I will not be silent

I do not yet have words to respond to the political happenings in our country. Those who really know me know that I am rarely without words. This is a big deal :)

But I can say that I am grieving. Deeply. And while the words have not yet come to adequately express my views, I know that I will not be silent. I will not let this just happen. I will not stand by and watch our future slip away. I plan to fight. Hard.

Brad, Mom, Dad and I went downtown Portland this afternoon to join a grassroots rally, dubbed Families for Peaceful Protest. We were joined by two families from our Newberg Friends community - two families also deeply committed to social justice.

It was supposed to just be a few families, but they just kept coming, and coming, and coming. I'm horrible with crowd estimates, but we filled Pioneer Courthouse Square - so that's a lot! Mothers, fathers, teens, adolescents, toddlers, babies, grandparents, daughters, sons - all joined in solidarity to fight. It was beautiful, and peaceful, and full of love. And we will not stop.

Gathering in the South Park Blocks:

Walking north: 

Pioneer Courthouse Square: 

The Newberg Friends contingent - Woods, McKees, Buerkles and Czarneckis: 

:)