They were standing on the corner of Gulf Road and Tyee Drive holding signs with something about justice, smiling and waving at folks. I am all for justice. I waved back, tooted my horn and went on. They were there the next day and the next and the next. Then daily for a week, then the weeks turned into months and they are still holding signs, waving and smiling.
Why are these people doing this every day? When asking others what they thought of the daily demonstration — most thought it was good, but some said, “Nice sentiment, but standing on a corner with a sign will not change anything.”
I strongly disagree. Protest has gone on for thousands of years and it has changed much.
One of the most notable examples of protest in the Old Testament is Moses’ repeated confrontations with Pharaoh. Moses, under God’s command, protested against Pharaoh’s oppression of the Israelites, demanding their release from slavery. And released they were.
Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517 to protest the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences, and insisted that salvation come by grace through faith, not works. In the end, anyone who was not within the Catholic Church was known as a Protestant.
The American Colonists protested the King’s taxation without representation at the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1773. This eventually led to the American Revolution and independence in 1776.
Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech before 250,000 people demanding justice and jobs in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. Lyndon Johnson called for the protection of Black voting saying: “This right to vote is the basic right without which all others are meaningless. It gives people, people as individuals, control over their own destinies.”
On Aug. 6, 1965, as president, Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.
And then there were the millions of students and workers in Tiananmen Square, China, protesting China’s injustice and martial law, and demonstrating for democracy.
But what of this daily protest, on our busiest corner, in our small rural community? Does it matter? Will it change anything? It is not that standing on the corner will change the country, or even anyone’s mind, but their presence continues to remind us daily, that the government’s policies and actions must not be forgotten when the news cycle changes. They remind us daily that justice and freedom and the rule of law is what we believe in for everyone because it is who we are as Americans.
A.J. Muste, a prominent pacifist and activist known for his commitment to nonviolent protest, is credited with saying, “I don’t do this (protest) to change the country; I do this so the country won’t change me.”
Join us at 11 a.m. on Sundays at Trinity Community Lutheran Church, 1880 APA Road.
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