Indivisible St. Peter/Greater Mankato coordinated TWO demonstrations on Saturday, Aug. 22, to save the US Post Office - St. Peter and Mankato. The demonstrations are part of a nationwide day of action sponsored by Indivisible National, MoveON, NCAAP, and other advocacy groups.
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by Jim Dimock
Another day, another demonstration. Welcome to the Trump era. My family and I moved to Mankato 18 years ago. This community has been good to us. We have really thrived here. We've tried to be civically engaged, to strengthen our community. I have been to a lot of demonstrations and a lot of protests. There is popular chant we like to do - "Show 'em what democracy looks like." It's popular because it is easy to say and because it's true. A protest, a demo IS what democracy looks like. It's tense, maybe even a little scary, messy bottom up grass roots democracy. It is the unfiltered expression of the people's will. Veteran's bridge is free and open to all. Any person can stand on it. The Trumpers could have stood there. Set up and shown the world what kind of place they think Mankato is. And in a way, when they circled around in their makeshift parade, they did. Democracy is the progressives lining both sides of the bridge, end to end. Our official count was 588. The Trumpers came too. They got a couple dozen cars. Lots of flags. Lots of obnoxious pictures of Trump's head on Rambo's body. But still...at no point even in cars could they reach from one end of the bridge to the other. Not even close. Lots of flags. Not very many people. And that is what democracy looks like. The courage of the progressives, to stand in the street, to show up not knowing who was going to be there, to stand next to their neighbors, to say NO to Trump, NO to Hagedorn, NO to the rightwing agenda. While the Trumpers sat in their cars and desperately tried to look like they were bigger and more powerful than they really are. Hiding in their cars, afraid of their neighbors, scared and alone, we stood side by side in the street, unafraid. They are the few. They are the desperate and the weak. They are scared. They are the past. They proved that on the bridge today in Mankato. We are the many, the strong, the people. We are filled with hope and energy and enthusiasm. We are the future. We proved that on the bridge today too. We showed 'em what democracy looks like and we're going to keep on showing 'em What an amazing turnout today at the Counter-Demonstration for Change: No Trump, No Hagedorn, No Hate in Mankato! 600 community members showed up to demonstrate our values, our issues, and our willingness to fight for our democracy in the face of Trump and Hagedorn’s rank incompetence and disdain for the lives and dignity of regular, working Americans. We had folks from all walks of life, all ages, and all backgrounds. We stayed peaceful and on message, which is that we will not tolerate hatred. We will not tolerate corruption. We will not tolerate Trump’s violation of all of our democratic norms. Minnesota, the United States, the world deserves better. We refuse to give in to cynicism and despair. We believe in our ability to work together to do the right thing and care for one another. Many thanks to our powerful speakers, Kate Martens, Josefina Flandes, Bukata Hayes, and Dolly Baruah. Your words brought home what is at stake in this fight, and you inspired us to always work harder, better, and kinder. Many thanks to Loerhl Pillers for these photos and to everyone who volunteered their time and energy and reached out to say, how can I help? This spirit is what makes America great. And many, many thanks to everyone who care to this event today, shared about it, and spread the word. We have a lot of work to do to support candidates who will listen and who will work to make America better:
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