One Year In

Protests on the road and Hope in a Dumpster Fire.

From a political stand point, this last year has felt like ten. Feelings of hopelessness and disillusionment have understandably captured many, including myself at times. But there is hope in this dumpster fire. This hope has certainly not come from the top down—with establishment “liberal” politicians showing how truly useless they can be over the last year—but from the bottom up. It is from the people who said, “Don’t despair, ORGANIZE!” And organize they have, with the No Kings rally protest last weekend breaking all time records.

A drawback to my lack of a stationary home over the past several years is that I did not have the opportunity to support and photograph many of the high profile protests which occurred in cities across the country: communities standing in solidarity against the brutality of ICE, the rallies to defend the busting of federal workers unions or the massive campus protests against the genocide in Gaza.

But as I mention in a recently posted collection “Hope In a Dumpster Fire”, a positive aspect to being on the road during all of this is that I have been able to witness first hand how widespread the resistance to this administration has become. One did not have to be in any major city to witness folks standing up to the abuse of power, small towns in “Red” states all over the country had scores of people raising there voices.

It has been encouraging to witness; sparks of hope when we need it most. How to turn the momentum of these protests into political change will be subject to endless speculation, co-opting and nay-saying on our long slog to the mid-term elections. But just as with these sparks of hope over the last year: real political change is not going to be from the top down, it too will be from the bottom up.