by
Vivia
Chen)
Ed.
note:
Please
welcome
Vivia
Chen
back
to
the
pages
of
Above
the
Law.
Subscribe
to
her
Substack,
“The
Ex-Careerist,” here.
YOU
BET
I
WENT
to
the
“No
Kings”
protest.
Despite
all
the
sage
advice
on
how
to
stay
below
the
radar,
I’m
outing
myself.
I’m
telling
you
I
was
there
in
Bryant
Park,
right
smack
in
the
middle
of
Manhattan,
holding
my
handmade
sign
in
the
drizzling
rain
on
Saturday,
June
14.
I
would
not
have
missed
it,
though
lots
of
folks
in
my
friend
group
sat
it
out.
“I’m
getting
a
facial,
then
a
mani-pedi,”
one
friend
announced
when
I
asked
her
whether
she
planned
to
go
to
the
protest.
Another
said,
“Sorry.
Gotta
go
to
Costco!”
I
wasn’t
surprised
by
the
I-have-better-things-to-do
attitude
of
my
liberal
cohorts.
I
sort
of
expected
it.
(I
have
bougie
friends,
okay?)
But
what
stunned
me
was
the
fear voiced
by
others
in
my
circle
–
those
who
pulled
me
aside,
lowered
their
voices,
and
warned
me
not
to
go.
“You
should
be
very,
very
careful,”
one
friend
whispered,
as
if
she
expected
someone
to
be
listening
in.
She
reminded
me
how
Donald
Trump
had
called
up
4,000
National
Guard
troops,
plus
700
Marines,
to
quash
the
anti-ICE
demonstrations
in
L.A.
“You
don’t
want
to
be
caught
in
something
that
turns
violent,”
she
warned,
as
if
I
was
considering
running
into
a
spray
of
bullets.
At
Pilates
that
morning,
an
acquaintance
gave
me
the
look
of
a
worried
mother.
“There
could
be
agitators.
And,
you
know,
Trump
could
use
that
as
an
excuse
to
order
shooting.”
Another
cautioned:
“Safety
first,
then
protest.”
I
know
they
mean
well.
But
still.
How
did
we
become
such
chickenshits? As
recently
as
seven
or
eight
months
ago,
I
doubt
anyone
would
have
regarded
participating
in
a
political
demonstration
as
a
dangerous
act.
I
mean,
we’re
not
in
Hong
Kong,
right?
Not
yet,
anyway.
But
Trump
has
cast
a
spell,
and
he
has
us
where
he
wants
us:
scared.
Even
before
a
baton
is
raised
or
an
order
issued,
we’re
already
doing
the
work
for
him
–
gagging
ourselves,
curbing
our
actions,
hiding
our
faces
or
retreating
to
our
homes.
It’s
acquiescence
borne
out
of
fear,
analogous
to
what
we’re
seeing
from
companies
and
law
firms
that
are paying
Trump billions
of
dollars,
cancelling
DEI
programs
or
contorting
themselves
to
align
with
this
administration’s
priorities.
And
the
left
is
complicit
in
stoking
this
culture
of
fear
too.
One
example
is
the
protest
tips
found
on
social
media.
While
the
ACLU
offers
a good
primer,
some
of
the
advice
offered
by self-designated
experts strikes
me
as
alarmist:
-
Bring
a
burner
phone
to
avoid
surveillance
and
data
collection
by
the
authorities. -
Don’t
wear
anything
distinctive
—
no
logos,
no
bright
colors. -
Cover
tattoos.
Cover
your
face
or
wear
a
mask. -
Don’t
post
photos
of
demonstrations
on
social
media,
unless
faces
are
blurred. -
Don’t
throw
away
personal
trash
that
might
contain
your
DNA.
Seriously?
That
last
bit
about
the
trash
made
me
laugh
uncontrollably.
Unless
you’re
a
murderer
on
the
lam,
planning
an
insurrection
or
prepping
for
the
next
edition
of Mission
Impossible,
these
precautions
feel
absurd.
And
counterproductive.
They
don’t
prepare
people;
they
terrify
them.
They
make
protesting
sound
illicit
and
perilous
—
something
that
requires
concealment.
(But
somehow
covering
your
face
while
carrying
a
giant
“Fuck
Trump”
sign,
like
the
guy
below,
is
practicing
discretion?)
Call
me
naive
and
cavalier. But
I
believe
if
you’re
going
to
protest,
own
it.
Frankly,
my
patience
wears
thin
with
the
hedgers,
the
ones
who
just
want
to
“blend”
into
the
crowd,
the
ones
who
want
to
make
a
statement
–
but
only
in
hushed
tones.
Isn’t
the
point
of
protesting
to
be
seen
and
heard?
Let’s
be
clear:
I
am
well
aware
of
how
far
Trump
has
pushed
this
country
toward
an
autocracy,
and
I
have my
own
reasons to
be
fearful.
I’m
also
fully
aware
that
none
of
these
protests
will
make
one
iota
of
difference
in
how
he
governs
(is
“governing”
the
right
word?)
this
country.
The
goal
was
never
to
change
his
mind.
I
protested
to
exercise
a
basic
right.
Like
voting.
Like
saying
whatever
I
damn
please.
Like
writing
this
opinion
piece.
And
the
more
those
rights
feel
imperiled,
the
more
I
feel
an
urgency
to
use
them.
So
until
we
descend
into
full
blown
authoritarianism
(six
months,
a
year,
next
week?
I’m
taking
bets),
I’ll
be
out
there
holding
my
little
sign.
Unblurred.
Uncovered.
Unbowed.
And
you
can
put
that
on
the
record.
SCENES
FROM
THE
NYC
NO
KINGS
RALLY:
Subscribe
to
read
more
at
The
Ex-Careerist….
Vivia
Chen writes “The
Ex-Careerist” column
on
Substack
where
she
unleashes
her
unvarnished
views
about
the
intersection
of
work,
life,
and
politics.
A
former
lawyer,
she
was
an
opinion
columnist
at
Bloomberg
Law
and
The
American
Lawyer.
Subscribe
to
her
Substack
by
clicking
here:
