Denver President's Day Protest

I woke up this morning and I saw the weather. 28 degrees with light snow off and on. “I’m not going.” I said to myself. In an effort to figure out my next career move, I had self committed to going to this protest as an exercise to take photos and tell a story. I made this commitment to myself when I had much more caffeine, motivation and the weather was in the 50’s. Knowing my penchant for blowing things off lately for absolutely any and all reasons, I committed to bringing down some light stands that I sold to Katie, a colleague who lived close to the capital. I knew by doing this, it would be harder to blow it off and lie to myself since I would be half way there. (Listen, I’m no Tony Robbins, I lie to myself all the time) I thought about canceling on Katie, but one of my stupid New Year's resolutions was to keep the plans I made. So I packed the light stands in my car, my two cameras, and warm clothes and headed off to Denver. I told myself, “I’ll just drop off the stands and drive by the capital, and if it’s worthwhile, mayyyybeee I’ll get out of my car….. Who am I kidding, I’m not going.”

I called my bestie Heather and told her my plan, “It’s just so cold, who is going to be there? I’ll drive by, but honestly, I’ll probably just go home.” As I got off the phone with her, Sunday Bloody Sunday was playing. I rolled my eyes, and took it as a sign that I better get my ass over there and try and do something with my life, no matter how uncomfortable or cold it is. (Yes, I’m the girl who looks for signs that probably don’t mean anything, and they dictate my life.)

I handed off the light stands to Katie, and she wished me luck at the protest. I said, “I don’t know if I’m going to go. It’s so cold. I doubt there will be many people there.” Katie said, “I know a few friends who are already there. There are people going, you need to go. Those stories need to be told.” With Katie’s wise words echoing in my mind, I drove off, and I knew what was in my future: photographs and cold cheeks.

Upon arriving at the front lawn of the capital, I saw two Trump supporters. Two. JUST TWO. I couldn’t decide if they were incredibly brave, or possibly suicidal. (Sorry, I know I shouldn’t say that, but listen, my thoughts are my thoughts.) I’m not going to lie, there is ZERO possibility I would do that. I hate myself enough for the rest of the world, I am for sure not running down to a rally to garner more hate my way. No, thank you, I’m all set with that. I circled around the area the Trump supporters were at for a while, curious to see how the growing crowd would react, and also concerned for their safety, as there was only the two of them. The protesters randomly yelled “Traitors” at them. One woman walked up to them and condescendingly started asking questions about their opinion of Trump and Musk. While I didn’t know what the goal of the Trump supporters was other than to stir the pot, I can say I’m tired of the name-calling on each side and everyone being so hateful and condescending. How about a conversation with no attacks and no high horse? I’m not sure this exact scenario is conducive to that outcome, but overall, that’s how I’m personally feeling. There were about 4 protest organizers who did keep them safe and keep things deescalated. I appreciated that a lot.

I walked around the rally as the crowd grew onto the street. There were a few people on bullhorns and a few chants. I looked at the empty capital building,and I wondered how effective this all was. I mean, it is a Federal holiday, after all, so it’s a protest to an empty building. However, more people with the day off could come down and voice their opinion and there is for sure strength in numbers. No real point to this question, just things I wonder.

In this moment, I look out in the crowd and am grateful for free speech.

The rally itself was peaceful, and after about an hour, the crowd poured into the street and marched down the streets of Denver, shouting various chants. If I’m being super honest, I can’t remember any of them because my focus was on taking photos, and I tend to hyper-focus and lose sense of my hearing. The crowd was very friendly, and although they were voicing their disapproval for what is going on in the government, it never once felt hateful, and I never once felt unsafe. As someone who has become quite hesitant about crowds, I was grateful for the feeling safe. At one point, I ran ahead of the march to take photos, and the organizers yelled at me not to run. I stopped running and respected and appreciated their work to keep the crowd safe all around.

At around 2pm, I veered off from the march and headed home. I was glad I didn’t listen to myself and I got out there. My cheeks stayed cold and my creativity and winter layers kept me warm. I’m hoping to get out and do more documentation on everything. My goal is to keep this little blog going, now that I quit worrying about client expectations and SEO. So if you want to hear more of my silly little stories and dumb perspectives, stay tuned. Fingers crossed, I will be keeping more promises to myself.