No Kings Day in Studio City

My History of Protest From Martin Luther King to Rodney King to No Kings

Studio City No Kings Day Protestors Jonathan & Daughter-in-Law Jen

As I joined the happy throng assembling in Studio City for the No Kings demonstrations, two thoughts jumped into my head. The first was the realization that the word “King” was a leitmotif running through my history of demonstrating. My first appearance on the streets was in support of The Rev Dr. Martin Luther King. The mood was pretty tense, and I did receive a Billy club to my solar plexus from a cop who snarled N*****lover.” I was technically arrested but not booked. My second King demo was in protest of the beating of Rodney King. That mood was beyond tense. Everyone was aware that it could get out of hand—but this was pre the trial and acquittal of the police, so it remained peaceful.

Then there’s today. The mood was very positive. People were smiling, waving American flags and just feeling good about being together in a common affirmation of the power of the people and the considerable fallibility of our government. We use the phrase “Power to the people,” and we exhort people to “Speak truth to power.” Today the people who gathered seemed to know that they, i.e. “We the People” are the power. So, we the powerful people speak truth, shout truth and sing truth not to power but insecure sellouts, cowards and people who can’t hear us if we speak at a normal volume.

Another thing that stood out was the makeup of the demonstration. It was mostly white, with some Asians and African Americans. There was a glaring absence of visibly Hispanic people. I suspect this was not because they didn’t care but were intimidated by the prospect of ICE, the National Guard or the Marines showing up. This is not how America is supposed to be. The crowd, Yes. The fear, No!

There were also some complexities and contradictions for many of us. Probably two thirds of the signs I saw were loving, requesting us not to hate and warning us not to fall into the trap of anger that leads too often to violence. About a third of the signs were hostile and had funny, if vulgar, references e.g. “FauxTrump.”

This was a good event and a positive morning. Our messages, our grievances are best expressed by being together, showing up and witnessing our values. They are best delivered, not by rocks and bottles but by signs and chants and songs. The people are indeed powerful when we join our separate voices in different keys to create a great harmony. That’s what I heard and saw and experienced today!