“Have you checked your 401(k) lately?” A few feet away from me, a pissed-off middle-aged woman yelled this phrase into the street last Saturday, during one of the many nationwide “Hands Off!” protests against President Trump’s administration.
I was surprised that the protest closest to me was in a city that I’ve frequently associated with uppity well-off people who look at my hometown with poorly veiled disdain.
But the busy downtown street was packed. Up and down both sides of the street, people were brandishing signs, flags, and their anger. Despite all this anger at Trump’s brazen disregard for human rights, anger I share, I found myself smiling most of the time.
With a pride flag wrapped around my shoulders, I was surrounded by people, many being older white people. Many of us were there for certain reasons, specific causes. I’m sure we didn’t agree on everything. Some protesters might have looked at my flag with disgust.
But hundreds of people were brandishing signs that reflected my frustration at Trump and Musk. Someone held a sign that read, “You know it’s bad when the introverts are protesting,” which I felt deeply as an introvert attending her first protest. And a fellow protester told me they liked my flag, giving me a smile.
I was expecting many things at this protest. Chanting, extremely clever signs, and the booing of the few pro-Trump cars that drove by.
But I wasn’t expecting so many people to drive down the street honking at us, beaming as they took videos. I wasn’t expecting a woman to lean out the passenger window, pointing at us passionately as she exclaimed, “I’m so proud of you!” I wasn’t expecting the counter protester group to be sequestered between people condemning the man they had come to defend. I wasn’t expecting to lock eyes with a woman holding a pride flag across the street, just like me, and I didn’t expect both of us to wave at each other with a smile.
In the midst of horrific headline after horrific headline, I wasn’t expecting to feel so damn hopeful.
According to CNN, over 1,400 “Hands Off!” protests took place last Saturday. Even across the pond in London and Paris, people stood up with us.
Now, I don’t want to be overly optimistic. This one show of flagrant denigration of Trump’s actions doesn’t mean we have the upper hand. And personally, I don’t think Trump cares about what we think. As long as the money keeps pouring in and his sycophants are singing his praises, he will keep bulldozing people’s rights for his own gain.
But what April 5 shows is that this is only the beginning. Not even three months into his presidency (yes, I know, it feels like two years already), people are already furious and this fury will only grow as the White House continues to look the other way.
My hope is that eventually (sooner rather than later), our voices will be so loud and so filled with rage that they won’t be able to ignore us.
At over 1,400 locations, people found community in their righteous anger. They felt belonging. And the Trump Administration thrives on othering. They want us to get mad at other people, the people they see as monsters, terrorists, as lesser.
But at these protests, hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom have probably been othered in various ways, stood together and said, “No. We will not let you turn us against each other. This didn’t have to be an us versus them issue, but you made it into one. So now, it’s us versus you, and we’re gonna keep screaming.”
Now, many of us know who is to blame for these atrocities, and it’s not our trans neighbors and it’s not undocumented individuals who came to this country for safety and a fresh start.
As Texas state representative James Talarico said, “The only minority destroying America is the billionaires.”
Liana Hirner graduated from Calvin in 2024 with a bachelor’s in writing. She’s currently living in her hometown of Aurora, Illinois, working at a local library as she figures out her next steps. Liana’s simple passions include reading, writing long winded stories, dark chocolate, and making espresso.
