Finding hope
***Find information about The People United: A Memoir of Hope and Resistance During Trump’s First Term, publishing on April 15, at chrispickettauthor.com. You can also follow me on Bluesky at @chrispickett5.bsky.social***
I needed to get away from the news. I couldn’t read any more about war abroad and federal invasions of cities at home. I told the family I was going for a walk and stepped outside. It was cold, and there was still snow on the ground. The good news was the sun made an appearance, which it hadn’t done for a couple of days. Walking through the neighborhood, I couldn’t shake the sorrow I felt reading the news. I turned a corner to see a boy, probably 2 years old, hands up high, pushing a stroller across the uneven sidewalk. Behind him, his mother was gently giving steering instructions so he didn’t run into me. We said hi as we passed, and that was when I noticed her sweatshirt had one word on it: Resist.
And all of a sudden, my day improved.
I’ve been a part of the anti-Trump resistance pretty much since it started. I founded Indivisible Montgomery in the waning days of 2016 and led the group for four years after. I’ve kept active in the resistance since I stepped down. This work requires bearing witness to the awful actions of the Trump administration. It is regularly frustrating and demoralizing.
But signs of our broader community working together to blunt the actions of the Trump administration can wash away so many negative feelings. At the very least, these unexpected demonstrations of solidarity can balance the negative with the hope necessary to persevere. Sometimes hope is found in the words of charismatic leaders and their grandiose visions of the society and country we want to build. But hope can also be found on sweatshirts, stickers, and in other minor acts that remind us we’re not in this alone.
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What are some of the things that have brought you hope? Here are a few of mine I regularly recall when I need a boost:
Riding the Metro home one day, I spied a tiny sticker on the inside of one of the doors.
A few weeks later I was out for a run. I was trying, rather unsuccessfully, to think about something other than how the government was purging employees from nearly every agency. Then I noticed a chalk message on the road ahead.
Finally, my family and I were at a resistance march in downtown DC in September. The march unexpectedly paused at an intersection near the Foundry United Methodist Church. A few minutes later, as we were getting restless, the church bells unexpectedly rang out. It took the crowd a moment to realize they were playing in solidarity with our march and a huge roar went up for the crowd: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DORcaxDkdd8/
