If protesters are thugs then I was a thug today.
Along with several hundred peaceful people,
I walked.
I chanted.
I shouted.
I raised my fist.
I smiled under my face mask when the women near me tried to start their own chant,
VOTE.
And they laughed when I helped them time it just right.
Together we shouted VOTE after each phrase the crowd chanted.
Together we walked under the hot sun,
And talked about having done this before,
And why we do it again and again.
I walked,
We walked.
Together.
Back to a church,
Where a church security guard thanked me for coming.
Where people were hot and tired,
And hopeful.
We didn’t disturb the peace,
We carried signs .
We kept our distance due to COVID.
We listened to speeches.
We thanked police on motorcycles for stopping traffic in intersections.
If protesters are thugs then I was a thug today.
If all thugs were this peaceful we truly wouldn’t need police.
