Hey Indivisibles,

This past weekend, I carried my 4 year old (“four and five-sixths” he would be quick to correct me) on my shoulders as he played his harmonica and I sweated my butt off at the protest against the occupation of Washington, DC. Free DC and the other organizers behind the protest should be proud. The weather did not cooperate -- it was hot, humid, and rainy -- but 25,000 people showed up in force anyway. The energy is unstoppable.

One handmade sign I saw all over at the protest: No Kings. That made me feel good heading into this week, because the map for the next No Kings Day just went live. (There are dozens of events on it now, and we hope to add thousands soon -- so check back often if you don’t see one for you yet!)

See No Kings events

In May, when I went on Rachel Maddow to announce the original No Kings event, we hoped it would work. We felt like the timing was right. We thought the messaging was sharp. And we believed people were ready to show up in force.

We thought No Kings would be a good protest. We did not know it would break records, with 2,169 protests in every state and 27 countries.

We plan these protests to recruit new people into the movement and send a clear message to the regime: we are not cowed. But those things only happen if people show up, so every organizer feels a twinge of anxiety when events go public.

The need to advertise, recruit, and build momentum is paramount. That’s how we land the punch we need to land. That’s how the mass movement muscle actually grows. That’s how we achieve -- slowly but surely -- the famed 3.5% of the population engaged in active defiance of the regime.

As Trump promises to escalate his war on American cities, we’re preparing for the largest protest against the regime yet. If June’s No Kings aimed to deprive Trump of his birthday parade media splash, October’s No Kings aims to steel American resolve against his occupation of cities and deployment of secret police terrorizing American communities.

But for us to land this, we need your help.

We need everybody to know about this. We need you to be an advertiser, an influencer, and a recruiter for democracy in the coming days and weeks. We need you telling your friends, family, and colleagues to mark their calendar. We need you RSVPing for the event in your city, or signing up to host your own. We need you thinking creatively about how to let others know. We need you reaching out to your famous cousin twice removed to post, or create a video, or record a song about it. 

We need to make No Kings an inevitability. We need the question to become not “Will they come?” but instead “Who on earth isn’t coming?”

Rachel Maddow covered the launch last night, featuring my interview with Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson on the launch. As I told Tim, a successful No Kings Day depends on all of us. The fight against this regime in defense of our democracy is not on any one of our shoulders -- it’s on all of our shoulders. We all have a role to play.

You -- yes you -- I’m asking you for help. Make a plan to do your part to turn October 18 into the largest show of defiance against the regime yet. I’m counting on you. We’re all counting on you.

There are more of us than there are of them, and we’re going to show it on October 18. See you there.

In solidarity,
Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Your weekly to-dos

1. Check the NEW No Kings map to find peaceful protests you can join on Saturday, October 18. Another nationwide day of No Kings protests is happening October 18, and we just launched our events map! Don’t see events in your area, yet? More are being added every day, so check again soon -- or plan a No Kings event near you.
2. Sign up for the No Kings mass kickoff call on September 18 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. Jump online with Indivisible, our partners, and thousands of activists across the country to discuss the vision, urgency, and strategy behind the national day of action on October 18.
3. Email Congress about Trump’s plan to let Artificial Intelligence (AI) decide which Medicare patients get care. Trump’s piloting a program to let AI review seniors’ medical info and decide what Medicare covers for them -- while giving AI companies a profit-incentive to deny coverage. We’re calling on all Members of Congress to block it.
4. Have a GOP representative? Call them to help force a vote on the Epstein Files. We only need two more House Republicans to sign a discharge petition that would force a congressional vote on releasing the Epstein Files. If your representative is a Republican, call them about ending the cover-up now.
5. Join “What’s the Plan?” on Thursday as Leah and Ezra answer your questions on No Kings, redistricting, and more. Every Thursday at 3pm ET, our co-founders go live to break down our key initiatives and answer your questions directly! Be part of our interactive chat about what’s next in our fight for democracy.

P.S. The first No Kings Day was one of the biggest, loudest, and most diverse days of mass protest we’ve ever seen, and we want October 18 to be EVEN BIGGER! Grassroots gifts fund all the tools, recruitment, signage, and logistical details -- like sound systems and portapotties -- to make that possible. If you can, chip in today to make the No Kings protests on October 18 massive and historic.

Gear up for an all-out funding fight

Federal government funding runs out at the end of this month -- putting us on the cusp of a huge government shutdown fight in which Democrats have powerful leverage. If Democrats in Congress fight bravely, we can stop or even reverse some of Trump’s devastating healthcare cuts and lawless abuses of power.

But during the last shutdown deadline in March, these Democratic senators broke Democrats’ ranks and surrendered to Trump: Brian Schatz (HI), Dick Durbin (IL), Angus King (ME), Gary Peters (MI), Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), John Fetterman (PA).

We cannot afford another “Schumer Surrender,” so we’re calling on Senate Democrats to stay strong and united in this shutdown fight! We’re also making sure Republicans know it’s on them to avoid a costly Trump Shutdown:

• If your senator/state is listed above: Tell them we need courage, not cowardice, and demand that they FIGHT LIKE HELL this time around!
• If you have Democratic senators not listed: Ask if they will publicly call on Chuck Schumer to show some backbone and lead a unified Dem front.
• If you have any Republican senators: Tell them they’ll OWN the government shutdown if they don’t commit to a bipartisan funding process.

Fight climate lies with the Truth Brigade

Indivisible’s Truth Brigade is the nation's largest grassroots disinformation-countering program, and this September, we’re confronting the lies behind the devastating dismantling of climate protections that harm our vulnerable communities most.

On the Truth Brigade’s monthly call tomorrow, September 10, Abbie Richards of EcoTok and Media Matters will show us how the media, corporations, and other bad actors fuel confusion or apathy about the climate. Then, we’ll provide tools and info to fight back with the truth.

We can’t be silent as lies replace science and disasters are exploited for profit. Fight back by signing up for the next Truth Brigade call on Wednesday, September 10, at 6:30pm ET / 3:30pm PT!

Follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads to keep up on the latest information, and text “INDIVISIBLE” to 59798 to opt-in to our text messaging program, where we send rapid response actions a few times a month.