A perfect one-two punch in the air presented itself to my wife and I last week to mourn, scream and protest an unpresidented situation in America.
On Friday night, Frank Turner spit truth to power on stage at The Fillmore, leaving us full-throated and raspy voiced by the end of it all. As the unmerciful house lights were thrown on and canned music replaced the still ringing final chords and snare drum vibrations of the band, as we shuffled our way out into the cold wet air of winter, we felt emboldened for the first time in months.
“And I still believe in the need,
For guitars and drums and desperate poetry.
And I still believe that everyone,
Can find a song for every time they’ve lost and every time they’ve won…Now who’d have thought that after all,
Something as simple as rock ‘n’ roll would save us all.”
The next morning I scooped up our daughters from their sleepover at mom mom and pop pop’s house, our daughters who are the future voices and faces of ‘not putting up with patriarchy bullshit’, and we headed back into the city to march in solidarity with tens of thousands of wives, partners, sisters, daughters, husbands, dads, brothers, sons, grandfathers, priests and a few dogs too in Philly, but also in unison with millions of people worldwide.
I was heartened to see so many people, more than the organizers expected, coming together to express themselves, their concerns, and their love of country and community. I got choked up looking at all the fellas who were there beside me, because real men support equality for all, real men aren’t afraid of strong women, real men aren’t lying, ignorant, greedy, fear-mongering, violent, bigoted, racist pigs, and real men don’t need to oppress others to feel strong and powerful and important.
All of the shit America has brought upon itself recently has reawakened the 17-year-old punk rock indie kid in me. Granted, that kid has never really gotten a sound sleep but he’s wide the fuck awake now. No matter what happens from here, my daughters will always know that their dad wasn’t silent and that he didn’t just talk talk talk about the things that needed to be changed or prevented or reestablished, nor was he seated politely on the sidelines waiting for braver folks to act locally and globally.
From our entertainment choices — minority and women authors, musicians, filmmakers — to more volunteer work, to watching more of and actively showing up to support female athletics, and so much more, we are committed to making our world, the one that exists inside and out of our home, a better, more just, more fair and more respectful place.
The females in my life are strong as hell and won’t go quietly into the night.
Photo by Mouse
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