Indivisibles,

Over the last six weeks, we’ve gotten the occasional question about why
Indivisible, together with our coalition of incredible partners, called
for [ [link removed] ]No Kings Day on June 14.

Why another protest? What is it going to accomplish? Shouldn’t we be
[insert alternate tactic] instead?

These are good-faith questions, and they stem from very reasonable fear.
The speed, scope, and scale of the MAGA assault -- on our rights, our
neighbors, our democracy -- is staggering. The stakes are enormous. There
are days when nothing we’re doing feels sufficient to the magnitude of the
horrors we face.

Protest is a tactic. And with any tactic, there’s a danger of tactical
freeze, of it getting stale, of deploying it without a real strategy in
mind. And it’s easy to look at any single protest and ask, “what did that
even accomplish? What was the point?”

So I want to take a step back and talk about the role of a peaceful mass
mobilization like No Kings in the context of our strategic analysis.

If you’ve been listening to us over the last few months, you’ve heard us
talk about the idea of autocratic breakthrough -- a period when a would-be
dictator basically sprints to consolidate their power, crush the
institutions and people who could push back, and create a chilling climate
for everyone else. 

For the would-be dictator, success depends on projecting power and
creating an aura of inevitability. They need you to believe that Trump is
the new normal, that the MAGA movement will be in power for the long haul,
that the only rational move is to go along, keep your head down, and
protect your own interests. 

We’ve seen over the last six months what happens when this aura of
inevitability goes unchallenged. Institutions -- from state governments to
businesses to civil society to higher education to media -- start to fall
in line, do what Trump tells them, and/or go silent.

Here’s the thing: The aura of inevitability is a lie. It’s all a lie.
Power in American society doesn’t derive from the top down. Trump’s grasp
is brittle, and he’s overreaching dramatically. He will only succeed if
everyone agrees to believe the lie.

Or, as our friend Reverend Barber says: A king is only a king if we bow
down.

Countering the aura of inevitability requires a hundred different tactics
and strategies. It looks like making an example of Target for obeying in
advance and getting rid of its DEI policies. It looks like protesting and
toxifying Elon Musk until he bows out of government. It looks like
students at Georgetown making a list of Big Law collaborators and
organizing their peers to steer clear. It looks like federal workers
refusing to obey illegal or unethical orders. It looks like building the
muscles and the relationships for collective action.

In short, it requires a countless number of people in a countless number
of places to do something that the Trump regime doesn’t want them to do,
or to NOT do something the Trump regime wants them to do. That’s how we
shake off the aura of inevitability and halt the autocratic breakthrough.

For that to happen, people need to feel like we’re part of something
bigger. We need to understand that we’re part of a movement. We need to
feel like we will win.

That’s where No Kings comes in. With 1,800 events nationwide, in every
state, this will be the single largest protest of this Trump
administration.

[ [link removed] ]A map of No Kings events across North America

A single mobilization won’t turn this ship around. But it can do a few
very important things:

Change the narrative. A massive show of popular opposition everywhere in
the country can disrupt Trump’s effort to project strength. It shows that
resistance is big, powerful, growing, and everywhere.

Bring in new people. A mobilization of this scale and scope reaches people
who aren’t yet engaged, and -- if done right -- helps to draw them into a
cycle of action and relationships on the ground.

Foster community. When you show up, you realize that not only are you not
alone -- you’re actually part of something enormous. And that helps to
build the shared sense of identity we’ll need for the path ahead.

Spread courage. After Hands Off!, we heard from people in positions of
power within institutions -- law firms, universities (one big university,
in fact), and elsewhere -- who told us they were emboldened by the
protests to push back on pressure from the Trump regime. As we often say,
courage is contagious. 

And No Kings comes at an absolutely crucial moment. 

Trump and Stephen Miller’s vicious anti-immigrant crackdown has been
escalating over the last few months. The scale of the cruelty and terror
they’ve created is almost impossible to put into words. And they have been
cynically, intentionally sending their masked, unaccountable ICE forces
into blue cities and states, communities where no one wants them. They’ve
been working overtime to manufacture chaos, so that they have a pretext to
deploy military forces to crack down on dissent for all of us.

Trump’s birthday parade and his attack on LA are all part of the same
agenda of fascist theatrics, divide and conquer politics, and the
consolidation of power.

Trump wants to look strong. What he doesn’t understand is that true power
comes from the people. And on June 14th, we’re going to prove it.

[ [link removed] ]If you haven’t found your closest No Kings protest, please check out
our map, register, and then help us get out the word by sharing with
friends and family.

In solidarity,
Leah Greenberg

Leah Greenberg

[4]Indivisble Co-Executive Director

Pronouns: She/her

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