{"id":7848,"date":"2025-10-19T10:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T14:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aboutrc.com\/?p=7848"},"modified":"2026-01-05T01:23:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T06:23:47","slug":"the-day-after-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aboutrc.com\/?p=7848","title":{"rendered":"The Day After Tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the middle of the afternoon, I caught myself just watching\u2014grateful, awed\u2014by what the folks behind the No Kings<\/strong> protests had pulled off. By nightfall, reports said that more than seven million<\/strong> people had marched across the country. Seven million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That they\u2019ve managed to do this twice<\/em> is extraordinary. Most of the people who made it happen will never be known. They\u2019ll go unnamed, unthanked, and that\u2019s fine with them\u2014their mission has always been to bring awareness to the seriousness of this moment. They deserve every ounce of credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this isn\u2019t really about them<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about us<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2e3b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Revolution Looks Like a New Year\u2019s Eve Broadcast<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I watched the coverage, I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that I was watching a holiday special instead of a reckoning. Studio panels. Field correspondents running around trying to find the next person in an inflatable costume to interview for a soundbite. It was absurd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looked like a New Year\u2019s Eve broadcast<\/strong>, just with protest signs instead of party hats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We already know the hot take: what the so-called \u201cking\u201d is doing is awful. That\u2019s not news. The question that kept nagging me was, what happens the day after tomorrow?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I believe in protest. I\u2019ve marched. I\u2019ve chanted until my throat hurt. But I can\u2019t shake the image of Trump, Vance, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, and Tom Homan sitting somewhere in the White House, watching the footage, smirking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their collective response: No.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re watching three branches of government – spineless\u2014unwilling or unable to act as a bulwark against what increasingly feels like a fascist takeover. Every protest brings a heavier hand. Every cry for justice meets more unqualified soldiers \u201ckeeping order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thirteen people have died in ICE custody, and there\u2019s not even a flicker of moral recognition from those responsible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s only consistent skill has been to double down\u2014and then triple down. So I keep asking myself: what comes next, when everyone goes home?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2e3b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Theater of Doing Something<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I can already picture it: the millions who will wake up feeling proud they \u201cdid their part.\u201d Signs in recycling bins. Social-media posts fading down the feed. By Monday, the moment\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tell ourselves we\u2019ve participated in the highest form of civic engagement\u2014what now feels like activist theater<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m old enough to remember Kony 2012<\/strong>, when an entire generation went to war with an internet villain\u2014until they forgot to keep caring. It was the birth of the slacktivist era: change your profile pic, hashtag your outrage, then move on to the next cause du jour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You hold up a clever sign, bask in the crowd\u2019s energy, and that becomes your \u201ccivic duty.\u201d But when Monday comes, it\u2019s back to email, back to errands, while real people keep suffering beneath the surface\u2014voices drowned out by the hum of normalcy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2e3b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Community Actually Says<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that day, I talked to people in immigrant communities\u2014the ones living this nightmare every day. When I asked what they thought of the protests, the most common responses were sighs, eye-rolls, and the occasional \u201cpendejadas<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em> (stupidy, nonsense, but more a bunch of crap)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They don\u2019t need theater. They need action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cook I know shrugged: \u201cThat stuff doesn\u2019t pertain to us. We just keep working and hope for the best.\u201d Others were harsher: \u201cThose are the actions of the entitled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been in rural homes where you can see the road for miles\u2014enough warning to spot ICE before they reach the driveway. Inside those homes, children play on plastic jungle gyms that belong outside. Think about that level of fear: to keep your kids\u2019 playsets indoors because visibility itself feels dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These families don\u2019t get the privilege of marching. For them, survival is the protest.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2e3b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pride Merch, Protests, and Performative Morality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The No Kings marches reminded me of when Target and Starbucks rolled out their Pride lines. At first, it felt good\u2014like recognition. And then it felt hollow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The minute a few loud voices pushed back, the same corporations folded, shoving \u201callyship\u201d back into the closet. Performative morality has a short shelf life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to celebrate a sign that says \u201cThe only orange you love is Otto\u201d<\/em> when the same university cuts diversity programs until students feel like ghosts.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Or when that same university pauses programs “..amid Portfolio Review” that deal with things like African-American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Modern Jewish Studies. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to rally for justice when lawyers capitulate. It\u2019s hard to shout about truth when newsrooms keep cutting Black, Latino, and trans journalists, explaining it away as \u201ceconomic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, you start to wonder if our only recognized value is economic<\/strong>, not human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2e3b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Day After Tomorrow<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, what we achieved today was<\/em> extraordinary. I\u2019m genuinely grateful to the No Kings movement for lighting up this dark chapter in our history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just hope that tomorrow\u2014and the day after tomorrow\u2014the flame doesn\u2019t die out. That the seven million who took to the streets carry even a spark of that energy forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because movements don\u2019t end when the chants fade. They end when conviction does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And conviction is built one small, stubborn act at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here\u2019s my hope: that everyone who marched on Saturday promises themselves just one thing\u2014to do one thing a day<\/strong> that makes this better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for the spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not for the hashtag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for the people who can\u2019t afford to wait for the next performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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