Power to the People!
- Cheryl Alterman | The Music Soup Editor
- Apr 6
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 6
No terror, no vandelism, no violence, no deaths and definitley no pooping on peoples' desks!...Only peaceful protests all across the United States and beyond. All to speak up against tRump, Musk, the administration and their regime!
So far, the rough estimate of protesters that showed up in droves on April 5, 2025, at thousands of locations all over this country is roughly 3.5 million. After being present at my local event where thousands showed up, and seeing footage of the others all over the country and the world....I think the tally may have exceeded that number!
'HandsOff' was the title of this protest that took place in thousands of cities, both large and small, reddest of the red and blue alike, all across the U.S.A! At least 1400 demonstrations that we know of. That's not including the protests across the globe, outside of America. We've not ever seen this much resistance since....hmmm....well perhaps ever in my lifetime!
Some were saying that the Vietnam war protests that spanned over a decade were reminiscent of the events happening on this day against tRump. There were many protestors at this event that I spoke to that were there then and they all said the same thing, "I havent seen this much resistance since those days". Whilst talking to my friend, Bob Herr who was at those Vietnam protests, said that "they spanned over a decade until something got done". He add that "they were very similar to what he was seeing at this HandsOff rally" yesterday. We agreed that we hope this change doesn't take as long as those for Vietnam because the prospect of that thought, would no doubt be a complete disaster for this country as we have known it since the beginning. My friend, Kathy Garvin, attended her local 'HandsOff' protest in Eugene Oregon was also at the Vietnam marches in the 60s, she described exactly what Bob said about those protests.
In present day, the only other time this many people gathered in resistance, was at the Womens' Marches in March of 2017. These were also against the same inept orange lying felon in the White House. But this time, today, the numbers of protesters are higher!
The 'HandsOff" protests were not only in the U.S.A. but they also took place in Canada, all across Europe, in Berlin, London, Paris etc., and also in so many other parts of the world. In my lifetime I'd never seen anything like this mass gathering of resistance globally before!
We are protesting tRump and Musks' regime to put an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of this administration. Ending the slashing of federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on. To stop the firing of so many experts in top commanding positions, administrative and across the board of lifelong federal workers that have devoted their lives to their jobs. And to put an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities. Those who are losing their jobs are in the thousands, not due to bad work ethics or negative employee reports, as most of them have excellent employee reports in their files, and they are still terminated from their positions. This IS illegal! Some who have been employed for decades. Many have devoted their entire lives to be where they are now in their job. Some have been let go for no reason or simply for their personal views on this administration. Having nothing to do with their on the job productivity. Most have been terminated because tRump and Musk simply want to pocket the money that we spend on employing these people. (Thats how Putin got so wealthy, this is how he did it!) Many of these employees are top experts in their field.
We have all seen what's going on and many of us have thankfully not imbibed in the 'kool aid' like the MAGA cult, so we see clearly as to what's happening at this time. We remember Hitler. We believe in science, climate change, and history. And if all else fails....We have books to show us what happened in Germany nearly a hundred years ago. Some who are still alive even have experienced this in their lifetime. Innocent legal immigrants are being deported. DEI is being eliminated. Books are being banned! Words are being banned! And due to the psychotic former heroine addict RFK, we now have a Measles outbreak (and deaths) in at least three states. Upon orders of the orange moron, the Washington Post has even banned the word, "Gay" and had it replaced with the word "homosexual" so if your name is Gay Smith for example, in the Washington Post it will say, Homosexual Smith instead. Enola Gay, the famous historical Boeing B-29 bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, will now be deleted from history books due to the name of the plane! All on tRumps orders. Speaking of stupid...last week was another huge major fuck up with the security leak text thread by one of the other giant incompetent idiots in the tRump administration of clowns, Pete Hegseth. This all has GOT TO STOP!
I know we all see it, or at least half of us do, so to avoid getting my blood pressure up whilst writing this I'll just repeat what the spiritual leader Edward Viljoen said this morning, (on the radio show I listen to every Sunday 8.30-9am). Whilst Edward was speaking about the world today, he said, "Care, connect, gather and love each other". I am completely on board with his words. I even wore a tee shirt to the protest that goes with Edwards' words, "Love is the Answer". I know that it's a very simplistic way to think, but it's a helluva lot better than the alternative! Empathy is key apparently. And empathy is something that narcissists lack.
Being that this is mainly a music publication I think of all the songs in our soundtrack of our lives that are all about love. from the ever loving sixties to today. There are artists that when thought of, we think of peace, love, happiness and kindness. I don't drink alcohol anymore but I am offering a toast to hoping there's an end to these dark times, very very soon. Please be kind to each other, and as always, remember, "Life is short...break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, meditate often, be kind to each other, and never regret anything that made you smile". And of course...see live music!
With peace, love, art and music,
Cheryl ☮ ❤️🎵
©Cheryl Alterman Photography 2025
I am encouraged seeing so many people protest!