During the months after the Election of 2016, a new movement was born. Whether you call it a resistance, a revolution, or a Democratic resurgence doesn’t much matter, but it started with the Women’s March on Washington and still goes on today. One such meeting took place recently at the UAW Hall in Maugansville. Over 200 people gathered, eager to do something to register their disapproval with the direction of the new administration in Washington, D.C. and to protect their endangered rights and causes.

These actions, while not unheard of in the history of the United States, are certainly a surprise because of their decentralized origin and the large numbers of people who have never been very involved in political action suddenly bursting onto the scene. Many groups in our area are doing their best to help with the care a feeding of this movement: the United Democrats of Washington County, the Democratic Women of Washington County, the Democratic Club of Washington County, the Washington County Democratic Central Committee, #Resist: Hagerstown, #Resist:Maryland, Indivisible of Western Maryland, and Our Revolution of Western Maryland to name a just a few and there will probably be more as people who cannot find a group to join, create their own rather than sit back and wait.

The state and national political parties are too large and institutionalized for this kind of grassroots organizing and the people, too impatient. It is said of Democrats that getting them to head in one direction is like “herding cats” and there is something of that in this movement as well, but the amazing thing is that people continue to want to participate.

If you are interested in finding a group or groups that fit this mold, I recommend Facebook.com and Meetup.com. Just type in one or all of the names above. Most likely you will find an angry, but enthusiastic group to your liking. You will see some faces repeated at various meetings, but there will always be new people. If you find a group which doesn’t fit your needs, try another. The main thing is to remember that this is not a sprint, but a marathon. This is not a sprint, but a marathon.

Now is not the time to wait for orders, but if you are truly at a loss, you can find others who have been at this a little longer and have some ideas of what to do. You will find that through their common members, these groups are networked and are working towards the same basic goals. I have heard the complaint that there are too many different groups. This is an excuse for doing nothing or slowing down the progress of others. This does not “spread people too thin”, but there are those who want to be involved in more than one group because of extra time or extra motivation. Join us.