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Looking back on Anti-Inauguration Weekend in DC

What I saw in two days of protesting in DC was three sides of a nation. The first, and smallest, was Trump supporters. The whole weekend, despite this being their Great Leader's crowning moment, these turds showed up by the twos and threes on Friday, and were absolutely nowhere to be found on the day of the March. The few that were there had nothing of interest to say. They either filmed the proceedings with slack looks on their faces, or tried to taunt the protesters. A highlight of the trip was seeing one get pummelled across the street while we were enjoying lunch. The second face, which came out on Friday, was, in my hope, the future of America. You may have heard about the black bloc smashing up a bank, a couple of limousines, and a neo-nazi - all of which I wholly support. But the protests were as diverse in nature as they were focused in meaning. People marched, people spoke, people sang, and people stood. A group of peaceful protesters blocking the inauguration parade were maced, tear gassed, and concussed just the same as the protesters setting fire to a limo. That said - across the board, the sentiment was strongly anti-capitalist, and powerfully intersectional. Indigenous, black and Muslim voices were centered on the stage at McPherson Square. Everyone was united in solidarity and knew the way forward was a true and viable left movement. After the protests, we saw a series of speeches from the likes of Naomi Klein, Jeremy Scahill, and Dr. Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, who outlined both the reasons for our current state of affairs, and the way forward. Eight years of neoliberal governance has accelerated the worst parts of American politics while inuring huge swathes of the population against what they consider the left but is really right of center. These have created hurdles, but hurdles that have been identified and can be overcome. And this can only be done through hard work on the ground floor. It will only be small, tangible, positive changes in people's lives and communities that will convince America that the left, and ideally a left third party apart from the Democrats and the Republicans, is the answer to Trump - the answer to the the broken state of the world. The third and final face was the current makeup of America. It was an enormous, overpowering, utterly overwhelming majority of people that knew something was seriously, seriously wrong, and that something had to be done about it. These were people from every avenue of life in the greatest numbers I've ever personally seen. Crucially, these people lacked focus. Some were radicals, while others were your neighbour from down the street who heard about this in her local Facebook Mommies group. Some had the insight to be incisive and describe the real problems facing us all. Others clung to the false hope of Obamas and Clintons, chanting "Yes We Can", when, no, he clearly couldn't. That said - when the chanting cycled around to "Black Lives Matter", it carried, and loudly. Many of these people may not have really cottoned on yet, but the vast majority had their hearts in exactly the right place. It will take careful and calculated outreach to bring all of these people onto the same page, but it should be deeply galvanizing to know that all of them have already opened the book. This was an incredible, once in a lifetime experience, and I am so grateful to have been a participant in something so much bigger than myself. More than anything, it has energized me to take more action at home. We're in our Obama phase with Trudeau and we can't sit around for Leery 'n' Leech to take center stage. We need to hold our prime minister to his campaign promises, because if we let him turn them into lies, it will only give our real enemies more ammunition. Stay vigilant. Read the news and not just the news on your Facebook feed. Find reliable sources and support them. And take action. Protest is something everyone can do. It takes different forms for different people. When you're able, showing up physically can be very powerful. But however you're able - take action. And finally, and most of all - stay strong and stay hopeful. In solidarity, MV