Dem
47
GOP
53
And we continue with another group of No Kings reports. We're getting a lot of positive feedback, so we think we will keep this going one more week. Here's another half-dozen:
R.S. in New York, NY, writes: Apparently, it is true. If you are a big-headed celebrity "born" in Queens, NY, you can grab an anatomical part, and it will be okay.
(It was a nice day, a nice crowd, a 2-mile walk ending in a rally, speeches and singing around the steps of Borough Hall.)
E.S. in Cincinnati, OH, writes: Views from downtown Cincinnati!
E.B. in Somewhere, US, writes: I didn't spend Saturday with my fellow Americans at a No Kings protest. Instead, I spent the time with Camila (not her real name). Camila is a 60-something Peruvian immigrant who dutifully comes to ELL (English Language Learning) tutoring each Saturday morning (and Tuesdays and Thursdays, too) at our local literacy center. She has lived in the states for over 15 years but only recently has had the time to devote to digging into the English language. Camila worked first as a mother and then as a housekeeper at a local hotel chain. She pays taxes. She's working on gaining citizenship. And now, she's honing her English skills. I helped her work on her contribution to the yearly student-authored collection where she's submitting a written piece on her recent visit to a large nearby city. We had a chuckle together when she had written that she enjoyed taking photos with her family and the "boots at the river" and I asked why they'd be taking photos with boots ("Oh! Boats!" she exclaimed). This week we had more tutors available than students. It's been this way since the ICE raids have started in our city and surrounding areas. It's the drone surveillance that is really unnerving, but we lock the doors, sit down to work, and the outside world disappears for a few hours. On Saturday, this was my protest.
(I am withholding my location because of proximity to a hotbed of ICE activity.)
M.B. in Appleton, WI, writes: The No Kings rally in Appleton (estimated 2025 population: 74,061) was the first political rally I'd ever attended. The weather was perfect for mid-October Wisconsin—upper 60s and only a few stray cumulus clouds in the pale blue sky, which made it feel even warmer.
The rally started at 11:00 a.m. (I stayed for about an hour) and is reported to have had over 3,500 participants. It was centered at Houdini Plaza, but the crowd extended for nearly 1/3 mile on both sides of College Avenue (image from Google Maps attached for help in imagining the scope of the event). The crowd on the sidewalk for a block in each direction of the Plaza was jam-packed and hard to navigate, but the crowd did thin out as one went along. Eastbound traffic on College Avenue was backed up a bit due to the number of pedestrians crossing at the crosswalks (which didn't leave many gaps for turns to side streets). Vehicles in the area honked and many that I saw drive through were decorated with signs.
At one point I got choked up about the whole event; it was an epiphany moment that really overwhelmed me. Gazing out at the crowd on this perfect autumn morning I was hit by a thought: My grandfather and his brothers (and brothers-in-arms) had fought against the Nazis in World War II. What would he think of me if I, knowing there were actual Nazis in the federal government, did nothing about it? It seemed that standing in a crowd and waving a U.S. flag was just scratching the surface.
S.A. in Valencia, CA, writes: More than a thousand protesters attended the rally in relatively conservative Valencia for No Kings this past weekend. Here's a message inspired by an inscription on a wall at the Korean Memorial in Washington, D.C.:
So true!
R.S. in Milwaukee, WI writes: A couple of my favorites from the No Kings event at Cathedral Park in Milwaukee. Overall the event was crowded, peaceful and fun.
More on Monday! (Z)