Chicagoland—No Kings demonstrations on Oct. 17 were spread out all over the Chicago area. Hundreds showed up in the suburbs: 200 in Skokie, 1,000 in Evanston, hundreds in Wilmette and downtown Naperville, among others where participants held witty homemade signs and protested, including smaller gatherings such as at Western Springs, as well as in multiple Chicago neighborhoods. Many lined the streets holding signs at DuSable Lake Shore Drive in the Edgewater neighborhood, nearby Valparaiso, Ind., and at the notorious U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in west suburban Broadview; and over 2,000 took part in Gurnee, Highland Park, Buffalo Grove and Deerfield. 

‘NONPARTISAN’ IN NAME ONLY

While the organizers billed the Oct. 17 protests as “nonpartisan,” all who came were opposed to the current Trump administration, as their signs made very clear. Speakers called for Medicare for all and to abolish ICE, among many other demands, all to great approval from the crowd.

As many demonstrators from across the country tried to document their actions and thoughts on Instagram, they found that the No Kings Instagram account had gone dark. It was unavailable for hours. Meta apologized and blamed AI for the problem. No doubt the phrase “AI did it” will soon become the excuse of choice. No Kings organizers are not convinced since Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg is an expert at genuflecting before King Trump. 

You can’t go wrong participating in a No Kings demonstration. In Wilmette, Ill., the mood was both angry and at the same time joyous. Angry because of what is happening to the country we live in, the galloping fascism, the cruelty, so many being hurt by those who care for power more than for humanity. Joyous because people of like mind have come together to fight for a better future and to stop Trump and his ilk from ruining more lives. You feel that you’re in good company, the signs are all homemade, creative and often funny.

WILMETTEANS MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD

About 500 citizens came together at the village green here to rally and protest the Trump administration and to emphasize the importance of voting to try and save what’s left of the United States’ flawed democracy. The feeling is that if the vote against Trump is overwhelming it will make it that much harder for him to steal the election, or declare a state of emergency in an attempt to overthrow the will of the people. 

All ages were there and some brought their dogs, which increased the joy.

This event was only one of almost 3,000 that took place across the U.S. Everyone who participates knows we are at a turning point and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

–Terry Moon

Creekers on the battle line

Battle Creek, Mich.—I attended the No Kings protest here and there weren’t as many people as the last time, when there were thousands of “Creekers” taking part. There were still several hundred, at least 500 people, which is still one of the largest demos ever in BC (Crick Bottle). Several more “No Kings” demonstrations were taking place in small towns in the area including Hastings (Barry Co.), Paw Paw (Van Buren Co.), Marshall (Calhoun Co. seat), Coldwater (Branch Co.)—North, South, East, and West of BC. Clearly anti-Trumpism is spreading through the countryside.

As before, I went to the end of the picket line, but this time there were no Trumpers to be found. I guess they gave up. A few people gave us the middle finger as they drove by, but most drivers were civil and there was a lot of horn-honking, which is the traditional BC mode of personal expression.

Many unique, colorful signs were displayed—another example of the people of Calhoun County.

–Agitation Reporter 

No Kings Day and honoring ‘Woman, Life, Freedom!’

Oakland, Cal.—Oct. 17 was another No Kings demonstration day. This time, rather than large marches, the focus was on having many street-corner events in different neighborhoods.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DIALOGUE

The reasoning was that large demonstrations don’t allow for as much discussion among the participants. This time, there was stress on engaging people in how they see their everyday activities changing, rather than showing up and then going home to “life as usual.”

Some of the kinds of questions that were addressed were: what might you do when Trump tries to steal the election? We don’t want to be surprised, the way we were on Jan. 6, watching events unfold and not being able to do anything but be shocked. If there is a call for a boycott, do you have enough provisions to avoid shopping for a few days? Are you in favor of a general strike? Can you afford/arrange missing work for a day or a week? Can you help others with provisions or other support, so they can participate?

I welcomed the change in focus as it brings the conversation closer to how our daily life needs to change. We know that electing Democrats, while preferable to Republicans, is not an answer that can solve the crisis we are living through.

POETS HONOR IRAN’S ‘WOMAN, LIFE, FREEDOM’ MOVEMENT 

On the same day there was also a poetry reading commemorating Iran’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, organized, in the words of one of the poets, to “honor the fighters and dreamers for a better world.” The very first poem, “Your World,” while describing the horrors we witness daily, asked: “what kind of world do you want to see?” It stressed that opposition to what is isn’t enough, we also have to think of how a future could be fundamentally different.

One of the notable aspects of this event was its international solidarity. While the first couple of poets were Iranian, there were many non-Iranian participants. They included Asian-American, Latino, Cherokee Nation, Black and Palestinian poets. They all made clear that liberation is a human endeavor involving all of humanity. The Iranian women’s slogan from 1979—“Women’s liberation is society’s liberation”—was echoed that day as “no one is free unless women are free” and further universalized as “no one is free as long as anyone is oppressed.”

–Urszula Wislanka