{"id":46695,"date":"2021-11-08T23:52:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-09T04:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/?p=46695"},"modified":"2021-11-09T00:30:48","modified_gmt":"2021-11-09T05:30:48","slug":"flashback-the-best-day-of-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendybrandes.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/flashback-the-best-day-of-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Flashback: The Best Day of 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

\"\"
“Fuck Your Fence” photo by George De Castro Day.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

THE BIG MOMENT.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was in Washington because of #TrumpRat<\/a>, a 16′ tall piece of inflatable protest art that was the brainchild of New York City gallerist John Post Lee of Bravinlee Programs<\/a> and artist Jeffrey Beebe. Since the winter of 2017, John and activist\/photographer George De Castro Day<\/a> 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<\/a>, 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 <\/em>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<\/a>, sometimes in Brooklyn<\/a>, sometimes in Washington — and anxiously asking, “Are you okay with that?” whenever George lugged the rat and its gear to a new location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here’s how the rat traveled — rolled up into this big tarp. The generator is the red object in the foreground.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> in McPherson on Friday, November 6, while state election officials were still counting the votes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for my original Nov. 6, 2020, Instagram post.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> — while he directed the march, wrangled the generator, and debated the police. A master of multi-tasking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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George De Castro Day, in a Rise and Resist t-shirt, explaining the 1st Amendment rights of inflatable rats to cops on D.C.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I “assisted” by running alongside and taking video<\/a> of the rat on the move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for my full IG video.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The rat had never marched before — this was totally spontaneous and amazingly well-executed on George’s part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
This is my photo. Click to see Tyrone Turner’s photo for DCist.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click and turn your volume up to hear people singing goodbye.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit goes to “kcfelzener666” who is no longer on Instagram.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Daily Beast reported<\/a>, “Dozens of people in the nation\u2019s capital marched a gigantic inflatable rat wearing an oversized suit and red tie to the White House, chanting the chorus to Steam\u2018s ‘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<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Click for the video via Yahoo.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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: “\u2018It Feels Glorious\u2019: Democrats Across the U.S. Finally Exhale\u2014for Now.” (My less-fancy blog version of that was “Relaxing With Joe Biden … Not!<\/a>“) 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.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by George De Castro Day<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

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November 13, 2020.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Even after this January’s violent insurrection at the Capitol, the Nation’s “Farewell to a Monster<\/a>” 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<\/a>,” to borrow the words of Auschwitz freedom fighter R\u00f3\u017ca Robota. We live to fight another day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. 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,…<\/p>\n

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