Did Donald Trump Wake a Sleeping Giant?

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt especially proud to be an American. As we walked west from Philadelphia City Hall topped by the statue of William Penn, a massive crowd was building around Logan Square for the Women’s March. Nearing the area, we were met by a sea of posters with messages that spoke of the deep concern many Americans have been feeling since the election of Donald Trump.

Soon all of us, men, women and children of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, approximately 50,000 strong, were slowly making our way along the Ben Franklin Parkway toward Eakins Oval and the Art Museum. It was a powerful experience, strangers packed shoulder to shoulder, all with the common goal of proclaiming to the world in a peaceful way – Women’s rights are human rights.

It was a cathartic experience, being with so many like-minded Americans and sharing my own misgivings about the next four years, though my concerns were not as great as some. Yesterday’s protest marches brought millions of strangers together, far eclipsing the crowds in attendance at Trump’s inauguration on Friday.

Even “alternative facts,” a new euphemism coined this morning by one of Donald Trump’s mouthpieces, can’t change the numbers or mask the divide that is growing day by day between Americans and their president. And he’s only been in office two days.

An acquaintance asked me, “Can you articulate what rights the group thinks are in jeopardy?” The short answer has to do with a woman’s right to choose, especially women from low-income backgrounds who rely on Planned Parenthood for a range of essential health services. But there is an over-arching question – why are so many Americans filled with anxiety over The Donald’s presidency?

For some, I think it’s as much about the climate Donald Trump is fostering in America as it is about specific policy concerns. After all, what kind of society elects a president who brags about the part of a woman’s anatomy he likes to grab, who refers to some women as a fat pig, and who remarked that if Ivanka wasn’t his daughter, he’d date her. And who can forget his disgusting mockery on television of a reporter with a disability?

It is painfully obvious that Trump does not share former President George H. W. Bush’s vision of a “kinder, gentler nation,” although he hasn’t yet explained his vision for America, other than to say he’s going to “make America great again.” The experience I shared yesterday with 50,000 fellow citizens made it clear to me that America never stopped being great, and that we do indeed have a kinder, gentler side to us as a people because many of us care about each other.

One march does not a movement make, and time will tell whether Trump woke a sleeping giant. I suspect that he has. I didn’t get the impression from the men and women I marched with yesterday that they’re going to go away any time soon. I know I’m not. Quite the contrary. One test will come in less than two years when mid-term elections are held. If yesterday’s marches truly herald a movement, there may even be some Republicans in the Senate and House looking for work.