My No Kings March 2026 Scrapbook

I really enjoyed the third No Kings Day this past Saturday. Saw some folks I know, heard some good speeches, and enjoyed the march.

I'll only caption a couple of photos toward the end, but also note the video I'm embedding! The song is "Forged in Fire" by Crys Matthews a remarkable singer-songwriter out of Nashville whose work I heartily recommend.

If you participated this past weekend, I hope your day was as enjoyable. A large part of dissent is just showing up and helping others feel less alone, and laying the foundation for greater engagement. 

For what it's worth, once again Houston deployed a ton of police for a modest sized crowd and honestly, I don't see the police as "the enemy". Sure, they work for the state and I can't say I trust them, but some honestly believe they're protecting and serving; for them, I offer support. On the other hand, I sometimes wonder how quickly things would turn should habeas vanish overnight.

Also, I did get my picture taken by a female police officer. Not sure why, but I'm way past caring. If any of these folks had a clue, they should join us. 

I don't mean to sound glib and actually, if I'm honest, the idea of law enforcement capturing images does piss me off. They're within their rights, but knowing how closely HPD works with ICE, my assumption is that there were plenty of people whose faces were subjected to facial recognition tools and that is wherein the rub lies. 

But for now, I'm just enjoying looking at photos and looking back on a nice spring Saturday. See you in the streets!










This was a really neat banner. The Declaration of Independence signed by a few hundred people two hundred and fifty years later!



Getting my picture took by a cop
There she is! Now, notice there's another municipal employee with an orange vest. Not a cop; but the silver-haired defender of the realm? Yeah, she seemed to take a deeper interest in those of us strolling by. That said, you take my picture, I take yours. 

And finally, as promised, a nice three minute or so video for your viewing pleasure.

If that link doesn't work, try this one: https://vimeo.com/1179088508?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci. 






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No Kings Day Houston! Photos and videos!

Image
  A Big Beautiful Crowd - Houston No Kings Day All photos: John Barrett  This is my recap: what a wonderful day! I was a little late arriving and couldn’t believe what I saw: the crowd was spilling over to Tranquility Park and it was all I could do to get closer to City Hall. Once I did, I was blown away! Such a great turnout. Official count: 26,000. This is as many people as protested the. Iraq War in 2002 in Boston (right after it launched and before W. declared “Mission. Accomplished!” Who knew the Occupier would make Bush look downright anodyne?) There were quite a few highlights but for me, the best was Texas 9th District Congressional Rep Al Green!!! He’s on fire and ready to keep hammering away at the Occupier and the Regime.  We also had a moment of silence for Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark who were murdered today in a targeted shooting by a shooter who may be impersonating law enforcement. Also injured are Minnesota State Sen...
Read more

No Kings Day is coming! Let’s turn out and let’s be safe!

Image
I know many of us are stoked to show up, raise our voices, and fight the good fight against authoritarianism and this tin-pot wannabe dictator and his clown car cabal. However, with additional issues in some states (like this one), there may be increased military presence, more law enforcement on the ground (uniformed and plain clothed) and perhaps, individuals and groups who might try to disrupt peaceful assemblies. There is a wealth of resources online. Here are links to three that I’ve found incredibly comprehensive and a link to a webinar from Women’s March tomorrow that I recommend dialing into. This Linktree is jam-packed with detail. By all means, avail yourself of all the resources on it. https://linktr.ee/protestsafetyprep?akid=22632.4062036.xGxX84&rd=1&t=2 This should take you to the ACLU People Power webinar from Tuesday, June 10. It was hugely informative and will take you less than an hour. That said, save this link and share it accordingly. https://drive.google.co...
Read more

What's ahead for protesters in the coming months? Planning ahead for pushback from the State, part 1

Image
Source: unknown   Ahead of larger protests and more people taking to the streets, it might be worthwhile to be aware of what the regime is attempting to do now to breach the right to peaceful assembly and silence voices. We aren’t at the point where the military is turned on crowds, but be aware that is a big part of the authoritarians playbook.  First, there will be draconian legislative measures. As you may assume, many such measures are before different legislatures in conservative states. Concurrently, the federal government is considering several ways to make protesting illegal. Let’s take a look. Cynics and the chronically apathetic contend that protests don’t do anything. History proves this to be a fallacy and you have to ask, if protests don’t do anything, why has there been across the history of this country, legislation to restrict the right to peacefully assemble, to rally, to march, to protest? Only a fool would believe that the measures instituted during GW Bush’...
Read more