Last week on Saturday, April 5, nationwide protests were held under the banner of “Hands Off!,” a nonviolent coalition organizing against the actions of the current Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk’s role in it. Cumulative turnout numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Lewisburg’s own branch of the protest gathered on Sunday, April 6 in Hufnagle Park, with a group several hundred strong surrounding the central stage area of the outdoor venue, bearing signs and coordinating drumbeats and cheers of support for speakers. Protestors assembled from Lewisburg and the associated Bucknell community, with many coming from outside of Union County.
Sue Jamison of Lewisburg Beaver Memorial United Methodist Church opened the protest with a blessing, speaking to how “unity” and “working together” are, right now, key. “We deserve liberation, we deserve love and we deserve having a real government [that is] attentive to our needs,” Jamison reflected, before offering her prayer of empowerment, justice, freedom and “good things” to the crowd.
As a representative from Action Together’s East Pa. group, Rob Barkley took to the stage in the role of MC for the speaker lineup that followed his brief introduction. He posed a question to the protestors: “How many of y’all scared?” When almost the entire assembled group raised their hands, Barkley launched into a short speech about the values uniting everyone in attendance, and the importance of “lean[ing] on each other and fight[ing] together.” He, personally, was most motivated to attend on behalf of his mother, whose “fundamental right to vote” and rights of citizenship are being eliminated by “a democratic republic that’s currently behest to an oligarchy.”
Local resident and mother to a son with a progressive neuromuscular deterioration disease Kelly Kreisher, who also works as the Associate Director of Development, Strategic Philanthropy Programs & Education at Bucknell, delivered a speech detailing her lived experiences fighting for disability rights and supporting her son. Kreisher’s thesis was that “everyone deserves access to healthcare,” regardless of prior or chronic conditions, and that, often, receiving that healthcare — whether that be Medicaid as a minor or young adult, or having $19,000/week medications approved by private insurance — is the only way some individuals with disabilities are able to go to work, attend school and “contribute to society.” She reflected on her experiences at face-to-face meetings with elected representatives in D.C. who tried to assure her that their cuts to healthcare and related policies “w[ouldn’t] be for disabled people or kids,” but “couldn’t tell [her] how or [guarantee] that funding won’t be cut.” All the while, her son, a disabled kid, continues to be affected by these cuts.
Dr. Chris Dotterer, a local medical doctor who’s been practicing in Selinsgrove for over 20 years, also covered health insurance in her address. In short, she said, “it’s a lifesaver” — medical assistance “pays for 40% of all births and about 60% of elder care.” Government programs “prevent [the] spread” of disease and “bolster community strength.” Beyond scientific reasons for care, Dotterer said, there are “ethical” and “religious” reasons to “look out for [your] neighbors,” too; “people we don’t know also deserve to be treated well, [and] it’s our responsibility as Americans to take care of all of us.”
Father Kerry Walters, who spoke later on in the protest, agreed with Dotterer’s points. “Protest in this country is appropriate for religious culture,” he said, and “we need to call out these MAGAists who confuse their zealotry with what’s going on right now for [true] Christianity.” In short, “all human beings have inherent dignity.”
Jen Schneidman, alongside a few fellow local farmers, took to the stage to discuss how federal cuts have impacted farmers and food banks and limited a larger population’s reliable access to food. “We’re just a bunch of farmers,” Schneidman joked, “[but] let’s be productive and [work to] prevent these cuts [moving forward].” The U.S. government “has not made good on its promise[s] and contracts [it] signed with its farmers,” reported Schneidman, and ongoing considerations of cuts to SNAP, more commonly known as the national food stamps program, would go on to affect the “42 million Americans who use SNAP every month,” or about 12% of the nation’s people and families. Some of those 12% are farmers, and in past years of economic hardship, Schneidman’s family has been included. “Reinstate funding to farmers and food pantries now,” Schneidman demanded. “Food is not optional.”
Protestors gathered for the afternoon ranged from many walks of life, but most carried picket signs bearing phrases like, “No kings in the U.S.A.,” “Kindness forever,” “Save social security,” “Jesus loves all the children,” “Resist Trump’s coup,” “F Elon and the Felon,” “I didn’t vote for Musk,” “Their lies are killing people,” “He’s hurting U.S.,” “Love not hate makes America great,” “Make lying wrong again,” “In your heart you know he’s wrong,” and, in reference to recent tariffs placed by Trump on the Heard and McDonald Islands that are inhabited not by men but by aquatic flightless birds, “Tax the rich, not the penguins.” Several clusters of veterans held up items like a United States flag hung upside down and a sign reading, “RESIST.”
Cynthia Peltier, director of CommUnity Zone, wants to “extend [her] deepest gratitude” to every attendee of the protest. “I am immensely proud to live in this community, surrounded by such passionate and engaged individuals. We the People are indeed rising — raising our voices and standing together for the future we believe in.” The Hands Off! protests this past weekend reflected a duty to “h[o]ld accountable” the “elected representatives [who] fail to reflect our values and collective needs […] regardless of party affiliation.” To Peltier, this moment of “profound challenge” can have dual purpose as an “opportunity” to rediscover common ground: “Life is short, and fleeting. May we all strive to live it with purpose, compassion and courage.”