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Gerald George of Belfast retired as director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. He has also been managing editor of a 50-volume series of state histories, co-editor of two books on digital libraries, and author of three books of poetry. He is co-editor of “Defiance! Maine Poets Protest the Attack on Democracy.”
I am 87. I cannot stand long, even with a cane. I cannot walk far, even with a walker.
Yet every Saturday, from 12 to 1 p.m., you will find me out on a Belfast street corner with my wife and 30 or 40 allies, young and old, protesting Donald Trump.
We hold up hand-made signs that tell what grieves us. Some of our signs are colorful. Some are clever. Some express multiple grievances. Mine, however, is perhaps the simplest. In big black letters, easily readable to cars coming by, my sign says emphatically: STOP TRUMP!
Stop him from decimating government agencies, from firing federal employees, from arresting his enemies, from sending masked agents into cities, from offending longtime allies, from starting unwanted wars and so much more. Stop him from becoming an increasingly self-serving, destructive autocrat.
But I wonder. Do such protests make any difference?
In Belfast, we see a lot of cars during our protest every week. From a few of them, people shout obscenities, give us the finger, or holler “Don’t you have anything better to do?” But many more honk their horns in support and give the thumbs up sign as they go by. And the rest? We don’t know. They just drive silently past.
So why are we out on that corner?
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We’re there because those who honk in support need us to be there. They need to know that they aren’t alone, that their views are shared, made stronger, more acceptable by all the protesters they see on that corner.
The people who drive silently past also need us to be there. They may not otherwise know what Trump is doing, or maybe haven’t thought about how serious it is.
And the ones who give us the finger? They suddenly see that their views are far from universal, less secure than they thought, that Trumpism is in trouble.
Our individual protests may be insignificant in themselves. But they grow in importance as the group with which we protest grows. Groups like ours have arisen through much of Maine, and the protesting groups in Bangor, Augusta and Portland are sizable. All across the country, people are so incensed at what Trump is doing that they are moved to get off their couches and make their opposition known. Our protest is part of protests nationwide.
Will they stop him? I don’t know. But they will tell him, as they continue to grow, that many voters are very, very angry.
That’s not all.
I think I’d go out to the street corner even if few others came with me. I think I’d keep protesting even if I were alone. That’s because as long as any one of us is protesting, democracy will not be dead. I will still be able to say out loud what I believe.
So every Saturday I’ll try to be with others on that street corner. Because I can help swell the protest. And because by protesting, I am helping to keep alive the right to protest.
