Everyone should march on D.C. at least once in their lives for something they believe. My spouse and I took our 14-year-old son to the March for Science in Washington, D.C. last Saturday to advocate for participatory, evidence-based democracy (and revel in the awesome humor of nerds).
As marches in the capitol go, it was a modest one, but full of enthusiasm. Some of my favorite signs included “Electrical engineers understand resistance”;Â “I march because science makes beer better”; “Science is the solution” [with image of a beaker]; and “Protest sine” [with image of wavy line]. Chants included the all-purpose, “Science not silence!”; the in-joke, “What do we want? —Science! When do we want it? —After peer review!” and lots of “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Scott Pruitt has got to go!” I hope the EPA administrator’s ears were burning.
My spouse Helen is a materials scientist by profession; I have a degree in astronomy and spend many of my waking hours with technology, in addition to having a day job rubbing elbows with social scientists. We were among our people, in all their nerdy glory. And science, as I wrote last year, has specifically impacted LGBTQ families in many ways (in addition to everything it offers humanity and our planet in general).
Our son, though initially skeptical about the impact of the march, got into the swing of things and even led off some of the chants for the folks around us. Definitely a moment for us to kvell.
“Show me what democracy looks like!”
—“This is what democracy looks like!”
Whether he ends up a scientist himself or goes a different route, I hope that is a lesson that sticks with him.