Indivisible Rockland. We both signed up online. On Saturday, we got our jackets with hoods and set out to the protest. We pulled in the parking lot about 10 minutes before the scheduled start time.
Some surprises
Despite the rain, I was amazed by the turnout.
It wasn’t just one corner of the intersection. All four corners were filled with people, as well as a long stretch of the route. People filled about a quarter mile of sidewalks holding signs and waving American flags. They were reciting protest chants. The crowd was largely older people, at least 10 years my senior. This was refreshing, considering that there are a large contingent of people in our area voted for the current administration.
A few people commented how happy they were to see my daughter there and said “we’re doing this for you!” The tone was supportive and friendly. But, in the crowd, I could see similar concerns as mine on others’ faces. No one wanted this to turn ugly. We just wanted to show up and be heard and seen.
Also shocking: there was no counter-protest activity. At all. The entire crowd was completely aligned. They were not happy with the political climate (that’s putting it nicely) and made their voices heard loud and clear. The MAGA contingent in our county were not present to make their voices heard.
What democracy looks like
Early on, the police installed barricade fencing to keep everyone safe from the busy traffic. We loudly thanked them and respectfully stood behind it. As each new group of cars stopped at the intersection, we’d chant, they’d honk their horns in solidarity. Parents would roll their windows down and let their children see democracy in action. In accordance with the changing lights, people would cross and show signs.
The main chant that stirred my heart was this: What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like! For an hour, I stood side by side with a community whom I thought had largely supported the current administration.
While it wasn’t a crowd like we saw in the big cities, for our quiet community, people turned out. They kept coming, finding a spot and joining the crowd. I later learned there were about 2500 people in attendance. We can’t get those numbers for a regular parade.
I even felt empowered to start a few rounds of the chanting when I thought it got too quiet. And they responded with full throats. At one point, I decided to sing the Star Spangled Banner since we were all waving flags. It felt like a great way to take back what it means to be an American. Since the election, I’ll admit that I have not felt quite as proud recently in the presence of our flag.
Sharing my pride
I posted a little video online, showing how proud I was of my community coming together to raise our voices. It got around 20K views pretty quickly amongst all of my social media platforms. (If only my gymnastics videos got that kind of attention.)
The post also got many comments. Some were supportive. Many were snarky, disturbing, and the left-liberal haters swung hard.
The keyboard warriors were out in force. The level of bold disrespect on my page by complete strangers is always fascinating to me.
One comment thread was particularly interesting:
I don’t know who this person is, nor why they pivoted so quickly. But their apology for their original “malicious intent” was odd. Usually, people who dig in like that just continue to double down when you engage with them. This person, for whatever reason, went the other way. Maybe there’s some hope.
Social media depersonalizes our communication experience. How quickly and easily we can attack with no repercussions. Maybe one of my goals is to find ways to bring humanity back into the conversation with strangers. We are real people behind the posts. We would all be wise to remember that for the mental health of our greater community.
Perhaps out of sadistic curiosity, I do sometimes engage with the “opposition.” One person talked about how America voted overwhelmingly for the president, his opponent couldn’t speak clearly, and the country loves and needs this president. To her, he’s the best president we’ve ever had. (Sigh)
Sometimes, I want to find out why they sincerely think this president is great. It’s a frustrating venture because they are so encapsulated in their (mis)information bubble. She rambled on about how he’s an innovative businessman, how DOGE will minimize tax waste, and he’s a man of law and order. It’s all laughable, really. Every talking point can easily be crushed with at least 3 other basic facts. But, they want to feel how they want to feel, so facts don’t matter.
Despite the frustration, I’ll continue to engage if the conversation is respectful. But at some point, if they continue to be unreasonable or nasty, I just drop it. Or they do. That’s when I realize they’re just a part of the cult mentality and are not actually interested in intelligent discourse. They just want to be nasty. So be it.
Despite the problems with social media, I do think it can be a useful space. We can use it to express ourselves and connect with others who feel the same way we do. We can see what the “other side” is expressing too.
Why protest?
This is one of the questions I was asked.
Of course, there are tons more reasons to join a protest. I think another important reason is related to the social media keyboard warrior problem.
We spend so much time doom scrolling and seeking bias confirmation. It’s so easy to forget that the “other side” are just people living their lives. We jump on anonymous bandwagons and start name-calling without any knowledge of who we are talking about. There are no repercussions, other than snarky, meaningless responses.
It’s sad to me that there’s so much “othering” prevailing in our country’s culture wars. Unfortunately, that’s the state of our union. We need leaders who can publicly accept basic kindergarten concepts like diversity, equity and inclusion, instead of vilifying them. Until then, we will be fighting an uphill battle that feels like another looming civil war.
Epilogue
In the end, I’m proud of both of us.
We spent time together, bonding over something we both felt was important. I’m happy that she wanted to exercise her rights in such a meaningful way. I’m even happier that she welcomed me to come with her.
Our local protest was really a great display of our democracy in action. I was proud to stand with my daughter in my community and express our extreme displeasure en masse. Across the country, we demonstrated our Constitutional rights, out loud and proudly. I pray we will have future opportunities to do so.
Stacey's Headspace 
Loved it.
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