Resounding Show Of Unity at Rally

Miami comes alive in peaceful assembly today for the Women’s March at Bayfront Park. A fun-loving teenager embraces her sunshine-blissed freedom.A gay couple arrives in full wedding gown expecting to join there in holy matrimony. A life-hardened environmentalist withstanding creaky knees circulates the aisles to display visionary banners to save our planet. Amidst this circus of curious diversity, all eyes ultimately are united on the need to be heard today in order to support the will to act in opposition to the Donald Trump Presidency.

Arriving three hours before the rally, my wife and I are witnessing a steady buildup of participants peacefully lining up for this afternoon event. Crossing Biscayne Boulevard to the park, on can not escape notice of Trump supporters protesting their own causes in opposition to ours (ie. Jews For Trump…). Yet there is a buzz of optimism in Miami on this bright, sunny day, that will provide a measure of hope amidst the impending fears of his Presidency.

Being raised in the “Woodstock” generation, I imagine that this event will strictly resonate in a blatant protest against the establishment view of the new Republican regime. Yet speaker after speaker will convince me to rise above the anger of my discontent and imagine my own life in a more positive manner. Group therapy expert you might call the orator who urges the audience to meditate on their dreams of a better world. Picture as well a women’s club leader  who issues a call and response plea to the audience to repeat the Preamble words of the U.S. Constitution.

Ken Russell, a city commissioner in Miami, points out how the opportunities for change will best arise through direct involvement at the local level. With vision of Obama’s “Yes We Can” theme, his constructive ideas for community involvement “brings the house down” as a sea of signs/banners rise prominently from the crowd. I feel then a unity of purpose that the Progressive movement I embrace will be shared by all in attendance today.

South Florida seems to be the ideal place to challenge the extreme right-wing Presidential policies of Trump. As a gateway to Latin America, multicultural co-existence is a fact of life here. As a fragile land, global warming threatens to submerge our urban communities. With a critical need for health care amongst the rising poor and elderly population, the end of Obamacare will jeopardize their chances of obtaining affordable health care. With Dade County being one of the largest public school systems in the country, the Trump plan to appoint a woman lacking knowledge of or experience in teaching as Education Secretary portends a poor match for meeting the complex needs of the urban teacher in our community.

Today’s woman’s rallies across America marks the beginning of a democracy that many of us strive for. Statements of freedom, equality and acceptance must however be matched by united action. The more we find ways to respect and show courtesy to each other, the more likely we will create a better world for ourselves. We do not need need to wait four years of Donald Trump for this to happen however. If our minds are open to purposeful commitment every day, then our hearts will never again be politically broken.