I am standing, and I refuse to be silenced

by Rhiannon Woo

This morning I woke up at 4:27 a.m., kissed my sleeping child goodbye and drove north into a torrential downpour. Unlike the other drivers on the road, I was not embarking on my daily commute but into a new era of my life. I was stepping out of the cover of the policy roundtable conference calls and the quiet activism of submitting comments to agencies and into the bright daylight of public demonstrating.

Today, as President Trump took his oath of office, I stood with 4 National Park Rangers and directed people decked out in purple towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The organizers of the event, Bridge Together Golden Gate, emphasized from the earliest inception of the activity that this was a demonstration and not a protest. This really resonated with me. I don’t want to focus on the things I am against. I want to emphasize what I stand for — voter access, reproductive freedom, racial justice, equal pay, equal rights, healthcare as a human right.

So today, I woke up in the pre-dawn hours and drove into horrible weather to stand up for what I believe in. I volunteered with this event because I wanted the participants to feel how strong we are when we stand together.

Today, I helped 3,500 people stand together and be seen. We stood up for 3,500 reasons, but we also stood up for one reason. We are stronger when we stand together. We are louder when we speak together. Together We Will be greater than those who come against us.