Supporters lined the brick streets near Albion’s historic post office, part of the city’s National Historic District. Passing cars honked, waved, and gave thumbs-up in support, while a few others expressed disagreement with a different kind of gesture.
By SYLVIA BENAVIDEZ
Contributing Writer
Moral Monday protests in Albion continue even as many of the Monday protesters attended Saturday’s No King Kings rally in the city. Up to 45 people in the public area in front of the Albion Post Office were waving banners, ringing bells and beating tambourines in response to the steady honking of horns from the drivers passing by them on North Superior Street.
Saturday No Kings protest was the second nationwide but Albion’s first as one of No King’s movement location. However, Moral Monday in Albion has taken place since May.
“I think this is the 24th Moral Monday that we’ve done, but because No Kings was a national protest, we thought we would join in. In June we decided people should go to Battle Creek or Jackson. We have a lot of Jackson support here. This time people said we should do something here,” said Wesley Dick, the organizer of Moral Mondays and a PHD, Professor Emeritus Albion College.
Registering with No Kings brought many new faces to Saturday’s rally, so much so, they spilled over to Molder Park because they surged at times to 200 attendees. Dick explained, “We had the homecoming students wanting to know what was going on in Albion and they participated, and we were listed in the national register of No Kings. They could sign up online so we had people that are not normally here. Most exciting thing was we had a group of students coming from Homecoming who were part of the antiapartheid divestment fight on campus to free Nelson Mandela and end apartheid in South Africa, so they became politically engaged in the 1980’s on that issue. They were here for Homecoming. They came in inflatable animal suits, uniforms and other things. They give an additional vibe to the session because they were dancing.”
Several of Saturday’s protestors came back again Monday because of their commitment to raising awareness about important issues they feel are dividing the country and damaging democracy. Albion Resident Tom Hunsdorfer attended both days of protests.
Hunsdorfer shared he has been aboard several times and explained why he was holding a “Feed the Children” sign. “…I’ve been lucky over the years to go to a number of less developed countries, I have seen where food aid and other lifesaving support from the United States government keeps children alive and people alive so it is painful to see the cuts that were lifesaving but also a good representation of the best of the United States that we care about all people. So, I think I would like our government to change how it is doing some things. I think there is some unnecessary harshness and roughness in the policies that are coming out of Washington. So, I hope there will be positive change and hope that we can be more respectful of each other and more civil with each other.”
Other people raised issues on the care of the elderly, the future of the youth, and availability and affordability of medical care throughout the United States. One Albion senior, Martha O’Kennon, PHD, professor emeritus Albion College shared, “Money is being siphoned off from things that we need. Money is being siphoned off from medical care.” She believes that because of the large number of older adults using Medicare has a better chance of staying. “But I don’t know, you never know when it’s going to go away.”
On the other side of the spectrum is Karen Gremore in her early 30s and studying counseling at Western Michigan University. She went to school in Albion and graduated from Albion College. She has never been, as she put it, a big fan of politics but felt it necessary to come out and protest in Albion. “I am concerned about due process and kids growing up right now without much of a future. I fear the worst because the signs are there. The National Guard deployment. The commander-and-chief comments and his lack of responses to everything. He is not interested in unifying the country. His comments about people who aren’t white and how he wants to get rid of people,” said Gremore.
The clergy was also represented at Monday’s rally. Reverend Charlotte Ellison, Albion, shared her concern about the damage being done to the understanding of Christianity and the democratic process, she said, “The other thing that’s closest to my heart is the misappropriation of being identified as Christians (by) those who are embracing Christian Nationalism which is clearly not orthodox Christianity. Christian Nationalism is behaving like a cult. It may or may not be a cult, but it’s certainly behaving like one …I have deep concerns about the simple erosion of an understanding of common discourse and objective discourse. By no means am I saying democrats are flawless and republicans are all to be vilified, but the people that have embraced the energy that is driving forward to attack our Constitution and our institutions and the damage that is being done should not be underestimated.”
Dick said the protests will continue in some fashion despite the coming cold.
