How One Durham Resident Is Finding Community through Solo Roadside Political Protests

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Good morning, readers.

Durhamite Rebecca Murphey was feeling a bit…helpless with everything going on in America (see: the brutal dismantling of the federal government).

So she made some signs (ex. MY GRANDPA FOUGHT FASCISTS SO I COULD HOLD THIS SIGN) and started spending afternoons standing on a South Durham street corner, staging simple one-woman demonstrations over the past month.

When I visited her recently, I was amazed by how many drivers, while blowing through the busy intersection, waved or gave their horn a little honk of recognition—although to be fair, some were probably just pissed off at the other drivers. She also gets plenty of rude gestures from drivers and some unwanted attention from internet trolls.

Murphey doesn’t think that she’s fixed the world with her mini-protests. But she has found community (even becoming something of a Bull City Reddit folk hero) and hopes that passersby feel empowered to take whatever small action they can.

“Honking is great,” she says. “I hope that they’ll do something, call their congresspeople, join us out on the street corner, and get their friends to realize that what’s happening is not okay.” 

Read more below and have a good day.

 —Chase

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