Democracy Dies in Silence

 

9/1/25 Protest rally on I-5 overpass, Wallingford neighborhood

Labor Day saw protest rallies across the country. Historically, the day has been used to raise awareness of workers’ issues. This year the signs I saw covered those as well as a wide range of other social injustices and atrocities brought forward by the current presidential administration.

Standing on the Interstate 5 overpass at Northeast 50^th Street, each participant of a local group called Alphabet Resistance held one letter so that the combined signs read “WORKERS OVER BILLIONAIRES,” the theme of Monday’s protests, visible to cars on I-5 passing underneath. Upon a cue from a leader, all participants turned their signs around so that the message changed. (Since I was viewing them from the opposite side of 50^th instead of the freeway, their messages were always backward to me, and I didn’t find out what the alternate message was.)

Other activists carried individual signs: “Crush ICE,” “Democracy Dies in Silence” and “Trump Has Liabetes.” Many carried US flags, too. Cars passing on 50^th continually honked their support of the protesters, who waved back in appreciation.

This protest was one of several held in various parts of Seattle that day.

9/1/25 photo reference

After I shared these sketches on social media, a Facebook friend suggested that we were preaching to the choir in liberal Seattle. I disagree. I don’t think trying to change anyone’s mind is the purpose of such rallies. When I’m reading the news alone at home, I often find myself becoming discouraged and despondent. Attending and reporting on these rallies with my sketches always boost my spirits by reminding me that I’m not alone. That’s the meaning of solidarity. If we have opinions about the state of our country (and its effects on the world), we should express them freely in whatever way feels right for us. As the sign said, democracy dies in silence.

Sketch journal process note: I had meant to make one sketch in my daily sketch journal while I was on location so that I would have the event documented there too, but I forgot. After I got home, I used a photo I had snapped of some participants as a reference to sketch in my journal (at right). Although I’m fine with making most of my sketches in multiple books simultaneously (eight currently in progress), I enjoy having the sketch journal as a single place to keep select life events chronologically recorded.