Voices of the Revolution

No Kings Day #3

Three times and I am out!

To do the same thing, on purpose, for a third time, one can only assume that it’s being done with intention.

No Kings Day #3 has come and gone. In the stretch between #2 and #3, we’ve had thousands of street kidnappings, thousands of deportations, hundreds of deaths, as well as rape and torture of children in our concentration camps, and at least three street executions by untrained illegal Gestapo Police. We’ve started an unjustified and highly illegal war by immediately bombing children in a school. Things have escalated tremendously across many fronts, with government fascism constantly encroaching on our constitutional rights.

So, what did we do at this rally that matches that energy? Nothing new, it was the same thing as last time. The 50501 group and the No Kings Day organization planned the same rally again. No stated goals, no actual actions, strictly peaceful protest with no intentions of building any motion to counter the speeding fascist tide.

With that in mind, let’s review what doing the same thing has gotten us.

The positives, as they stand, are:

The groups from the last rally have had time to calcify, building their own private tactics, actions, and resources to return with more vigor and cohesiveness in their group and their message.

The numbers have grown. As the situation moves farther out of control, the movement gathers more people from more parts of society, particularly as the specters of the military draft and ground deployment are growing.

The crowds are empowering new progressive voices to have a place at the political table. Primary challenges are pushing out reactionary incumbents, bringing massive numbers into progressive politics, and pro-fascist funding groups like AIPAC are being exposed for their attacks on democracy. Voters are pushing back against tyranny.

However, the negatives still outweigh the benefits, even more so than before.

Once again, we’re losing energy by letting millions of righteously angry people have another glorified parade. Minnesota showed us that a city full of organized citizens prepared with group cohesion and defined, actionable tactics can absolutely grind down the gears of the fascists. No Kings doesn’t want anything to do with that, at least not the official group.

Nothing has changed to protect the protesters. They still want RSVP registrations; they still haven’t rethought locations and vulnerabilities, such as police blockade points or areas that could be used to attack protest groups. No official legal teams, no jail support for aggressive policing, nothing to keep their protesters available for further actions, and no plans for actions at all besides planning the next one. At most, the demonstrators were props for political figures to score action points and get selfies with Bruce Springsteen.

The only fundamental pivot is towards the next election cycle. Once again, we’re expected to place all of our hope on change at the ballot box. There is no tangible empowerment for those they gather; no expectations beyond strong words and promises, like always. For every Mamdani, there is a Chicago race that muddles the ballot with multiple candidates (some with questionable tactics and prominence) that split votes and lose big. We can watch the party backing the action eat itself live in the primaries. Yet, they expect more “blue no matter who” under the threat of more fascism as the alternative, with absolutely no leadership or action in the positions they want us to be excited to vote for. 

To not escalate their movement in the face of hyper-accelerating fascism and ever-present economic collapse is criminal. To gather people from all over the U.S. and the world and not to have any plans to use that unity and energy other than expressing impotent rage is wrong. To leave people fighting for peace and justice with no concept of how to move forward plays into the hands of the very fascists the organizers say that they oppose.

While we, as progressives and “leftists” outside the liberal sphere, are working and educating and begging for people to use their power to collectively unite against the encroaching totalitarian state, No Kings Day organizers are squandering that mass of potential once again and burning the people’s energy into the ether. To do the same thing, on purpose, for a third time, one can only assume that it’s being done with intention.

If this is going to be the model to quell the masses, then we have to move forward knowing that the next No Kings will be the same as the last, and prepare actions knowing that siphoning that energy into action is one of our most powerful opportunities to hit them where it hurts them: actually, empowering the people.”