What a day we have awoken to in America this morning.

I have been following the images of protesters, of elected officials turned protesters, of women knitting pink hats and artists painting and dancing their resistance. Here at WES, the staff and volunteers have been organizing and planning our part of a candlelight vigil last night, our Community Conversation and Resistance Un-Ball today, and our participation in the Women’s March on Washington tomorrow.

One of my colleagues posted last night on Facebook that the train from Ohio to DC was a sea of men, women, and children in pink hats, all heading to the March. The club car had been converted to sign-making central. The soon-to-be protesters were sharing tips and shoring each other up with signs of the resistance. What occurred to me as I read her words was that she was already at the March. The March was on that train, and it will be on the crowded metro cars tomorrow and at the security checkpoints and the interminable lines at the food trucks. I expect to spend most of tomorrow trying to get places, stuck in a crowd because DC is overflowing with people coming to resist together. Some of us may not even make it to the start of the march, but rather join in by the end! What I hope for myself–and for you–is that we can experience that very waiting, that crowd, the over-filled metro trains, as part of the resistance itself. That we can celebrate the crowding as a sign that America is indeed rising.

I hope we will find that not just tomorrow, but in the days to come. However you are planning to resist–by calling your congresspeople, talking with your family members, teaching your children, protesting with your body or working with your neighbors–I hope that you know you are part of a wave of love and resistance that has the power to transform this country. And I hope that we find, in that wave, a sense not just of hope but of joy. I hope we keep on dancing all the time.

This is not an easy day, and we do not have an easy time ahead. But these are the days we have awoken to, and our task is to stay woke, to refuse to look away, to respond with all the fierce love and smart organizing and sustained power we can muster–and to care for ourselves and for each other. I believe in us.

with hope and commitment,

Amanda

p.s. If you are planning to march tomorrow, you may find the following resources helpful to you: