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Flashback: The Best Day of 2020

November 8, 2021 by WendyB

One year ago today, I posed at the fence that the former guy had built around the White House to keep protestors at a distance.

“Fuck Your Fence” photo by George De Castro Day.

I was still feeling the pure joy of the previous day, when the 2020 presidential election was called for Joe Biden. At the moment that news broke on Nov. 7, 2020, I was in the perfect place to celebrate — McPherson Square, a park just blocks from the White House.

THE BIG MOMENT.

I was in Washington because of #TrumpRat, a 16′ tall piece of inflatable protest art that was the brainchild of New York City gallerist John Post Lee of Bravinlee Programs and artist Jeffrey Beebe. Since the winter of 2017, John and activist/photographer George De Castro Day had tirelessly organized protests featuring the Trump Rat in New York, D.C., and parts beyond. I was the newest and least helpful member of Team #TrumpRat. George and John were the longtime rat strategists (rat-egists?) and scheduled the appearances, while I could barely budge the heavy gas-run generator required to keep the rat inflated. At the many rat outings I attended in 2020, George did the heavy lifting (literally), revved the generator, explained the 1st Amendment to disapproving cops, and served as the rat’s official photographer. My job usually consisted of standing next to the rat with a sign — sometimes on the West Side Highway, sometimes in Brooklyn, sometimes in Washington — and anxiously asking, “Are you okay with that?” whenever George lugged the rat and its gear to a new location.

Here’s how the rat traveled — rolled up into this big tarp. The generator is the red object in the foreground.

Anyway, it was obvious to the whole team that Trump Rat needed to go to D.C. to await the election results. We first set the rat up in McPherson on Friday, November 6, while state election officials were still counting the votes.

Click for my original Nov. 6, 2020, Instagram post.

After enough people had taken photos that day, George recruited a team to carry the rat towards Black Lives Matter Plaza and the White House — while he directed the march, wrangled the generator, and debated the police. A master of multi-tasking!

George De Castro Day, in a Rise and Resist t-shirt, explaining the 1st Amendment rights of inflatable rats to cops on D.C.

I “assisted” by running alongside and taking video of the rat on the move.

Click for my full IG video.

The rat had never marched before — this was totally spontaneous and amazingly well-executed on George’s part.

This is my photo. Click to see Tyrone Turner’s photo for DCist.

An encore performance was demanded the following day — November 7 — when the election was called and the streets turned into one big, ecstatic party. First, in McPherson, George inflated the rat, deflated it, and re-inflated it for the public’s entertainment.

Click and turn your volume up to hear people singing goodbye.

Then he corralled another team of celebrants to carry the rat down H street so even more people could pose and pop bottles with it.

Photo credit goes to “kcfelzener666” who is no longer on Instagram.

The Daily Beast reported, “Dozens of people in the nation’s capital marched a gigantic inflatable rat wearing an oversized suit and red tie to the White House, chanting the chorus to Steam‘s ‘Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.'” I don’t have any personal video of that scene because I was under the inflatable, contributing some muscle to the group effort at last. But Storyful user “DCDebbie” caught the parade on camera, and Yahoo News picked it up from her.

Click for the video via Yahoo.

Of course, you can show a fascist the door, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to walk through it. The headline on the rat-mentioning Daily Beast story struck an appropriately ominous note: “‘It Feels Glorious’: Democrats Across the U.S. Finally Exhale—for Now.” (My less-fancy blog version of that was “Relaxing With Joe Biden … Not!“) I’m sure that vast numbers of the people dancing in the streets on Nov. 7, 2020, were aware that all our relief was just “for now.”

Photo by George De Castro Day

Tellingly, less than a week after the election was called, the Trump Rat was out with the activists of Rise and Resist at the offices of international law firm Jones Day, which was handling futile election lawsuits on behalf of Republicans.

November 13, 2020.

Even after this January’s violent insurrection at the Capitol, the Nation’s “Farewell to a Monster” headline — on an article that included a November 7 photo of Trump Rat — was clearly too optimistic because monsters have been spawned by the original one. But you know what? It’s okay — even essential — to be fully present in our happy moments and celebrate our accomplishments without inhibition. Moments of respite can help us “be strong and of good courage,” to borrow the words of Auschwitz freedom fighter Róża Robota. We live to fight another day!

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Filed Under: About Wendy, activism, In the News, pictures of me, politics Tagged With: #trumprat, bravinlee programs, trump rat, trump rat balloon

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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Original jewelry designs, photos and text are © Wendy Brandes 2007-2016. All rights reserved.

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