Indivisible announces national strike
Saturday’s No Kings 3 rallies drew an estimated 8 million-plus Americans into the streets in a show of defiance against a rogue president who sets a lot of stock by bigness. Indivisible and a coalition of activists groups scheduled roughly 3,300 separate events in cities large and small from coast to coast, as well as others in a dozen countries. The last No Kings protest in October drew 7 million. If the numbers did not make it clear, the message to the needy malignant narcissist was, Donald Trump, WE DON’T LIKE YOU; GO AWAY.
The Guardian reports on the flagship event in Minneapolis-St. Paul where an estimated 200,000 gathered around the state capitol:
Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator, riled up the crowd with remarks about the role of the ultra-rich in politics. Bruce Springsteen sang his song about the death and destruction brought by ICE to the state, Streets of Minneapolis, leading the crowd in chants of “Ice out now!”
The state’s governor, Tim Walz, introduced Springsteen, saying it was clear America needed “no damn kings” but it needed the Boss. Walz commended the state’s people for standing up for each other and for immigrants when Trump sent in thousands of federal agents, who killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Their names were featured heavily in No Kings protest signs in the city. Jane Fonda even read a statement from Good’s wife, Brenda.
More than two-thirds of participants who RSVP’d for No Kings events were “outside of major urban centers”, including Republican-controlled areas and bellwether counties, said Leah Greenberg, co-founder of Indivisible, at a press conference on Thursday.
Indivisible’s Bluesky thread includes images from across the country.
The New York Times reports that Trump’s brutal, rights-violating crackdown on immigrants in cities like Minneapolis was not the only motivator for Americans who took to the streets on Satrurday. The unprovoked war he launched against Iran on Feb. 28 has activated more younger voters:
One large rally was held across the street from the University of Iowa, where the youth outreach group Voters of Tomorrow signed students up to join its organizing efforts.
Katy Gates, 22, an organizer, said the crowd was “a lot younger, more diverse and more energetic” than those at previous “No Kings” demonstrations. She attributed the change, in part, to the war.
“Our generation has grown up with this idea of endless war in the Middle East,” Ms. Gates said. “And the idea of getting into yet another is something that people are rightfully really angry about.”
The protest downtown here in the Cesspool of Sin was estimated at about 11,000, making it larger than the 2017 Women’s March crowd. Significantly, past protests drew from all across the region and from Upstate South Carolina. On Saturday, however, there were other protests organized across the region, meaning the larger crowd likely attracted more locals than ever before. One neighbor told me last week that she and her husband planned to attend. She’d never been to a protest in her life. Her husband’s last protest was in Chicago, and he’d had to run from police.
More important than those rally numbers is what comes next. Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin speaking at the St. Paul rally announced the national strike Trump opponents have long sought (Raw Story):
“The next major national action of this movement is not just going to be another protest,” Levin said. “It is a tactical escalation… It is an economic show of force, inspired by Minnesota’s own day of truth and action.”
Levin then outlined what the event would entail.
“On May 1, on May Day, we are saying, ‘No business as usual,’” he said. “No work, no school, no shopping. We’re going to show up and say we’re putting workers over billionaires and kings.”
The Achilles heel of these protests is that the energy they generate dissipates rapidly in the intervening months without sustained daily or weekly local actions. It will be interesting to learn how Indivisible and its partners plan to maintain Saturday’s momentum for the May Day national strike five weeks out. Presumably, they will piggyback on traditional May Day rallies. And fortunately, May Day this year falls on a Friday.
But even a noticeable, one-day “economic show of force” large enough to get significant attention won’t be enough. But, baby steps. Ladder of engagement. To be continued.
Update: Brian Tyler Cohen’s No Kings speech. Good message. Great energy. “This can’t stop here. This is not the destination. This is the on ramp.”
