Make Lying Wrong Again
Dear Leading Ladies,
In major cities and small towns throughout all 50 states, millions of people showed up Saturday at more than 2,600 pro-democracy rallies (otherwise called Hate America rallies by Republican leaders). The sheer number of protests far outstripped the 2,100 No Kings rallies in June.
By Saturday night, leaders from Indivisible and their co-organizers, stated that more than seven million people had shown up to protest, significantly more than the five million who rallied in June. While they didn’t meet their goal of pulling together the “largest peaceful protest in modern American history,” the No Kings protest was, in fact, the second largest one-day protest, surpassed only by the 1970 Earth Day. Wow. For those who like these kinds of facts, No Kings was the third largest protest overall, surpassed by the multi-day George Floyd protests in 2020.
Looking at one of our largest cities, more than 100,000 attended No Kings protests in NYC's five boroughs, the biggest in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Some believe that estimate is woefully low and that there were, in fact, closer to 300,000 protesters.
Closer to home, 140 No Kings protests were planned in Massachusetts, with the largest in Boston where tens of thousands gathered. Mayor Wu and Senators Markey and Warren both addressed the crowd. Responding to the prospect of a big showing in Boston, last Tuesday Trump threatened to pull the FIFA World Cup matches from Foxborough next year, saying the city has been taken over by “unrest” and Mayor Wu is “radical left.”
Closer still, in Beverly, estimates of the crowd size ran to well over 1,000, considerably more than in June. Mayor Cahill joined the crowd and Rep. Moulton addressed us as you can see in this video.
The majority of the Beverly attendees were over 50 and even 60 years old, but younger people were well represented too, with many youngsters in tow holding signs and learning early the value of showing up.
While signs covered concerns about immigration rights, education, cutbacks, healthcare, and other issues, the focus was on the threats to democracy and the autocratic measures taken by Trump and his administration, specifically the desecration of the First Amendment.
One Latina woman holding a sign told us that many of her friends and family were afraid to attend but she thought it was important.
A retired Navy veteran said he deliberately wore a hat and jacket with insignia to show that vets are opposed to what is going on. He said he was glad he came out and felt good being among like-minded folks.
One twenty-something we spoke to who wants to work in politics and is already active in at least one local campaign, was psyched to be at the protest and part of the resistance, sharing that his mother, long an activist, was taking a needed break from the action, worn down by the torrent of bad news.
There was a palpable camaraderie at our local rally. Neighbors were happy to see each other there. Old friends reconnected, sometimes relieved to find themselves in agreement about what is important to them. People meeting for the first time were eager to engage, to share information about other organizations or events, to find a break from despair by joining, if only for a couple of hours, in a welcoming community.
The photos above are from the Beverly protest. They are some of our favorite signs created by people who were strangers to us until we asked to photograph them. Then they were new friends, fellow fighters for justice. Enjoy their messages of wisdom, sometimes laced with humor.
We felt re-invigorated by our experience on Saturday. We’d love to hear about your day.
Therese (she/her/hers)
Judy (she/her/hers)
Didi (she/her/hers)
Leading Ladies Executive Team
Leadingladiesvote.org
ladies@leadingladiesvote.org