Never Too Late to Speak Up — A 61-Year-Old’s Activist Journey Begins— Patriots' Day 2025
By Paul B. Anderson
Today, I attended just my second protest. I've been on this Earth for more than 61 years, and had seen protests, but had only participated once- after George Floyd was murdered. But this was my first political protest. I had some idea of what to expect but was unsure about how I would feel. I also had no idea what reactions I would get as cars crawled (and sometimes sped) past us.
First, a little background. I am very new to political activism. For many years, I have kept to the admonition of not discussing religion or politics in public. As a public-school teacher, I have rarely discussed either subject, except in the context of educating students. For example, when discussing western music history, you cannot leave out the role of the Catholic Church (though I am not Catholic). And when discussing music from the 60s and 70s, protest songs (anti-Vietnam War, for example) cannot be ignored. But this was always in the context of history. I would venture to guess that the students I have taught over the years- including my current ones- have never had an inkling of where I have stood on most issues. One of the things I have taken pride in is that I could argue either side of a position, regardless of my personal belief, and I might challenge a student to think on their own. For example, a student may say, "Trump is a great President!", and I may respond with, "What makes him so great?" On the other hand, a student may say, "Trump is a disaster!", to which my response would be, "What makes you say so?" My purpose would not be to change that person's mind, but to get them to express why they feel a certain way, and to maybe open their minds to considering the opposite position. What I've found, of course, is that most kids can't back up their beliefs- they mostly parrot their parents- but I hope I at least get them to the point of questioning why they believe what they do.
Since the reelection of Donald Trump (actually, since the campaign), I have decided I can no longer remain silent. To be silent in the face of rising authoritarianism is to be complicit. I still don't display my beliefs in my classroom, as I believe that is unethical (though many Trump supporters make sure their students know, as I learned when I subbed for a year in the 2017-18 school year). But I have begun to share posts on social media. However, I strive to be extremely careful in what I share, making sure that the facts I share are accurate and the source is included (if possible). I have also taken to refuting many of the false claims coming from others with articles fact checking what is in a meme or post. The only way to fight misinformation (or disinformation) is with facts.
Anyway, the protest. I made up my sign- or more accurately, my wife made the sign because my handwriting is terrible- that simply said, "IMPEACH and REMOVE". I took my sign to my car, grabbed a water bottle, and then headed to the protest just down the road from where I live. Marathon is a small town in the Florida Keys, about halfway between Key Largo and Key West, and I've only been here a few months, just since July. As a retired Georgia educator, I can only teach in a 49% position in that state, but there are no restrictions as to how much I can teach in any other state. But without my Georgia TRS (Teacher Retirement System) income along with my full time salary here, I would not be able to live here, as life is very expensive in the Keys (my apartment rent is more than 5 times the mortgage payment on my house in Dahlonega, Ga).
When I arrived in the Winn Dixie parking lot (the protest was on the sidewalk lining the main highway, known as Overseas Hwy, or Hwy 1). I unpacked my sign, grabbed my water bottle, and took a folding chair from the back of my car. As I turned to head to the street, another gentleman walking away from me called me a Libtard, which made by laugh. I simply responded, "You bet!" to his back, and then turned to make my way to the site about fifty yards away. I didn't know anyone there, and didn't know what to do, so I went to the sidewalk (I was one of the first ones to do so), set up my chair (rarely used), and held up my sign.
For the first 20 minutes or so, I felt myself being pushed further and further down the sidewalk, as more protesters crowded in, and I dragged my chair along with me. Finally, I had gone about as far as I could go, as there was a woman in a walker blocking any further path, so I crossed the street to the median, so I could catch cars going the other way. This allowed my sign to be seen more easily, as there were only about 6-8 of us in the median and kept me from blocking the sign of the woman in the walker.
The people at the protest that I interacted with were all friendly and encouraging, but I found myself wondering if this was really making a difference. A few weeks ago, I saw these same protesters in the same place, and I honked my car horn in support. I hadn't known about that protest until I drove by, and I couldn't have participated if I had known, as I was working that morning (work is one of the reasons I haven't attended many before now). As cars drove by, many yelled at us, gave us the middle finger, called us names, or praised Trump, but many, many more honked in support, gave us a thumbs up, or cheered as they drove or rode by. The margin seemed to be 10 to 1 in support, though that is an unverified count, and could be biased. But was this making a difference, or was this just much ado about nothing?
During the protest, I had two brief conversations with my fellow patriots. One comment stuck out for me- one of the patriots said that our little protest (which had more than the last one, I am told- that one had 131 people) let others know that we were not alone. The other interaction was with a gentleman also at his first protest. He wondered aloud why there weren't many young people or immigrants with us, as they would be the ones benefitting the most. I simply replied that immigrants weren't going to protest for fear of getting picked up by ICE (several Florida State Patrol vehicles drove by us), and most young people probably didn't want to go against their parents. Plus, young people are busy living their lives- they aren't paying attention to politics or World events (or national or local, for that matter) for the most part, as they are busy starting their careers, starting families, and doing most of the living. It's up to us as older adults to leave a better Nation and World for those who come after us. He conceded that he hadn't considered that.
At the end of the protest, we gathered and took (or retook, for many of us) the Oath to the Constitution, with many of us emphasizing the part "...against all enemies, both foreign AND DOMESTIC...". Then we all went our separate ways. I only hope the national protests were in every state, city, and town, even if there were only a handful of people, as we need to be heard. We allowed ourselves to get into this mess; it's up to us to get ourselves out of it.
Will I make the next protest? I'm told it is tentatively set up for May 1, but as that is a weekday, I will probably be unable to attend, depending on the time of the event. Was today a positive experience? I believe so. Whether we emboldened others to speak up in the future or simply gave others comfort that they were not alone in their beliefs, I believe it made a difference.
Please watch the video and be inspired by the struggle of others: https://youtu.be/BBe8nVXhGhc?si=fDxP8uZkEBDR-KYS