Christine Ledbetter: The rising revolution is gray-haired and determined
The weather was nearly perfect for the revolution. Previous days of wind subsided as the temperature soared to 70 degrees Sunday for Hands Across Chicagoland, a 30-mile stretch of demonstrators from Aurora to Chicago protesting the Trump administration's policies.
About 18,000 people filled in their ZIP code and were given a meet-up location along the route. They were instructed to bring homemade signs, make some noise and wear black to symbolize solidarity and the gravity of what's at stake if people are silent, according to Reid McCollum, chair of DuPage County Democrats, one of the event's organizers.
The goal was to create a human chain that would garner more attention than a single-site protest, McCollum said.
About 50 people stood on a blocklong patch of land on Ogden Avenue in front of Sunrise Senior Living, where furniture was being moved in for a new resident, and Naperville North High School, where a graduation was taking place.
Their signs represented an orchestra of grievances: 'Resist Oligarchy,' 'Free Press,' 'Love Not Anger,' 'Born in the USA,' 'Freedom Dies without Science,' 'Racism in not Patriotism,' 'America is Better than This,' 'Hands off Weather,' 'Democracy not Tyranny,' 'Dump Trump,' 'Impeach, Convict, Remove,' and 'MAGA: Malicious Abhorrent Gestapo Agenda.'
Beginning at noon, with Naperville police quietly present, the dissenters waved to passing drivers, many of whom honked in solidarity and offered a thumbs-up. Supporters of President Donald Trump appeared too, early on as a dozen or so trucks roared by adorned with MAGA signs.
The protesters continued waving.
America's long tradition of assembly began with the Boston Tea Party and has continued throughout history with the women's suffrage parade, Civil Rights Movement, Kent State and national march for lesbian and gay rights. More recent were the March for Our Lives, spurred by the shooting at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and racial justice protests, which occurred after the police murder of George Floyd.
Outcries against Trump are coming fast and furious: The Presidents Day protest in February, Tesla takedown in March, nationwide demonstrations in April, the May Day rally. Who's keeping count?
One of the leaders of the movement is Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. In a speech last month, he said, 'Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now.' Adding, 'The reckoning is finally here.'
On this sunny day, many of the participants were senior citizens. A 71-year-old woman, who has voted both Republican and Democratic, was protesting for the first time. She was doing it for her eight granddaughters, she said.
A young mother of three daughters explained she came from two generations of feminists. Her sign read: 'We are the grandchildren of the women you couldn't silence.'
A couple remarked that this felt like the 1960s, when they were first activists.
The present revolution is fueled by those with bad knees, who after standing for 45 minutes sat on the grass or in the folding chairs they usually tote to their grandchildren's soccer game.
They have skin in the game. Benefits such as Social Security, Medicare are threatened. Their children may be losing their jobs or putting off buying a home or car. They worry their grandchildren are being exposed to measles and being taught revisionist history in schools and libraries.
Meanwhile, Walmart is raising prices, Canada is mad at us and our cultural icons are disparaged.
Recently, Trump reviled boomer hero Bruce Springsteen and millennial pop star Taylor Swift. Of Springsteen who criticized the administration for persecuting people for using their right to free speech, Trump said the singer-songwriter was 'dumb as a rock,' and 'ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT.'
Of Swift, Trump wrote, 'Has anyone noticed that, since I said 'I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,' she's no longer 'HOT?''
That's a lot of hate expressed in all caps. Who wants their grandchildren to emulate such limited vocabulary, negative language and divisive rhetoric?
In this hostility-fueled climate, many know firsthand the harm sowed dividing friends and family. Blocking Fox News-watching and Truth Social-subscribing friends, cousins and siblings from social media feeds has become commonplace.
This is indeed the civil war of our generation. The foot soldiers in this army may be gray, but they are not impotent.
They are rewriting wills to leave legacies to beleaguered institutions — cancer research, universities, Planned Parenthood, NPR, PBS and others.
They are slathering on sunscreen, exercising using their SilverSneakers benefits, taking vitamins and reducing alcohol consumption in order to outlive this presidency.
No one wants to die in an America of wrath and vengeance. They want their requiem to be sung in a time of light and mercy.
So they march, shuffle, wheelchair-ride, while waving and singing protest songs. Just don't stand in the way of their Skechers.
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