Why we pound the pavement for No Kings

I am the chief media spokesperson for Indivisible Quad Cities, which has organized our local No Kings actions. If you’ve wondered why on earth anyone would bother to take the time and effort to come out for No Kings, here is one response…

The name “No Kings” says it all, right? This President thinks he can do anything he wants for his small minority of supporters. He doesn’t govern for all Americans, only for those who bow down to him as some sort of monarch. All the rest he vilifies as un-American. So we’re out here fighting for our very right to express ourselves freely, to assemble freely without fear of persecution or kidnapping, to claim that we are Americans who deserve a President who governs for all. We’re fighting especially for our most vulnerable friends and neighbors, people of color who’ve been racially profiled and arrested, whose histories and contributions to this great country are being erased daily; gay and trans people whose rights are being threatened and curtailed on a daily basis; heck, even special needs folks can no longer count on resources they need to function and thrive in our society. And we now know that all of us, including Indivisible organizers, have been called the “radical lunatic left” and vilified as haters of America. So those of us privileged enough to be white, middle class, male…we’re about to be hella vulnerable, too…

This administration is the most blatantly lawless and corrupt in the history of our great country. Ignoring the constitution and judges’ rulings, suspending due process, weaponizing every department of government, selling crypto out of the White House and other pay-to-play schemes…the list just goes on. The notion of “Making America Great” is just a smokescreen for allowing a small elite—the broligarchy—to make themselves as rich and powerful as possible. We want to cut through that smokescreen and show our fellow citizens what’s really happening…And we want to set an example and point the way to how democracy actually works…

Source: Substack

Author: Sebas Lee
About the author: Sebas Lee is a Latin Americanist and spokesperson for Indivisible QC. He conducted research in Mexico for more than 30 years and led Indiana University’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies for 4 years. He writes about democracy and civil liberties, antisemitism and the far right, and U.S. power in the Americas.