To the Editor:

The Constitution guarantees the right to assembly, and Americans continue to exercise that right throughout history. In the 1900s, we marched for women’s suffrage; in the 1930s, we marched for workers’ rights; in the 1960s, we marched for civil rights; in the 1970s, we marched for peace. Never before in the history of American non-violent protest were these marches joined by people from all around the world. 

The Women’s March the day after the inauguratio was a worldwide phenomenon of epic proportions. In hundreds of cities around the world, thousands participated, totaling millions of people worldwide. While these events were organized by women, the point of the marches was not limited to issues affecting women. The march was a show of solidary and an affirmation of human rights. It was a coming together to gather strength and inspiration from one another.

 I, for one, am grateful that I live in a country where the transfer of power shifts without bloodletting. That said, it is important to remember that, while the electoral college handed us a new president, the result was not the will of the majority. The elections of 2016 and 2000 are the only times in modern history when the American public was forced to accept a president not elected by the majority of its people. But government is not perfect and we live with the consequences. It is not too early to begin to think about the elections of 2018 and 2020.

 Over the next four years, no doubt, American institutions will be dismantled. We face the dissolution of Social Security, a program that has helped Americans for the better part of a century. We face the erosion of Medicare, an insurance program that provides care to seniors. We face the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and a return to people paying into a system when they are healthy, only to find their insurance denied when they need it most. We face the return to an environment where clean water and clean air are no longer priorities. We face the loss of a minuscule amount of the federal budget that supports community programming under the NEA, NEH and PBS.

Still, we should take heart. Never before in history, have people from all around the world joined America to affirm our concerns and to support our democracy.

Anna Fariello

Cullowhee