The Fight is Worthwhile in and of Itself- Harpers Ferry and DC Before Trump's 2025 Inauguration

The title of this post comes from a bit of wisdom I heard from progressive commentator Kyle Kulinski last year. As the start of a new Trump presidency has gotten closer it's something I've been trying to keep in mind; both for my own life and when it comes to thinking about the opposition liberally and progressively minded people will push for in the coming years. 

I thought a fair amount about this idea on a recent trip I took to the DC area and Maryland. I flew into Ronald Regan Airport (named after the person who laid the foundation for our current American political reality). Flying into DC from Memphis, Tennessee, was the first part of a journey to Westminster, Maryland to interview for a potential new job position in that area. Since the election results in November of last year, I've been applying to a number of jobs on the East Coast. While this is something my wife and I have felt for a while is better for us (for job and career opportunities, access to a more multicultural area etc.), Trump's election has added extra motivation for us to get out of the deeply red state we currently live in (Arkansas).  

As part of that process, a college in Maryland invited me to an in-person interview as a finalist and I chose DCA as the airport I'd use to travel the lion's share of the distance. I rented a car in DC (I received a free vehicle upgrade which gave me a larger vehicle than I had initially signed up for...thank you Camillo at Sixt in DC). After spending a few minutes figuring out the computer system for the Jeep Trailhawk, I got on the road. Traffic out of DC was not heavy and I made good time out of the city. It was cool to drive along the Potomac River and see the Washington monument sticking out of the center of DC itself. 

My chariot for the journey.

My first destination out of DC, was not the area where my interview was. Instead, I'd made a point to travel through the west of Maryland to visit the town of Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. I'd wanted to go to this historic spot in America for a while but had never had the opportunity. The town which sits in a unique position at the joining of two rivers and three states, is most famous for an 1859 raid led by abolitionist John Brown. Brown, a white abolitionist who was and is a controversial figure for the violent methods he used to fight against slavery, led a group of nineteen people in an attack on a government armory in Harpers Ferry. The goal of Brown's party was to obtain a large number of weapons that they could distribute to enslaved African Americans, starting a large slave rebellion in the South. The attack ultimately failed, and Brown and all his men were eventually captured or killed. Brown himself was executed publicly, and the raid and his death are seen now as important catalysts for the American Civil War that followed in the years after. 

John Brown

Today, Harpers Ferry is part of the US National Park service, which the town itself made up of restored historical buildings from the 1800s. Most of the museums, shops, and exhibits in the historical area of the town were closed the day I went (due to the late time of day I arrived and because of snowy weather that had hit the area, according to the park staff I spoke with). Nevertheless, I appreciated being able to walk around and see the sights connected to John Brown's raid. Despite the cold, it was gratifying to see his monument and see where the struggle he committed his life too and taken him. 

John Brown monument at Harpers Ferry

At a lookout point over the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers, standing in West Virginia with Maryland on my left and Virginia on my right, I thought about Brown and his raid. I thought about how unlike so many white folks in his time period, he went completely in on fighting for the emancipation of slaves, to the point where he even embraced racial equality (a concept which even among white people who opposed slavery at the time was not common). I thought about how he, and the people who followed him, had no idea if their raid on Harpers Ferry would succeed or not and how ultimately when it did fail, Brown was viewed by many as crazy nut-job who had wasted his life and failed to realize his dream of ending slavery. 

Harpers Ferry Lookout Point

Even in our modern-day environment, I'm sure many would argue Brown's goals have still yet to be realized. For all the progress made in the aftermath of the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, we have so much left to do. And we as a country also seem hellbent on regressing in so many areas as we've embraced the politics or hatred and division. 

And yet, I also thought about the phrase I titled this piece with. How despite Brown and his comrades not knowing the result of their efforts, despite most of the society opposing one or all of their goals, despite their ultimate failure in sparking a rebellion in that moment to end slavery, what they did was still important and it was still worth doing. It would still be important even if they were not recognized today for their efforts. It would still be important even if the slavery that existed in their time hadn't ended in the coming years.  The fight they waged was good and noble and right in and of itself. That remains true, and constant in spite of whatever the ultimate result was. 

Coming to our own times, so many of us on the left or liberal side of things can feel as if we are in a John Brown type position in a second Trump term. The powerful institutions of the country have now largely swung onto the MAGA side of things, and it's made many of us opposed to MAGA's goals feel defeated and powerless. Yet I think examples like Brown's can be a guide for how to approach the coming years. However, we can resist Trumpism, it's important to remember the opposition in and of itself will be worthwhile. 

After Harpers Ferry, I made another hour plus drive to the town where my interview was. My focus had shifted away from John Brown somewhat to the meeting and evaluation I would be attending, where like basically everything in life, the results were uncertain. I did not have the best sleep that night. I'm a chronic over thinker and as I'm sure most can relate to, going in for intensive long interviews with potential new colleagues who may or may not be cool people to work with, makes me anxious. 

There were times as I tossed and turned in the King-Sized bed at the Best Western, where I seriously thought about bailing altogether despite traveling all that way to Maryland from Arkansas. Questions bombarded me like; Will things go well? Even if they do, what if they say no anyway? Am I wasting money and time to come here? Even if my wife and I move here will it be worth it? Will we regret it? 

And on and on, until I was able to calm myself somewhat with what I'd seen at Harpers Ferry. The fight is worthwhile in and of itself. Uncertainty is life and life uncertainty. That will be more of the case in the years to come. No results are guaranteed as much as we want them to be. 

The next morning, on about three to four hours of sleep, I went in and had a good interview experience. Results are still unknown as of now but ultimately, I was pleased I had followed through. After wrapping things up for the interview I made what turned out to be a very thick and traffic heavy journey back to DC, where I returned the rental car, checked into a hotel near Arlington, and where a few more surprises awaited me before I headed back West to Arkansas. 

My GPS took me into the heart of DC where I saw the sunset behind the Capitol Building.

Before going to Maryland for this interview, it occurred to me that I would be flying and staying in DC just a couple of days before Trump's second inauguration. I was curious how this would affect my time there and decided I would check out the White House and National Mall areas before I flew out of the city. 

DC is the city in the US I've visited the most over the years. I've been there seven times and have seen the majority of sites and museums in the National Mall area. One of the few places I'd not seen was Lafayette Square and the famous frontal view of the White House. Despite knowing that the inauguration preparations would potentially disrupt, my sightseeing I decided to make my way to the area by metro early in the morning. 

The statue of the Marquis de Lafayette in Lafayette Square.

The preparations for the inauguration and the handover of power between the Biden and second Trump administrations were in full swing. Barriers were up everywhere, and a larger number of vans and trucks were parked in and around the White House. Lafayette Square was still walkable but there were walls and barriers up all over. I walked to another side of the park where I could get a decent view (though not a very good photo) of the White House. Since it was quite cold, early, and a little rainy, there were not very many people out and about besides police, military, and security. There was, however, one woman in a MAGA hat who briefly struck up an exchange with me outside the White House after I had taken this photo (below) 

The White House two days before Trump's second inauguration.

We briefly chatted about our visits to DC, where she remarked that she had been at Trump's previous inauguration, but she had not seen the level of security that was being put up for his second swearing in. I commented something to the effect of "The times are a changing." before she said she was excited for the change that was coming. I politely excused myself because I was certain expressing my doubts about the next four years (or however long it winds up being) wouldn't do any good in that moment. 

I walked around the area for a while longer, taking note of moving vans parked around the White House, a large flock of Canadian geese hanging out in the Ellipse, and of course all the barriers that had been put up around and were waiting to be put up. 

It was wildly amusing to me that there were moving vans at the White House

I left around 8am, completely unaware that there would be a protest going on against Trump in the area a little later. According to the BBC around 5,000 people showed up out of an expected 50,000. That said, I felt satisfaction knowing that there were people that had turned up before Trump's return. The capitulations from powerful and wealthy figures in recent days to Trump can sometimes make it feel as if MAGA has won in a landslide. Like 99% of modern America believes 100% in everything he does and says. Yet despite the inauguration being just two days away, I didn't see all that many MAGA hats or public displays of Trumpism in DC. They were there, sure but those MAGA displays were few and far between. In the final count of the 2024 election Trump beat Harris by two million votes. Roughly 30% of the US population chose to vote for Trump. This is not a landslide and in the coming days it will be important to remember that an almost identical percentage of Americans voted for Harris and against Trump. He does not have a mandate. But even if he did, the fight is worth doing in and of itself.