Some things to think about before you attend a No Kings rally this Saturday in Grand Rapids

It is likely that several thousand people will gather this weekend in Grand Rapids for the various No Kings events that are planned downtown.

I have been critical of these large gatherings over the past year, such as my post that was written after 6 months of the current Trump Administration around the issue of resistance.

Last October, after the last No Kings rally, I also made several points about what was said prior to the rally and then some thoughts about how it could have been more impactful.

If you attend the No Kings events in Grand Rapids this Saturday you should think of this as an opportunity to invite people to join in on the actual resistance work being done in the community. This weekend could also be an opportunity to influence people or to radicalize them in the same way that many have been radicalized at previous events.

Many of us remember the moment when we first encountered radical politics. Maybe yours was the alter-globalization movement, Occupy, the George Floyd Uprising, or the Student Intifada. Some participants at No Kings are not going to be open to hearing radical critiques of capitalism and the state, but make it your mission to find the ones who are ready to join the struggle, who just need a framework and an idea of where to begin. Talk to them about their views and how those might fit within a larger global history of resistance. It’s not about convincing them, but sharing tools to give a name to their longing for liberation.

There is a good article from Crimethinc with the headline – No Kings, No Masters: Building the Resistance: A Call to Mobilize at the March 28 No Kings Rallies. This article is filled with excellent examples and ideas of how these kinds of rallies can provide people with opportunities to expand resistance work and reduce the chances of people showing up for photo ops or simply performative actions.

What’s Different Now?

Before I discuss a bit about how we can see No Kings as an opportunity to expand movement work that is not limited to just opposing the Trump Administration, I want to say something about what is different now compared to where we were last October.

The Trump Administration kidnapped the President of Venezuela and his family and has been holding them in prison in the US without formal charges. The Trump Administration began bombing Iran recently and continues to assault the sovereign nation of Iran killing thousands and displacing many more. The Trump Administration has also continued to support the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which now includes Israeli attacks on Lebanon. This administration has ramped up the economic blockade against Cuba, with threats to invade the small island nation, along with future possible military interventions throughout Latin America.

On the domestic front people are finally waking up to what undocumented immigrants have been experiencing since ICE was founded in 2003. People saw what happened in Minneapolis, both the brutality of ICE, but also the powerful organized resistance to ICE.

People have seen how Capitalism brutalizes families and communities, often with government collaboration.

People are also seeing how institutionalized racism in housing, employment and the carceral system brutalizes BIPOC individuals and communities. The billionaire class keeps growing while more and more people are living paycheck to paycheck. The Climate crisis continues unabated, wreaking havoc on humans and other species alike. Lastly, it is painfully clear that we do not have an opposition political party in this country, we have the Democrats and they have either been complicit in what the Trump Administration has been doing or they have only been able to offer mild, reformist rhetoric and policies that doesn’t excite the masses.

Things to think about when you show up to the No Kings rally

• Listen to the people who are speaking, especially BIPOC, queer and immigrant speakers.
• Visit the tables and get information from the groups that are actually resisting the shit that is going on in Grand Rapids, in Michigan, across the US and around the world.
• Come with a commitment to provide funds for the groups that are doing Mutual Aid work and supporting grassroots organizers. GR Rapid Response to ICE raises money for families affected by ICE violence and they are seeing an increase in Mutual Aid requests.
• Get involved in pressuring the Grand Rapids City Commission around the demands being presented by the mother of Da’Quain Johnson, the Black man who was murdered by the GRPD. White allies need to step up and leverage their privilege for this family.
• Support the campaign led by Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE to get the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County to adopt the 6 sanctuary policies that have been demanding for over a year.
• Get involved with local queer and trans solidarity work, since state and federal policies are threatening their lives.
• Join the numerous local campaigns to prevent data centers from being built in West Michigan.
• Organize and engage in Direct Action against US Imperialism and militarism in Iran, in Gaza, Venezuela, Cuba just to name a few. Occupy the offices of members of Congress in West Michigan, disrupt the manufacturing of weapons and weapons systems at companies in West Michigan.
• Don’t put your faith in political parties or politicians if you really want to change things. We must resist business as usual and organize in such a way as to radically change our communities that always tolerate – no matter if it is Republicans or Democrats – white supremacy, homophobia and transphobia, ICE terrorism, ecological destruction, the climate crisis, housing injustice, the health care system, capitalism and the massive US Military spending that always takes priority over human needs.

Don’t settle for photo ops or performative actions. Allow yourself to be inspired and radicalized. Join a movement(s) that are led by BIPOC people and then don’t just protest, but resist what systems of power do in this community. We all need to radically imagine a better world!