The grassroots women's march held in Washington, D.C., and in cities around the world, including Trenton, was a political coming of age for many.
"Today we march. Tomorrow we run for office."
The women's march on Trenton last weekend, a sister march to the larger event in Washington, D.C., was everything organizers hoped for.
Chanting, sporting pussy hats and T-shirts declaring "Love Trumps Hate," among other slogans, participants gathered, an estimated 6,000 strong, to share their profound unease over where the country is headed under a new administration.
It was peaceful and powerful, an expression of patriotism at its most distilled.
Rally-goers cheered a wide spectrum of speakers at the War Memorial - representatives of all faiths and affiliations, ethnic backgrounds and gender identifications - before tracing a path to the State House that would have felt familiar to George Washington and his troops of revolutionaries 2-and-a-half centuries ago.
The plea to thousands at N.J. women's march
In an atmosphere of camaraderie, they traded high-fives with the police officers who were directing traffic, and exchanged signs and salutations with friends and stranger alike.
But more than a feel-good outing on a mild New Jersey Saturday, the grassroots event was, for many of its participants, a political coming of age.
There was the growing realization in the crowd that democracy is not a spectator sport. That to attain the change you want, you have to work for it. Plan for it. Organize for it.
Marching is good. Running for office is better.
There was valid criticism before Saturday that the various protest events around the country - indeed, around the world - lacked focus.
And truly, the variety of concerns expressed on signs and shirts was enormous, from reproductive rights to harassment of women, from assaults on the environment to encroachment on press freedom, from the new president's lack of civility to his historic withholding of tax forms.
But rather than divide the crowd, we like to think the issues united them, underscoring the enormous job still to come.
In the days and weeks after the election, people who did not even know the names of their members in Congress have put their representatives on speed dial. Political neophytes have reached out to their local Democratic or Republican committees, expressing interest in how the process works - and how they can be a part.
Perhaps not since the Vietnam War has the political climate so energized a generation.
The events of Nov. 8 taught us one thing: Elections have consequences. In his first few days in office, Trump has revived a ban on foreign aid to groups that offer abortion counseling, and frozen Environmental Protection Agency grants, money that goes for environmental testing, cleanups and research.
His very first action moved the government toward dismantling the Affordable Care Act, which provides health insurance for millions.
If these issues matter to you, this is a good time to haul yourself off the couch and get involved in the political process.
If not now, when?
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