After the November election, Montgomery County’s Danielle Phillips heard about the People’s March that’s been planned for Saturday in advance of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Grateful that folks who share her thirst for social justice were gathering in Washington, D.C., to be heard, she and her colleague Stephanie Vincent decided it might be a good idea to hold a satellite event a little closer to home. The women wanted to offer activists and concerned citizens an opportunity to network, find local resources, and build connections that would strengthen the safety net needed by folks who’d hoped that there’d be a different person – one who better represented their ideals – sworn in this Monday.
“We decided that we wanted to have an action in Montgomery County primarily because this is where we live, work and where our children go to school and where our community is,” Phillips explained.
But it’s a little more than that too.
Phillips feels the weight of being a Pennsylvania voter, especially in one of Philadelphia’s collar counties where both presidential campaigns spent so much time and energy wooing voters. “It just so happens that Montgomery County also happened to be like ground zero for the last election.” When it came to planning a rally, Phillips says, “That wasn’t just merely a coincidence. I feel like in the nation’s swing counties, we’re one of the swingiest.”
And Montgomery County did swing. It swung so far to Kamala Harris that she bested Donald Trump by 119,692 votes with Harris receiving 317,103 votes to Trump’s 198,311.
“We are not okay with our neighbors living in fear and feeling that they have no support, and feeling that the vast power of the government, the federal government, could be coming after them,” said rally co-organizer Danielle Phillips.
But in Bucks County – not so much. In fact, the vote was so tight in Montgomery’s neighboring county that Trump barely bested Harris with a surplus vote of just 291. The tight vote might explain why a People’s Rally hasn’t been planned for Doylestown the way it was for Norristown.
This Saturday from noon to 3 p.m., rain or shine at the Montgomery County Courthouse Steps in Norristown, amidst music, dance and comradery, speakers will discuss topics such as reproductive rights, immigration, homelessness, trans rights, youth political power, DEI and climate change.
A laundry list of social justice agencies will be in attendance, tabling and sharing information about how to get involved.
Speakers include Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder, State Senator Amanda Cappelletti, and Catherine Miller-Wilson from HIAS Pennsylvania, a subsidiary of the world’s oldest immigrant aid society.
Phillips explained that the speakers will reflect the needs that the community has assessed as most concerning, “Topics we know are going to come under attack in the next four years. We decided to find speakers who are experts in these fields and invite them to come and speak about what is the real threat.”
As an attorney who has advocated for individuals she feels will be most at risk following Monday’s inaugural, Phillips knows that preparing for a repeat of the policies of the first Trump presidency – or even worse new ones – is vital. “We are not okay with our neighbors living in fear and feeling that they have no support, and feeling that the vast power of the government, the federal government, could be coming after them.”
And then there’s the universal existential threat to the planet.
Former Bucks County public defender, Liz Green Schultz, who now works for Clean Air Action Fund and hosts a podcast with fellow environmental activist Sean Hoffman, will tackle that issue head on.
On their program, Cleaning Up Dirty, Schultz and Hoffman speak with PA lawmakers and activists. They deal with more generalized issues including social justice as well as environmental peril. Despite how gloomy their truths may be, Hoffman – a Langhorne native himself – would encourage folks to face the next four years with a little more spring in their step.
Hoffman feels that it’s the only way anything will get accomplished. “We have to be hopeful. What’s the alternative? There are plenty of data points and things we could look at for despair. We should do this [get active] for the people and the planet. The climate crisis is absolutely an existential crisis.” But, Hoffman wishes to remind others, “the beauty and the madness of our American system is that if the American people didn’t get it right – another election is just four years down the road.”
READ: With Trump’s Second Term Looming, the Climate Movement Is Putting Class Issues Center Stage
Schultz agrees. Following her time as a Bucks County attorney representing indigent folks who lacked the resources to defend themselves, she dabbled in politics. That’s where she learned some of the biggest lessons of her life when talking to people who think differently and – more importantly – vote differently. “In order to work with people across the aisle we have to work on our shared goals. I’m very mindful of language but also perspective and values.”
For Shultz – environmental stewardship is one of the goals people must come together to solve. “We have to open a dialogue with everyone irrespective of belief. That’s what America’s about.”
Saturday, Schultz will tackle an enormous issue in a very local way. “I’m speaking on climate change. Specifically, trying to speak to all people and it’s an issue that everybody needs to tune into.” She’s taking the time to share her message at the Montgomery County People’s Rally because, “I get hope when I engage locally. Most voters are focused on national elections where they really have the least power. Local elections can be decided by a dozen votes.”
And it’s worth her time and effort to share that message in the collar counties of Pennsylvania. “Pennsylvania is a fossil fuel state. We’re in the top four in the country for every dirty energy source and you can name. Township level elected officials are in the best positions to protect your air and water from being poisoned by industry. But how many people can name their Township level officials?”
Come Saturday, Schultz along with organizers Phillips and Vincent hope to expand the number of persons who can answer that question positively – starting with Commissioner Winder, State Senator Cappelletti, Senator Haywood and Hias’ Miller-Wilson in attendance – and working to encourage voters to familiarize themselves with the rest of their representatives who, as Schultz puts it, we been “stoking to fight with each other instead of actually fixing societal problems.”
With a strong message of unity and community, the organizers of Saturday’s event hope that residents from all across eastern Pennsylvania will take the time to learn that they’re not alone.
Organizers request that attendees register, if possible, for the The People’s Rally here.
Saturday’s Speakers include: Keynote Speaker, Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder; State Senator Amanda Cappelletti; PA Youth Vote – Angie Hinton; Clean Air Council – Liz Schultz; Daydream Kreative – Nahjee Grant; ACLU PA – Naiymah Sanchez, Trans Justice Coordinator; Norristown Hospitality Center – Sunanda Charles; HIAS – Cathryn Miller-Wilson, Esq; Accesso Care – Esther Hio-Tong Castillo, Ph.D. 鄭曉彤; Temple Law Tax Professor – Omeed Firouzi; State Senator Art Haywood and Put People First – Anita Knisely-Durham. Sign Language Interpreters provided by Deaf-Hearing Communication Centre, Inc.
