No Kings, Freedom!

Gather on March 28th.

Next Saturday, March 28th, I will join millions of Americans taking part in No Kings protests throughout the country. I hope you will join in. Everything is at stake.

Prosperity. The wealth of workers is handed to oligarchs.

The Constitution. One person seeks unrestrained power.

Justice. The innocent are punished while the guilty believe in impunity.

Peace. Americans kill and die in a war whose purpose is to keep us down.

Democracy. Those in power seek to eliminate the right to vote. .

All of this can be seen. All of this can be stopped. A better America is around the corner.

And protest is the first step to that better future. We know that non-violent protest works. It helps to stop authoritarian takeovers. And it opens the way for a better politics to come. How?

Protest changes the atmosphere. For authoritarians to win, they need their supporters to be active, the majority to be silent, and their actions to seem normal. Protest shows that their supporters are in the minority, that the majority will not be silent, and that it is the people who set the standards.

Protest summons more protest. When some of us act, others will follow. When you attend a protest next Saturday, bring someone with you. And know that when you do so, you are setting an example. These No Kings protests are the largest such actions in US history, and each one is bigger than the last.

Protest keeps us organized. There will not only be more people protesting this time, there will be more protests. Thousands of them. And this is the work of organizers, of civil society. When you attend a protest, you have a chance to meet others, and see how they organize. When I am speaking next Saturday, I will pause as I did last time to ask people to introduce themselves to those around them.

Protest affirms freedom. We have the right to assemble freely. We have the right to speak freely. But these rights become real when we avail ourselves of them. When we do what we believe is right, in the knowledge that those in power would like it otherwise, we are acting as free people. This is practice that we all need. When we say “No Kings,” we mean freedom.

Protest wins elections. In the situation that we are in now, the opposition must win elections to halt the shift to a one-person, one-party authoritarian regime. And although these elections will be difficult, they can be won. But winning them means building a big, active coalition, of which the opposition party is just one part. Protestors are another part. The groups we build together are what make the difference.

Protest brings joy. It feels good to be active and to be with other people. It dispels the loneliness we might experience when we are alone or online. When we realize that we are with millions of others, we feel we can make a difference, because we are making a difference: in the world, and in ourselves.

Protest changes us. There isn’t any going back. There is only what we make next. When we get to the other side, what we will have to guide us as we make new things is the experience of resistance now. What we can make next depends on what we learn now, on who we become now, by acting, by taking part.

Please step up. And step out. Everything depends on this. On us.

Find a place to protest on March 28th.

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