It was a thrill to march at the No Kings Rally in Philadelphia on Saturday with friends and about a hundred thousand people. On the stage, I led a chant of "no kings -- freedom," and I tried to explain three things that slogan or that sequence can mean.
1. The logic. We don't want kings -- or autocrats or oligarchs -- because they will represent themselves or their families or those who finance them rather than us, the people. They will take away not only our rights but the functionality of our government, the safety of our streets, the possibility of social mobility, and the integrity of our environment. So freedom means no kings -- but is also means all of the good things. It means a government that works, it means the right of people to be left alone, it means the American dream, it means harmony with nature.
2. The history. I talked a little about the Liberty Bell, which wasn't know as such in 1776. If it rang in 1776 it was against a king, to be sure, but the liberty part, the freedom part, took time. It was the abolitionists who called the Statehouse Bell in Philadelphia the "Liberty Bell." And then later the activists of the woman suffrage movement did the same. It was the people who faced the challenge of slavery and the challenge of disenfranchisement who taught us all to speak of liberty. No kings first, and then freedom. The historical sequence teaches us that freedom is a struggle, and that it is a struggle in which we need allies. And we need to listen to them.
3. The practice. The "no kings" protests come first, and then we do further work for freedom afterwards. We protest to show ourselves that we can. We protest to show others that we do not think that all of this is normal. And we also protest as the beginning of other actions. Whether that be with Indivisible, or Interfaith Alliance, or labor unions, who helped organize; or just with any small initiative where we know something and are together with other people and find ourselves doing something rewarding we weren't doing before.
Philly was wonderful and it was big, but it was just one of thousands of protests in which about five million people took part. There were probably more people just in Philly alone than at Trump's birthday parade in DC. All in all there were about one hundred times more protestors on Saturday than there were people watching Trump's self-celebration. We can be proud of that. And then do the next thing.
Here are a couple of my photos of the day, and a link to the speeches in Philly. Mine is at about 1:23:15, right after the amazing Randi Weingarten. There are wonderful speeches throughout.
Indivisible here in Kalamazoo Michigan with estimated 7000 participants! So proud to be a part of this movement. Again though scant coverage by the mainstream media. I was very disappointed that on Face the Nation Margaret Brennan chose to highlight the sad and unfortunate event in Salt Lake City and problems in Portland Oregon. Eager to watch Rachel Maddow tonight. I am confident she'll provide coverage and insight about the movement. Thanks Timothy Snyder for your contribution!
For a German born after the war, the US has been a beacon of hope and inspiration throughout my life. Now it's the No-Kings-movement! It's terrific to see you on that stage.