I’m proud to say, and I say it often, that my generation, the Baby Boomers, came of age as leaders of the largest antiwar movement in our country’s history. I say, just as often, that the current, emerging anti-fascism movement will be even bigger.
No Kings March Unites the Best of America
The nationwide No Kings March on Saturday October 18 was the latest demonstration. Over seven million America-loving peace-and-joy fanatics attended over 2,700 marches in all fifty states! If you participated, you are part of history. And if you think this was about hating America, you are delusional.
Emily and I attended the Ypsilanti-Ann Arbor No Kings march at Riverside Park in Ypsilanti with over 1,500 fellow patriots. Energy was already high when we arrived. Marchers came with painted faces and wearing costumes. Unicorns, frogs, even Darth Vader showed up. I may have been imagining it but he seemed happy, relieved that for a change he isn’t the cause of the disturbance in the Force.
American flags were prominent, showing us to be the America lovers. One flag, featuring Kim Jong Un, I assumed reflected his close relationship with Trump but I couldn’t read the words. Another said, “Love Wins,” with an American flag above the words and a rainbow flag below it.
Topics on the posters and signs were all over the place, including the Epstein files, our veterans, Citizens United, Palestinians and Gaza, the economy, the environment, sexism, ICE, and more (see partial list below). This range shows the depth of our movement. No wonder the Trumpers fear it so.
Our challenge is to not let the Trumpers turn us against each other. We’re all in this together. Our umbrella is getting bigger while theirs is shrinking. As poet Robert Zimmerman said, “I’ll let you be in my dream if you let me be in yours.”
Some, like “ICE is the new Stormtroopers,” noted parallels between Trump and Hitler. To those who say we shouldn’t compare Trump to Hitler and MAGA to Nazis, I wonder at one point we can acknowledge the similarities. The masked midnight raids weren’t Gestapo enough? Do we have to wait until they’re throwing us in ovens?
Yellow for Unity
We were called on to wear yellow by Indivisible, the nationwide grassroots movement that has been spearheading the No Kings marches. But the call was muted. I only saw one other reference to it, in a flyer from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. As a result, the effect was less dramatic than it could have been. The good president (Weingarten!) said it would display unity. Okay, next time, let’s shout out the call so everyone gets on board.
In any case, Emily didn’t join us in that show of solidarity because she doesn’t have any yellow clothes in her wardrobe. “I don’t look good in yellow,” she confessed.
Signs of a Growing Movement
Except for one passenger who gave us the finger as we marched by, horn-honking drivers and their passengers were a powerful addition to the crowd that met at the park and walked around a long block.
The highpoint of the march for me happened right at the beginning when we ran into a friend from the community and his son. He said this was the first political rally he had ever attended. I guessed it was his son’s first also. Signs of a growing movement. At the next march, I want to see Republicans and former MAGAs among the speakers. At some point, they will wake up, pop the bubble that is safeguarding them from reality, and realize they are being screwed—here it comes—royally!
And they’ll agree with us that we can settle our differences later but right now we’re all in this together.
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Here are some of the best posters:
- No Faux-king Way.
- Resist.
- Cholesterol do your job!
- I will not learn your hate.
- Don’t obey.
- We’re all immigrants.
- ICE is the new Stormtroopers.
- Your loser fascist regime can’t steal my joy.
- The only monarchs I like are butterflies.
- Which restrooms should castrated Republicans use?
- No Sexist PolICE (with last three letters painted red).
- We shouldn’t have to defend democracy from the president.
- Super Callous Fragile Racist Sexist Nazi Potus.
- Make America Glad Again.
- You know it’s bad when the Episcopalians show up.
- Billionaires are the only minority running the country.
- Make America Not Embarrassing Again.
- We Don’t Bow. We Vote.
- Poverty is the worst form of violence.
- Keep your religion out of my rights.
- Queens Yes. Kings No.
- Standing up is patriotic. Bowing down is treason.
- Defend the people. Defy the dictator.
And one to the nepo baby who keeps us all healthy:
- RFK: Go away!
Remarkably, I found only one typo, on a slogan I didn’t memorialize: Privlege.
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Ken Wachsberger is an author, editor, speaker, and book coach. His memoir, Thumbs Up: Memoir of a Joyful Organizer, was released this summer and is available for purchase here.
