October's No King Day Protest

The news cycle is overwhelming. If you ask me why am I protesting on the best of days I couldn't articulate WHY. I just know I have to. I made a small two-sided sign that said: ALL PEOPLE ARE CREATED EQUAL and WE THE PEOPLE. 

In June on a rainy day in New Jersey, the No Kings protests were organized nationally. At the time the numbers varied from a couple of million to up to 13.14 million people marched. the consensus is there were FIVE MILLION participants. The rule of thumb is if 3.5% of the population protests, real change takes place. With a population of 342 million people, that number is 12 million.

Since then I have participated in other, smaller protests. Those did not unite behind a singular message. It is easy to march against one man taking all of the power. That is the reason our nation was formed.

Fast forward only a few months, but with a lifetime
of crises, another No Kings Day protest was organized. Early numbers are saying over EIGHT MILLION people turned out in over 2,700 protests in the United States. The protests spread internationally to Canada, Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, and places in-between.

On a perfect fall day, I went with my lifelong friend Sylvia and her son and daughter to a small protest in Hopewell, NJ. It was their first protest, but not likely their last. Locally there were also protests taking place in Trenton, Princeton (5,000), and Lambertville (2,800). Hopewell had between 1,000 and 1,500 people lined up on Broad Street near Sourlands Cycles. People I have spoken with agree the turnout was much larger this time, in part thanks to the gorgeous weather but also because the news is more dire.

People were encouraged to wear yellow and carry signs. Listening to Heather Cox Richardson's advice, I wore a costume -- in my case a Colonial dress I've had since Ashley and I reenacted together at Rockingham. I found a man kitted out similarly. I was happy with my outfit a woman handing out flags made the comment the MAGA crowd would also like my outfit. Suddenly I felt less charming. 

Words matter.

We lined up both sides of the road. Cars honked in support. Some going up and down the street again and again. Some waving signs. Some recording (usually the passenger, but also the driver). The police went up and down the street shouting at us to stay out of the street (I'll assume they were only try to keep us safe). Sometimes they went too fast through the crowd.

I only saw one "middle finger salute," one MAGA hat drive by us, and a few groans from drivers. No real trouble. Others drove by silently, either in disagreement or out of an abundance of caution, or because they didn't realize the crowd thrives on car honks to keep us engaged.

I was surprised to not recognize anyone. If Sylvia hadn't been with me, I would have walked up and down the sides looking more than once for friends. Later I saw pictures from people I know who were also there. It is nice being with like-minded people since the news is constantly pitting us against each other.

Overall, it felt safe. Suburban. Images I've seen of crowds in New York and other cities look uncomfortable.

My Facebook feed has been lighting up with pictures other friends took at their protests. 

I feel a little sad for people not protesting. We will get to the other side of this. I'll share stories of protesting with future generations. They'll either make up stories, or change the topic. Unless they engage AI services, they won't have photo proof they, too, were fighting for a better future.

Some pictures from the event: