I just love Democracy. And I really love democracy when extremely disparate groups come together and join in peaceful, public demonstration in support of it. And, this afternoon on my campus in Appalachia I had a chance too see how awesome that can be.
A very disparate, grassroots group of students started planning six days ago for a rally in honor of the Egyptian push for democracy, which was put together by both domestic, international, and even Egyptian undergraduates. The turnout was very good, and other than one local reporter pushing a couple of students on some tendentious questions about the Muslim Brotherhood's involvement in the Cairo demonstrations, it was all extremely positive. I saw students and faculty from secular, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim associations all in attendance, side-by-side. I ran into some of my former students and my minister friend all in attendance.
One of my co-workers teaches a class on space, resistance and public discourse, and last Friday her students largely told her that they didn't think people could just get together and proclaim their views in public like this. I saw her taking surveys and interviews with some of the participants just to show her students that, yes, they can publicly call each other to action. Here are some pics of the event for you!
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