Time to show up for No Kings Day by Ruth Neuwald Falcon

I always knew it could happen here. That’s not at all the same as believing it would.

I wouldn’t have believed that I’d be sitting here watching a speech by Canadian politician Charlie Angus, which begins with his offering his “deep concerns, solidarity, and prayers with the people of California who are out in the streets unarmed, defending the rule of law against illegal kidnapping and deportations… We’re not talking about creeping fascism here. This is full-on police state tyranny from the gangster president Donald Trump.”

Organized public pressure, sustained over time, is the best hope for averting a repeat violation of human and constitutional rights that happened to our families during WWII.

I received that statement tonight from Tsuru for Solidarity, a project of Japanese American WWII camp survivors and allies who protest against U.S. concentration camps and support immigrant and refugee communities.

In his newsletter this morning, Robert Hubbell said:

Our plans for No Kings Day are now mission-critical. Tens of millions of Americans must show up on Saturday to send an unequivocal message to Trump: We will stop your coup. Whatever power you have is based on the consent of the governed. And we are withdrawing that consent.

Let’s be clear: Trump will not be persuaded no matter what we do. But America’s business leaders must be made to understand that the basis of civil society—which is the foundation of their profits—is entirely dependent on the rule of law applying to everyone. If Trump’s corporate overlords support his rolling coup, then they are not entitled to the benefits of a civil society governed by the rule of law.

Realistically, the protests on No Kings Day will not, standing alone, achieve our goal of stopping the coup. But the protests are a necessary step to victory.

I know that they are doing everything they can to create their Reichstag Fire. I also know we must do everything we can not to give it to them. And we must not be intimidated by their threats. Keeping our heads down and hoping that by not engaging, or even seeing clearly what is going on, will not protect us. Despotism ruins all lives caught in its grip. If I learned anything from the experience of my murdered family in Germany it is that. They thought, in the beginning, that it wouldn’t touch them. By the time they saw what was happening, it was too late.

I don’t believe it’s too late for us, though heaven knows I feel that way often enough. But this is America, an enormous country built on principles very different from those of even highly cultured European nations. Don’t Tread On Me began as a motto of those fighting for freedom from English tyranny. It was taken over by the Tea Party in 2009. I think it might be time for all Americans to share it and to push back, once again, against tyranny, this time of the homegrown variety.

Am I afraid? Yes. On so many levels, in so many directions. But I am most afraid of not being part of the pushback, so I am going to bring my fear and my concerns with me to No Kings Day tomorrow. You can find a protest near you (over 2000 have been organized) here.