photo by: Lauren Fox

Sarah Smarsh, journalist and author of Heartland, addresses the Save the Post Office protesters in Watson Park on Tuesday.

A second Lawrence protest decrying recent cuts to the United States Postal Service featured brief remarks from Kansas-based author and journalist Sarah Smarsh and protest organizer Danny Caine, owner of The Raven Book Store.

The protest was held Tuesday in conjunction with hundreds of other protests across the nation organized by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) in a movement called #SaveThePostOffice.

Smarsh, whose book “Heartland” was a finalist for the National Book Award, shared the role the postal service played in her life as a child growing up in rural Kansas.

“When I was a kid … waiting for the mail to come at the end of the long gravel driveway was like some big excitement,” Smarsh said. “It was our connection to the world, not just for bill-paying and practical matters, but also for feeling connected to the world beyond our dirt road.”

She said she didn’t have to explain to the crowd of about 30 participants on Tuesday the importance of the USPS or why it should be defended. They were already there in Watson Park, holding signs and cheering when passing cars honked their horns.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Caitlin McDiarmid, left, and Ruthann Reigle hold up signs at a Save the Post Office protest in Watson Park on Tuesday.

The USPS connects people — especially those in rural areas — to the rest of the world, Smarsh noted. She tweeted Tuesday that the USPS not only delivers important homesteading necessities and medications to people in rural America, it also delivers items that bring joy, like the coffee she and her partner enjoy. At the protest, Smarsh said that “what these folks are really doing at the deepest sense is they are sort of weaving a thread across this land that binds us as a society in a very tangible and human way.”

The Tuesday protest was meant to amplify the demands of the APWU. Caine shared those demands at the beginning of the event.

“I want to share their demands, because we are here to amplify their voices and their efforts to speak up on behalf of their jobs, which they are very proud of,” he said.

The demands of the APWU are for elected officials and U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to provide $25 billion in immediate support for the postal service, to stop the mail slowdown policies introduced by DeJoy and to ensure public confidence in voting by mail by providing all necessary resources for a timely delivery of election mail.

Last week, DeJoy said he would suspend the controversial changes he instituted within the USPS until after the November election. These changes included getting rid of overtime for employees and removing mailboxes and letter-sorting machines in some parts of the country.

DeJoy, who took over as postmaster general in June, testified before a Senate committee on Friday and testified as part of a House hearing on Monday. DeJoy said that the changes he had ordered were money-saving moves and were not designed to slow mail delivery and thus discourage voting by mail. He emphasized that the Postal Service would prioritize the delivery of ballots. DeJoy also said that the removal of mail-processing machines was happening before he took over in June, and that he would not replace sorting machines that had been removed from use.

Protesters on Tuesday said they felt the USPS — as well as citizens’ ability to vote by mail — was in peril. Many said they have family members or friends who worked for the USPS.

“I want to support keeping them doing what they’re doing and keeping them funded,” Lawrence resident Dave Gurss said.

Valerie Roper said she “wouldn’t be out here in this heat for a lot of causes … but this one matters to everyone.”

As a small business owner, Caine said he relies on the USPS, and that he has noticed that mail has been slower and less reliable in the last six weeks. He wants the USPS to be prioritized, and to not have to fear that it might continue to be less reliable in the future.

Caine ended the remarks portion of the protest by telling attendees to call and send letters to their representatives demanding that they address the three conditions put forth by the APWU.

photo by: Lauren Fox

Danny Caine, left, speaks to the crowd at the Save the Post Office protest in Watson Park on Tuesday.