Worried About LA and What Could Happen Next?
Here's Something YOU Can Do This Weekend
Authoritarianism is here. As predicted. We’re getting what his voters voted for, and what too many other voters couldn’t be bothered to care about or didn’t believe was really going to happen.
It’s happening.
Our very systems of government and governance are being imploded by a President whose ego has mushroomed out like the cloud of a nuclear bomb, and by the people in his party who have folded themselves under the cover he provides, like sheep. (These are the people folks will read about fifty years from now who will be excoriated for having gone along with it.)
We’re going to have to stop it.
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Our most fundamental rights as Americans are laid out in the Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, and were written in direct response to what it felt like to live under a monarch with absolute power.
These rights include the right to freedom of expression and peaceably assemble (1st Amendment), and the right against unreasonable search and seizure (4th Amendment). These rights apply to anyone in the country regardless of legal status. Both of these Amendments are very much in play right now, as ICE comes for people and people protest in response.
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This Saturday, June 14, is Trump’s birthday, AND the 250th Anniversary of the U.S. Army, AND Flag Day. He’s spending tens of millions on a military parade which is going to look like something straight out of North Korea.
It’s time to protest, y’all. An organization called “Indivisible” is sponsoring “No Kings Day” protests nationwide on June 14. (Learn about Indivisible here. Read about the No Kings Day concept here.) Some of you are like Hell yeah, you don’t need to tell me, I already bin doing it and I’m getting out there again this Saturday. Others of you are like ummmmmmm… So to you who may be feeling uncertain, worried, or who perhaps have never participated in a political protest before, I’m offering a warm invitation 👋🏽
Here’s how to participate in No Kings Day on June 14:
NOW:
Find the protest nearest you by clicking here. Scroll down to the large map of the U.S. and enter your zip code.
Make a plan to attend with a few friends.
Get yourself some poster board and a few markers and make a sign expressing your views. Make a sign big enough to be visible when held aloft, but also make something you can hold with just one hand if you had to. Consider drawing the American flag - to reclaim it from the authoritarians, neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, and modern day Confederates. Do not staple your sign to a stick/handle as that could become a dangerous object.
SATURDAY:
Put your most essential belongings in a small bag that you can strap around your torso (ID, keys, medication you need to take during the protest).
To prevent dehydration, take some water with you. Wear an item of clothing that has a pocket big enough to put a bottle of water in, or wear a Camelback water backpack.
Take a Sharpie and write an emergency contact number on your forearm, so that if you lose your phone at the protest you will have their contact number should you need it (your emergency contact should NOT be attending the protest with you).
Take public transportation or drive and park somewhere legally.
Join forces with folks, armed only with your sign, your voice, your head, mind, and heart. March and shout.
Do NOT be violent. If any violence erupts, move away from it. Trump is trying to call US the violent ones which is such a load of crap. Don’t let it become about that.
Let’s go y’all. Let’s express our 1st Amendment right to speak and to peaceably assemble. For 250 years, these have been the tools that ordinary people have used to organize, mobilize, and speak with collective strength to the powers that be. These are the greatest weapons available to every member of our society.
And help spread the word about our Constitutional rights – particularly among those in your community who may be threatened by ICE – by ordering and distributing the Red Cards you see below which come in numerous languages. (Order here.)
xo
Already on it!! XXOO