WENDELL — More than 30 American flags fluttered in the wind on Wendell Town Common Saturday afternoon, held high by local residents who joined together to sing “This Land is Your Land.”
Men and women, mostly Wendell residents, took turns stepping up to a red, white and blue “First Amendment” soap box to share their feelings about President Donald Trump, his administration and most importantly, the American flag.
The demons“tration, named “Take Back the Flag,” was organized by Wendell resident Morgan Mead, who felt as if the right wing has appropriated the flag. While at the Women Standing Our Ground rally in Greenfield on Jan. 21, Mead said, that became clear to him.
“Two people came up to me and told me I should be careful flying the flag because it makes me look like a Trump supporter,” Mead said. “I don’t know how flying the flag became divisive … I’m not trying to take (the flag) away from anybody, I’m just trying to say it’s ours, too.”
The flag, he said, should be considered a symbol of hope, flying during America’s darkest days, like the attack on Pearl Harbor, and during its historic steps forward, like the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
“It’s hard to rally around a symbol, but not when it stands for unity for all,” Wendell resident Jim Thornley said.
Wendell resident Rosie Heidkamp stepped up to the soap box to remind the crowd that “patriotism is different from nationalism.”
“That idea has helped me to reclaim this flag,” she said.
However, the gathering gave speakers the chance to do more than reclaim their flag. They also spoke out against the Trump administration’s recent actions.
“It concerns me to see the U.S. treating immigrants and refugees the way they are now,” Wendell resident Ray DiDonato said, referring to Trump’s travel ban.
The speakers, one after another, called for action and continued mobilization. Wendell resident Angie Ferris remembered hoping after the Women’s March on Washington that the march wouldn’t be a one-time resistance effort. Instead, she said, demonstrations have popped up across the country, creating a “network of resistance.”
“It’s really beautiful to see all these people that I know coming together,” Ferris said of the Wendell gathering. “I’m really happy to see it on a local level.”
“Trump has been a unifier, but maybe not in the way he expected,” DiDonato added.
Wendell resident Nina Keller recounted feeling as if “we don’t have a government,” but said she gained hope by remembering local and state governments.
“That’s where we can have our hope,” Keller said, urging residents to take an interest in the governance of their communities.
The more than 30 men and women also passed around a donation bucket, collecting $287 and change, which Mead said would be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union.