I was one of four people from my high school who lined South Main Street in Hardwick this past Saturday to participate in the No King Day 2 protest against the Trump administration.
It was easy to forget the dreary weather with all of the music and signs waving. What might have been a very damp day was kept fresh by guitars, violins, a very small banjo at one point and most importantly, voices.
My companion held a large papier-mache Mother Earth puppet, which looked out at the cars passing by. Our friend who met us near The Civic Standard found a Green Mountain Boys flag, which he wore around his neck like a cape when he wasn’t waving it at passing cars. Another friend showed up wearing a yellow T-shirt with William Shakespeare’s face on the front and the words “Alas, poor country!” on the back.
Adults ranging widely in age were in good attendance, and even a good handful of children showed up with their parents to protest, but we teenagers were sparse. I found myself wondering: Where are the rest of us?
We are the ones coming swiftly into adulthood, the ones who have the whole of our grown-up lives ahead of us to make the changes our country so desperately needs and the ones who the actions of this administration will affect for the longest.
If the civic duty of protest falls heaviest on the shoulders of one generation, it falls on ours.
Will Helms
Hardwick
So important and so well said! Thank you for raising your voice both in person and in writing.