**UPDATE: Finally got some detailed reporting. Thank you OPB! It took two days but I finally found a story on the protests that is local AND gives details on numbers and perspective. **
Pedro and I live so close to the gathering point for the Tigard demonstration yesterday, that we decided to simply walk over. On the way, I told him I thought we might be 50% of the total gathering. It was only tiny Tigard after all. We live on the edge of Portland, but it’s a small, quiet, polite suburb.
I have been dying to hear a number of protestors estimated, but the ones I see seem suspiciously underreported. After seeing “hundreds” reported for Tigard over and over, I finally found one that says “at least 1,000,” in the article I linked above. That’s what Pedro and I guessed. There must have been at least 1,000 people. Tigard showed up!
People were lined on both sides of Highway 99W from the bridge in front of George Morland plumbing supply and Senet Bar, all the way to the Jiffy Lube on Walnut. They also spilled down the cross streets at Main Street and Johnson, filling Main St park. To an outsider, that’s only 1/2 mile of highway, but to those of us standing there, it was astonishing. Little Tigard showed up!! Pedro asked at one point, “what’s the population of Tigard?” ha ha. Meaning, what percentage of us were standing there. I checked my photos, and none of them were taken at the point of the largest crowd. Most were taken at the beginning, when I was so astonished.
Not only were people lining the highway, but the people driving past were grinning from ear to ear, waving, cheering, and many of them were honking their car horns in support. Almost 100% of them were cheering us. We stood out there 2 1/2 hours, and I saw two middle fingers and one thumbs down, but everyone else was either silently stewing or cheering wildly.
And that’s where I think the biggest positive impact comes in: we were seen. In Portland, two bridges were shut down. That is the way to get attention: inconvenience people. No, I don’t think Trump will care at all what happened yesterday (though I am certain that the man, who lies and exaggerates about crowd sizes, is very disappointed to know how many of us there were). I don’t think any policies will change. I don’t think any complicit Republicans will finally find the courage to stand up to the bully. I don’t think any Democrats in Washington will suddenly find the courage to open their mouths and fight for us, if they haven’t already. I honestly don’t think protests matter to the people in charge.
But the little ants at the bottom, we have all seen each other. It’s harder to believe the illusion that we are alone. The media outlets are going to downplay it I see. So far, Pedro and I have been checking TV and radio over and over and over, and there is barely any investigative reporting. “People protested yesterday,” is all they say, with an obligatory 15-second interview of someone who says they don’t like what Trump is doing. (WHY are our media sources genuflecting to him? Why?!) But we have seen each other, and people truly are emboldened when they feel they are part of a crowd.
(By the way…TikTok? CRAMMED with live footage. TONS of it. Lots and lots and lots of posts from cities around the country showing the massive crowds and people telling their stories. Why can’t our TV be as informative as TikTok? Talking heads on our screens have successfully turned TikTok into something evil and it’s either going to get banned – which would take away our voice – or get sold to Amazon and then castrated and turned into a marketing platform – which would take away our voice.)
Hands Off! rallies were held all across Oregon, in cities that are so conservative I would have put money on no one showing up, like Klamath Falls and Albany. Just in the Portland metro area, there were demonstrations in addition to Portland itself, in Beaverton, Tigard, Forest Grove, Gresham, Sellwood, North Plains, Hillsboro, McMinnville, Salem and Vancouver, Washington. I must assume this happened across the country.
I sent photos of our protest to Kellen and Cameron, who have hunkered down to hide in their especially MAGA dominated town of Albany. Out of curiosity, they said they hopped in the car and drove into town to see “if anyone showed up in Albany.” The following video is what they sent to me. “It was on BOTH sides of the road, Mom. I am so, so moved. Cam and I are both crying.”
Did you know that yesterday there were also anti-Trump demonstrations around the world?
Some of my favourite signs:
- Porche = fast, Ferrari = faster, Tesla = fascist
- I want healthcare, not Greenland
- Truck Fump
- All my outrage can’t fit on this (sign)
- His flying monkeys have your data
- I didn’t vote for Musk
- I am not allowed to act like the President (held by a child)
- Super callous, fascist, racist, sexist, braggadocious
- Fight Truth Decay
- So bad, even introverts are here
I noticed that mostly older, white people were out there. It’s partly to do with our city’s demographics, but not all. While the signs complained about things that older, white people hold dear: Social Security, 401k, Veterans Adminstration…all the other signs were there too: education, parks, transgender rights, immigration rights, democracy, government. It felt good that we were out there standing up for others.
Something I found important to notice was that most of the people were not here on the spur of the moment. These signs had been created ahead of time. A lot of work went into some of them, and you can’t really do that at the last second. The paint was still wet on ours when we were there, and I started at 8 am!
I also noticed lots of carryover from the women’s marches in Trump’s first administration, like hand-crocheted pussy hats! There were lots of Kamala Harris signs, hats, and T-shirts. I noticed a surprising number of American flags. Interestingly, in the US, flags now tend to mean MAGA people, which is a tragedy. I approve of the efforts to take back our national flag as a representation of all people.
My friends marched too. I heard people say they felt like they had to do something. There has been an unfortunate merging of shock and media silence that has kept the good people of America quiet for way too long! I even heard it on BBC: “Why has it taken so long for Americans to do something?” I don’t know the answer, but it’s true. We have been stuck and too quiet. I hope that this will change.
Pedro’s sign refers to Trump’s tiny hands, it was a big joke during his first administration. I had been doing some research of Shirley Chisholm before we went. Among other amazing things, she was the first Black woman to be elected to Congress, and also the first woman and the first Black person to seek nomination for Presidential candidate. Her slogan was “Unbought and Unbossed.” I like the slogan, but also love the woman, and hope somebody who saw the sign looks up the phrase to see what it means.
Conscious Engagement 
Thanks for this detailed blog! Yes, I agree on your takeaways. I nearly went downtown PDX but felt I would stand with other Clackamas County residents at Clackamas Town Center. Unifying and empowering for sure.
Oooh, Clackamas Town Center – there’s another local one I had not heard of. Thank you, Dede, for using your voice and your body to show up for Democracy. I am feeling so good still, about the message we created on the 5th.
I like Truck Fump best!
ha ha ha! Its a good one. And Fump just seems like a demeaning word. I think I could just start calling him Fump from now on.
Couldn’t agree more…
That is amazing that so many people from around the world care. Don’t think much happened here, maybe something in the big cities
Brian, I think it is amazing too! I’m so pleased that people in other countries are ready to fight this with us. I mean – the guy is causing chaos around the world, affecting people in many countries. I am so ashamed that such a horrible person is America’s face to the world, and I look forward to the day when we get rid of him and all his proteges that adore him and his methods of chaos and hate.
The ramifications for you are horrendous in every way. Social, environmental and economically.
Your phones will increase in price by around $700 as will a lot of things that are currently bought from overseas countries where he has put high taxes on.
It is to the detriment of out farmers in the short term but there are lots of other markets for our produce.
I can’t believe he has spent, in 4 months, $28million playing friggin’ golf and the muskrat wants to stop waste 🙄
This is one of my favorite things about living here! We show up and make sure our voices are heard! So empowering 👏
Yes, Katie! It feels really good to be a part of this area. I know we are a little insulated from other parts of America, who aren’t as active and don’t participate as much. We are lucky. ❤
Love this! I went to Seattle where I knew it would be well-attended but I was delighted to see marches in nearly every community! My thought is that it’s a great reminder of how many of us there are and if we can stay engaged on at least some level I have hope that change will come! Some of these losses will be generational but if we can continue to deepen our commitment, our power will only grow. Thanks for getting out there!
Thanks back to you, Bonnie!! You are someone I knew would be out there. It must have been just insane in Seattle. The footage I’ve seen of Portland was crazy. Did you participate in the women’s march in 2017 also? Pedro commented that the size of the crowd in Portland was about the same as the women’s march (We were both there, but did not know each other then), but it’s actually much bigger because of all the action in smaller communities, which was not the same in 2017. So yes, Seattle, but also how many more thousands were protesting in Seattle’s surrounding communities? It must have been massive. So good to know our community is bigger than I thought.
Well done. My favourite sign is “I’m not allowed to act like the President” – apart from yours, of course.
I got such a kick out of that kid’s sign, too. It’s a good one. It was a day that is going to boost my spirits for some time to come.
Hopefully there will be many more. I trust you and Pedro are both bearing up
We are. Thank you, friend. ❤
So heartening, especially Albany and other small conservative towns. To me, Portland downtown seemed bigger than the Women’s March, but I don’t know how they measure these things. For instance, I did sign up in advance but I brought two people that hadn’t, so how do they figure that out? And while there were several official marches in the Portland area, there certainly were lots of extras that were just people showing up everywhere. Tomorrow there’ll be more of us!
Nancy, you were in downtown? That’s great! It looked like a giant crowd and I’m excited to hear you say you think it was bigger than the women’s march. The crowd in 2017 was so big AND it was 36 degrees and raining – worst possible weather. Saturday was better weather, and humans are humans, so I’m not too surprised if more people came this time. I have the same question as you: how do they figure out numbers? It’s hard for a layperson to look at a crowd and guess, and I know not all of us were proactive and signed up officially.
Yes, the small communities rocked it! We took light rail in from south of the city (which was a great choice) and upon our return there was another big rally breaking up right down the street from the station! It was an impressive turnout for sure.
That is so cool. I’m still hearing reports rolling in. Pedro said his boss reported that he joined a group in Sisters, Oregon. They were in good spirits, but they said they got a lot of middle fingers, ha ha. It’s harder to stand up in rural Oregon, and I’m proud of them.
Compliments to all… This should only be the beginning.
(I loved ‘Truck Fump’) 🤣🤣🤣
And… I think you’ve hit the nail smack on when you say: “it doesn’t matter if policies don’t change… (more or less by memory) what happens is that we’ve seen each other.”
That’s brilliant. Many Americans now know they’re not alone in their fight…
🤚🏻🤚🏻🤚🏻🤚🏻🤚🏻🤚🏻🤚🏻
There was another sign I liked, from fellow blogger Bonnie Rae, that said, “IKEA has better cabinets!” Ha ha ha!! I knew you would be happy that I pulled out of my funk and found a demonstration to attend. My guy heard about it first, and was our motivator. I told him over and over how grateful I am to be going through this time in the world with somebody who is a match for my spirit, someone who is as angry (very possibly angrier) than I am, and willing to act to say something. As bad as it is, at least I’m not alone. And as you say, many of us have now seen each other, and we know we are not alone. Not even close.
Nope. Not alone. And the numbers should increase… Just keep up the good work.
And I knew you would find to demo to attend. Many bloggers we know did too…
(Love the Ikea thing…. Fact is they’re so grossly incompetent it should all blow in their face. Soon.)