Stop the coup in the United States! Vote! Resist! Persist!

I joined the May Day 2025 protest march in Seattle that started at Cal Anderson park on Capital Hill.

My favorite message from the day of passionate speeches and a committed mass of protestors, was the green sign above “Now you pissed off grandma.” These wonderful ladies of a certain age made this man of a certain age laugh. I needed this boost.

Our peaceful group from a wide age range and all walks of life came out to celebrate both our union workers and strongly protest against all the wrongs of the current administration.

The main stream media did our protest no favors by estimating only 1000 people showed up. By my count through my own photos, there were at least 5,000 marchers and many more. The media should be actively pointing out that millions marched in every major city in the US yesterday. Note: I’ve red circled my marching self as I proudly wore my Bainbridge Bay Hay and Feed orange laughing pumpkin hoodie.

For the first couple of hours, several speakers shared their passion about May Day and what it means to each of them. The crowd was a relatively equal mix between union members and those of us protesting the current lawless and grifting federal administration.

I was impressed with the members of the SEIU union who all wore purple Tshirts and constructed a 20 foot puppet to accompany our march.

I loved the mothers marching with their six year old children or walking with their well behaved dogs. To help us out on this first hot day of spring in Seattle, many volunteers pulled little read wagons full of free water and masks for the marchers.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the Bud Light truck we had to walk around on Capital Hill as we started the March. I was hoping that Anheuser-Busch was really supportive of the March and was going to share a few beers on this hot spring day. No Joy. The beer truck in the middle of the March reminded me of my protest days at Duke when the carillon at the top of the Chapel Bell Tower played the Mickey Mouse theme song during our Vietnam protests. You have to laugh a little even in the midst of such government madness.

I was incredibly impressed with the May Day Seattle 2025 organizers and all that they did to keep us safe. At each intersection a group of the volunteer bike brigade members closed off the street. The Seattle Police car brigade supported these efforts by closing down all the major intersections. Here the bicycle brigade and the police stop traffic and public transportation at the Broadway intersection on Capital Hill.

Fortunately, there was not much in the way of counter protestors. There were a few right wing nut evangelical Christians shouting that none of us would be saved carrying signs sharing that we would all burn in hell. Somebody at the top of the Hotel Theodore decided that they needed to spray water at us with a fire hose from the top of the hotel. These distractions were easily ignored and did nothing to change the peacefulness of the March.

I was glad to see several signs pointing out that “Trump is killing us.” I mentioned yesterday that his policies to not approve the next Covid vaccine, shutting down all safety inspections for agricultural products, cutting Medicaid, stopping medical research and hundreds more atrocities are all aimed at killing more of us that his actions during the Covid Pandemic. We have to stop Trump and all his Republican supporters who are trying to kill us. These government actions are why I protest and march.

As I returned to Bainbridge Island, I was delighted to honk my horn in support of the protestors at the Highway 305 and Main Street intersection. I am proud to be one of the millions of citizens who took to the streets this May Day to support our unions and protest the actions of the Republicans and SCOTUS.

I have no idea when the 70 million people who voted for this Trump felonious, grifting, lawless administration will wake up. I only hope it is soon so that we can reclaim this amazing country which has given me and my extended family so much these last 75 years.

Stop the Coup. Vote. Resist! Persist!

Peace.