Standing on the Protest Line

By Liz Giffin, Book-In-Common Team Reporter

The signs in the crowd during the No Kings- Take Back Our Flag! march in Chico on June 14th, 2025.

Are you are getting more and more frustrated each day, feeling anguish over how our country’s institutions and values are coming under attack?

Don’t despair! There is a solution.

“We will save democracy by standing together in communities across the country and demanding that the system bend to the will of the people—- all the people. We’ll do this by working across lines of difference. We’ll do this by organizing ourselves and partnering with others. . . Ultimately, electeds must give in to what the people want—-if people consistently and forcefully insist.”

~ Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin, creators of the Indivisible Guide.

When you’ve had enough and have decided to take action, joining a protest may be your

first step. It was mine.

At first I was a little unsure of myself. Where should I start?

I needed a sign. I went to Walmart to find materials. I figured that I wanted to make

something bold with large letters that were easy to read.

I found some bright neon poster board and alphabet letters, two inch black cutouts. Perfect!

Then I faced the big question: What do I put on that sign? I was so angry about so many things. How could I choose just one topic to address?

I had to mull it over for a while, working my way toward the core idea of what I felt was wrong. Sure, Trump’s lies and general awfulness immediately came to mind. But the deeper issue, what troubled me most, was his total lack of respect for our Constitution.

He, and all others who are elected in this country, must take an oath to uphold the Constitution. And so you would think that they would have at least some basic familiarity with it. Yet the actions of some loyal Trump electeds, such as denying a standing president the right to make a Supreme Court appointment (as was the case with President Obama when Justice Scalia died) and denying due process to detained immigrants plucked from their homes and workplaces (currently happening across the country), would cause you to doubt it.

Ultimately, I put on one side of my sign “Honor Your Oath of Office”; on the other side, “Uphold the Constitution”.

It feels good to be on the protest line with that sign, casting out my fears, broadcasting those values I hold most dear.