Signs, signs everywhere signs

I didn’t agree with every sign I saw among the hundreds held aloft at the protest I attended Saturday in Appleton, but I sure was happy to see them there.

All those voices felt as optimistic as the spring air that carried them, harbingers of warmer days ahead.

Democracy demands participation. No matter what your politics are, you know this. You can’t run a representative government by silencing dissent. How do you represent a community if you don’t allow its members to speak?

So, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief when I saw 2,500 people gather at Houdini Plaza and stretch out along College Avenue in peaceful, eloquent protest.

While part of a coordinated effort that included thousands of other protests across the nation, this rally also was homegrown, full of people I recognized from my neighborhood, church, exercise classes, school, piano lessons and the grocery store.

Neon-vested volunteers kept the sidewalks clear and the protesters literally in line. I ran into a lot of friends as I mingled among them, and made a few new ones too.

I took a few pictures that I think capture the spirit of the day.

Even if you disagree with every single person who attended, I hope you’ll honor their right to be heard.

Thank you to everyone who organized and attended this rally, and to the Appleton Police Department for keeping us all safe.

Appleton rocks.