What photos don’t show about April 5 protests

On Saturday, April 5, this 70-something woman bundled up and went to the anti-Trump administration protest in downtown Geneva. I was somewhat afraid, feeling that the U.S. had become a more dangerous and unpredictable place since the big divide cracked us in two.

Plus, my head was spinning from all the unjust firings, the gutting of our institutions and Trump’s acts of retaliation and cruelty.

But then I arrived and my fear melted away. What looked like a big, loud, sign-waving crowd was actually a group of upbeat, positive, informed, thinking, good-humored people of all ages. I stepped in and was instantly part of a shared intelligence: people who stood secure in their understanding of right v. wrong. People who cared enough to dig out truth, remember their world history classes and — even on that packed street corner — take care of each other. It was the America I’ve always known. And I felt safe (even when the banner-clad pro-Trump cars — all two of them — drove by with angry young men practically spitting their insults at us from the widows).

I stood and bonded with good, fair citizens like the affable dad with his school-aged son and daughter, the petite and sassy septuagenarian sisters with long silver hair, my neighbor, our pet sitter. We comprise the other 50% and it is our country as much as it is anybody else’s, including those who are tearing it down. For the hour I was there, the world felt right again. My reality wasn’t warped and twisted, my faith not shredded. So when you see photos of the crowds, don’t just see a mob of protesters; see the individuals and the exponential impact of the hope, intelligence and sheer goodness they bring. It’s who we are, no matter what.

J.C. Smith

St. Charles