Professional Anarchists is an ongoing photo series by Lisa Allen that aims to capture the peaceful demonstrations against the Trump administration and to meet the ordinary people behind them—to learn why they march and to put a face to the new resistance movement.
“When they go low,” then-First Lady Michelle Obama said at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, “we go high.” That message was the inspiration behind Facebook group Love Flies High’s colorful demonstration against the policies of the Trump administration at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon, weaving messages of social justice into the larger Blossom Kite Festival.
Naomi Pitcairn of Santa Paula, Love Flies High organizer, California
“There’s a Native American prophecy about the black snake that will kill people, kill the nation if the black snake comes. And so they call the DAPL [Dakota Access Pipeline] the black snake because it’s a long pipeline with black oil in it. He’s [the kite] a fierce one. I actually cut his tail in more than half. Also, to make him all black, I used an entire tube of acrylic which made him heavier. I had all these ideas like kitty ears… kitty ears unbalance kites, I know now.”
Dana Hallman of Cheverly, event organizer, Maryland
“A few friends and I got together, women that had been to the Women’s March, and I also attended a Sister Giant conference that was done by Marianne Williamson, and it really motivated us to action. I thought about Michelle Obama’s ‘When they go low, we go high,’ and I then I was like, ‘When they go low, we fly kites!’ Let’s participate in the Kite Festival and get social justice messages up in the air. We put it out on Facebook thinking maybe 50 to 100 of our friends might come out, and then before we knew it, we had like 1,300 people who had responded as going. So that’s why we’re here today. We were getting people from the metro down here, just trying to get people to get their kites up in the air.”
Jason, agricultural and biological engineer, Washington, D.C.
“As a scientist and engineer, [with] the current political situation and the defunding of a lot of our scientific organizations, I think it’s important to spread the message that we really need science and that science is the way that our society has progressed. If you look back 200 years, the reasons we’re in our current situation is because of scientific discoveries. It’s really important that as a country, we prioritize science.”
Lisa Allen is a freelance photojournalist covering events and activities in Washington, D.C. She lives with her fiancé, cat, and guinea pig, and is a member of Studio Gallery in Dupont Circle.
