{"id":4234,"date":"2025-10-18T18:21:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T00:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/?p=4234"},"modified":"2025-10-18T18:54:32","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T00:54:32","slug":"why-i-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/2025\/10\/18\/why-i-protest\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I protest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A photo of me I actually like. No Kings Protest in Scottsbluff, October 18, 2025. The guy with the Trump balloon took this photo of me.<\/p><\/div>\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2025 that I decided to protest. I\u2019ve made the phone calls and sent the letters, but, over the last 15-20 years, all I get is a polite \u201cfuck you\u201d or no response at all. At today\u2019s No King\u2019s protest<\/a> in Scottsbluff, I joined at least 300 people in an effort to try and effect some change.<\/p>\n

I protest because I know people who are directly affected by the things that have already happened at the federal level. I protest for those who can\u2019t come. At the last protest, there were about 75 Hispanic folks there. They didn\u2019t come today. I protest for them.<\/p>\n

I protest so no one can say we are accepting of the behavior of those in Washington. I protest because what is happening in my country is not something I want.<\/p>\n

I protest because it fills me with hope. I protest because it makes me feel less alone and isolated. I protest so I can see others who feel the same way I do and that, together, we can press on. I protest because we are not all free. The fight is not finished. We have to keep going, keep letting those in power that they are there to serve us. <\/p>\n

I protest so my friends overseas know that not everyone is happy to have a boot crushing their throat and worshiping at the feet of Trump.<\/p>\n

I protest so the judges and the lawyers and the charitable organizations can see us and know what they are doing is right and positive.<\/p>\n

I protest because I want my community to be better, to be kind, and for those who are marginalized by these federal policies to know we are still fighting for you.<\/p>\n

I protest. I keep fighting. It\u2019s what I do.<\/p>\n

It only takes 3.5% of us<\/a> to bring about change. Here are some of them today in Scottsbluff.<\/p>\n

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I had a lovely conversation with this gentleman about his service. Like all servicemen I’ve ever met, he downplayed what he did. I did my best to let him know he was awesome.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I had a fantastic conversation with this lady about why she came to the protest. Read her sign. You’ll know why.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This is one of my favorite shots from the No Kings Protest in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on October 18, 2025.<\/p><\/div>\n

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This guy put an instant smile on my face.<\/p><\/div>\n

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These lovely folks were one of the first to arrive at the No Kings protest and stayed the entire time.<\/p><\/div>\n

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These folks wander all throughout the crowd and help keep everyone’s spirits up.<\/p><\/div>\n

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She shows up at all the protests and chants until she can barely speak.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Even if you don’t have a sign and want to show your support, organizers have you covered. You can make your own sign, use one of theirs, or wave a “No Kings in America” flag.<\/p><\/div>\n

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They didn’t want to show their faces, but that’s okay. Their signs were awesome.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Absolutely awesome.<\/p><\/div>\n

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I loved all the homemade signs today.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The counter protesters at the No Kings Protest in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on October 18, 2025.<\/p><\/div>\n

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These lovely gentleman came all the way from Wyoming to see the No Kings Protest in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, on October 18, 2025.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyone who would like the original photo, please let me know. I’m happy to send it to you. I took close to 500 photos, so even if your photo isn’t here, I might still have one of you. I also posted 20 photos over on Reddit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To everyone I know, come back tomorrow and I’ll have your pictures up. I took too many today of strangers who are now protester friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It wasn\u2019t until 2025 that I decided to protest. I\u2019ve made the phone calls and sent the letters, but, over the last 15-20 years, all I get is a polite \u201cfuck you\u201d or no response at all. At today\u2019s No King\u2019s protest in Scottsbluff, I joined at least 300 people in an effort to try […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[254,453,447,322],"class_list":["post-4234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photos","tag-nebraska","tag-no-kings","tag-protest","tag-scottsbluff"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4234"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4261,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4234\/revisions\/4261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}