Early Saturday morning, I walked to Universal Plaza in Tigard for the “Hands Off” protest. On my journey, I passed a woman from Wilsonville. Her name is Lisa Freeman.

She told me that she was heading the same direction as I. Freeman told me this was the first protest she was attending.

For full disclosure, I, too, live in Wilsonville.

After chatting with her about our kids and the activities they participate in, I thought she would make a great vignette about the many people like her attending the event for the same reason.

I asked her if she would mind if I conducted an interview and record her on video.

When I asked her her name and why she felt it was important to be there, Freeman couldn’t think of a reason why she was there, but she knew it was important.

While Freeman said she could easily talk about her kids, she said she couldn’t continue the interview, at a loss for words about why she was there.

I told her, “No problem; I understand” and then told her to enjoy her time at the march.

After taking photos and videos of the thousands of people gathered at Universal Plaza and following the march down Southwest Main Street en route to Highway 99W, I watched both sides of the freeway swell up to over 2,000 people consisting of senior citizens, young adults and families.

And I saw Lisa Freeman once again.

She came up to me and said, “I wrote down the reasons why I am here today.” She proceeds to read to me her thoughts she had written on her cellphone. I let her continue to read it aloud to me as she was obviously very proud to share her voice with me. Here is what she wrote:

“I’m here for Democracy! For Head Start! For USAID and AIDS treatment, for our Children’s education and ALL the kids who need extra help. I’m here for ALL my gay and lesbian friends, I’m here for Vaccines, I’m here for healthcare, I’m here for Federal Workers, I’m here for FEMA, I’m here for Science! I’m here for Medicare and Medicaid, I’m here for Social Security, I’m here for everyone who doesn’t speak English, I’m here for Women, I’m here as I’m done being silent! I’m here because Donald Trump and Elon Musk make me sick!!”

I’ve covered many protests for the Portland Tribune in downtown Portland. It’s common for many people to go to the largest city in Oregon to gather and voice their concerns with others. But, this weekend in Tigard, there were many people like Lisa Freeman, a mother who lives in the suburbs who is used to talking about her family and the many things she does in her safe neighborhood and who attended the “Hands Off” protest.

Freeman was just one of many people who attended these organized protests in the suburbs of Portland, who felt it was important to voice their concerns with people who feel the same as many under this administration.