MEMES, Part 8: The scream

Amory: It was approaching noon, and the street was packed with sign-toting Trump supporters, protesters, and the sounds of pomp and circumstance.

Jess: And they had these huge speakers all the way up and down the street. I mean, it felt like we were in frickin’ like Nazi Germany or something. It was like, all of a sudden it was just the sound of these voices coming over everything. It was like, “you will now listen to us because we are in control.” Oh, yeah, hahaha.  

Amory: But as the actual inauguration proceedings began, something started brewing within Jess.

Jess: I don’t even remember honestly what it was, but it was somebody speaking. I was just like, we’re so screwed, this is so bad. We’re in so deep. 

Ben: Missouri senator Roy Blunt kicked off the swearing-in ceremony.

Jess: Please stand for the inauguration, blah blah blah.  And I just in my head, I was like, oh hell no. I was like, if there’s one thing I can do right now is not stand for this motherf*****, right? So I sat down.  

Martin Geissler: I first noticed Jess just a few seconds before Donald Trump was about to take the oath of office.

Amory: This is Martin Geissler.

Martin: And I work as a presenter for the BBC. But back at the time of Donald Trump’s inauguration, I was a foreign correspondent for ITV News, one of the main TV network news programs in the UK. 

Amory: Martin and his cameraman had been traveling around the U.S. for three or four weeks straight in the lead up to inauguration day, documenting people’s hopes and fears for a Trump presidency. And now, the day — and the moment — were here, and the emotions for some were high.

Martin: I looked about five feet to my right and there was somebody on their knees on the ground with their head in their hands. 

Jess: Bearing witness to this disastrous moment, was like all I could do. So I just sat there with my eyes closed.  

Martin: And it was pretty clear that this person was going to give a reaction. So I tapped my cameraman on the shoulder and just pointed down and said, look, film them. And as soon as the oath of office finished, the commentator said, “Donald J. Trump is now President of the United States.” And that was the moment. 

Jess: And I just. It just came out.

Martin: That was the moment Jess let loose this kind of primal scream

Jess: That was pretty much what happened was I screamed and they caught me. S***. Hahaha.

Ben: I’m Ben Brock Johnson.

Amory: I’m Amory Sivertson, and this is Endless Thread.

Ben: We’re coming to you from WBUR, Boston’s NPR station. And right now, we’re talking about memes.

Amory: Their cultural, historical, and personal impact.

Jess: And I was like, just literally wanted to disappear. 

Ben: Today…

Amory: The Scream.

Amory: March 25th, 2021: We meet Jess, who is telling their story for the first time to us, about the scream that meme’d them, four years ago.

Ben: Jess shows up in a Black Lives Matter hoodie. Their hot-pink-streaked hair coiffed up and to one side….