“My name is August Kilcher, I'm brought here today because I am totally passionate about supporting the federal institutions that have currently been gutted. I have a lot of friends in here who are very passionate about making sure that our democracy is protected,” Kilcher said.
Kilcher is among about 20 people at the park, some holding signs that say things like “honk if you love a teacher” and “stop the cuts, tax the robber barons.” While it’s not clear who organized the local protest, attendees say they showed up after hearing about it online and wanted to voice their concerns.
“Alex Koplin, Who in Alaska wanted to change Denali's name? Where's that coming from? And that's just nothing. You pardon all these people that were involved in our insurrection. I mean, the list goes on and on, and we need to be active in saying our discontent. And I know some people are for it, and that's what democracy is,” Koplin said.
Koplin and Kilcher both see events like these as necessary for civic engagement and keeping democracy alive, particularly, Kilcher said, in relatively isolated places like Homer.
“Not only is Homer isolated from the state, but the state is then isolated from the rest of the nation, just geographically speaking. So actually incentivizing these sort of protests, I think, is super paramount to getting more people to feel involved in feeling like they too, have a voice, even though they're separated,” Kilcher said.
Koplin said democracy is not a “stationary” thing, it requires involvement.
“Democracy is an effort. You just don't have government for free without doing anything, so pay attention, every little small thing, just a conversation with a friend or a letter to a legislator or going to a meeting that you might be interested in. Look at the papers in the social media for meetings. But everybody can help here,” Koplin said.
