Huge turn-outs at events throughout Rhode Island
The third “No Kings” protest in Providence brought thousands
of people to the Rhode Island State House on Saturday as part
of a “nationwide day of action to say, clearly and collectively: No Thrones. No
Crowns. No Kings.” The event, which ran from 1 to 4 pm, was
co-emceed by Sajo Jefferson and Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor.
The event started with some music by the Raging
Grannies.
Here’s the video:
Asa Peters, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe,
gave what he hoped would be more than just a simple land acknowledgement:
“Over these last 12 or 13,000 years, the people that lived
here had been building long-term community responsibility and trusting
spiritual bonds to all the other living things that are here - the plants,
animals, fungi, and even the stones. Things we learn from and support in what
we do every day. In King Philip’s War and the Pequot War in Connecticut, the
people witnessed some of the most brutal violence. The colonizers introduced a
new level of violence that had not been conceived of as possible.
“The things they did to other human beings with their swords and with their guns was an introduction of a new level of violence to the land, not just to the people, but to the land itself, that all the spirits that wander these lands and these waters have to digest now. The things that we see today, that we’re all gathering to resist, raise our voices, and organize against: the roots of the things that we’re dealing with come from that time period, when people were being racialized in a new way, and violence and control were being applied to them; militarized power was applied along these power dynamic lines. Those are the roots of what we’re seeing today.
“When you look at the writings of some of our great
Pan-African leaders, like Frantz Fanon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanon, the way that he talks about
violence begetting more violence, you see this anti-colonial resistance as
people wield violence to do so. The reason I bring that up is that violence is
like a substance, something that spreads and takes root in different places and
in people’s minds. That’s what we’re dealing with today, when we look at the
United States as an exporter of global military violence or as a source of
internal violence upon its own people or the people from our neighboring
countries and continents. It all comes from the introduction of new scales of
violence to this land that we’ve been dealing with, and that my ancestors dealt
with and witnessed first. The people brought here in slavery experienced things
that perhaps their homelands couldn’t have conceived of as well.
“I share this because what we’re seeing today in this
administration is not new. They’re the roots of the United States. We need to
respond to the current moment, the extreme nature of what we’re seeing today,
but being historically and spiritually grounded in how we got to this point is
very important because, as a native person local to this area and a member of
the communities that were some of the first people to deal with this colonial
violence, I feel a responsibility when I see this same level of violence and
racialized power dynamics or dehumanization being spread globally to other
nations. This dehumanization has taken root here, and because this is my
homeland, part of my traditional homeland, I feel the responsibility to see it
for what it is and try to collaborate with everybody else who lives here to try
to root it out.
“So I hope that the gatherings we’re holding today and the
connections we’re building will help us keep organizing, clearly understand
where these things come from, and address them in a meaningful way. I wish you
all a very powerful event today. I’m glad to be taking part in it and very
grateful for the space.”
“God’s divine providence is defined, according to Google AI,
by the theological doctrine that God actively guides, sustains, and governs all
creation, including human history and individual lives, according to his
sovereign will,” said co-emcee Aiyah Josiah-Faeduwor with Indivisible
Metro. “It opposes the idea of chance, ensuring that all events, from
natural laws to personal choices, work toward a greater ordained purpose, even
in the face of suffering or evil. Now, I know we’re not supposed to talk
politics or religion. I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last
time we didn’t talk politics, so maybe it’s time we talked a little about God,
or at least about morality.
“After all, isn’t this what Roger Williams had
envisioned for this lively experiment? Save for this experiment being on land
forced from indigenous hands, and on the beaten, burdened, and belabored backs
of Black folks, believed to be three-fifths of a man. Don’t let them Obamafy
me. I’m not here to say “Yes, we can.” I’m here to say, “No, you won’t.”
“No, you won’t bomb children and civilians, wantonly waging
war, losing us trillions. No, you won’t take our neighbors or victimize,
vilify, evict, and eviscerate the labor upon which the bedrock of our economy
is built. No, you won’t sanction the murder of good people. For Renee, we say
nay. For Alex Pretti, we will be petty. We’re arm in arm and ready.
You are not our king. See, here in the Ocean State, y’all, we’re traversing
some troubled waters. Not to rock the boat, but these men have gone overboard.
I don’t need to get Pacific, but many of our so-called representatives ain’t
representing shit. I call cap, as the kids say. Cap-size these guys upside by
side. Both sides of the aisle are in denial. They’re in denial. Rivers of blood
flow from the Gaza Strip through the Strait of Hormuz and wash up on the shores
of Misquamicut. We are tired of all of it.
“Today, we turn the page anew. Channeling our country’s
history, we do what we must. What we have always done: stand and fight together
until victory is won. In the name of indigenous sovereignty, the same view of
religious autonomy, following the same train of women’s suffrage, abolition,
civil rights, disability, visibility, gay, and trans rights. This is social
justice ideology. This is Black and brown power. This is Gay Pride. This is
'‘Me too.’ This is ‘Live free or die.’ This is Martin’s dream, woke up from
Malcolm’s nightmare. This is Sojournal’s truth. What Rosie found so riveting.
Why Moses split the sea, why Rosa Parks volunteered to sit in the seat.
“Let’s rise to our feet. We don’t need to be clean and neat.
We plan to take to the streets. You all are the inspiration. Look beside you.
It’s on the next generation. Young people, this is your fight. It is your
right. It is our collective plight. From day to night, we will not sleep until
we have made the wrongs right.”
“Today, we remember that the rights that the Trump
Administration is attacking were won by powerful united movements like
the one we are building right here, from the eight-hour workday to the right to
organize at our workplaces,” said co-emcee Sajo Jefferson, an
organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “These
rights were not given. They were fought for.
“The women’s movement won widespread abortion access and
reproductive services. We are walking in that tradition today. The civil rights
movement delivered the single most significant expansion of voting rights this
country has ever seen. They want to take those rights away. Are we going to let
them? All of these examples vividly illustrate that the moment we’re in is not
new. The people of this country, people just like us, have a long history of
coming together to break the yoke of the rich on our lives.
“Every time we have won rights or victories for our
communities, every time our democracy has expanded, it has been because people
like you and me stayed in the streets until we won the freedom we deserve. And
that’s what we’re going to do right here. We’ve done it before, and we will do
it again. We are going to lead No King’s Day with full confidence that we can
and will win.
“Our power lies in our action, and we all took an action to
be out in these streets today. Every single one of us has a role to play in
building the next movement: the movement that will defeat Trump and transform
our country into a real and lasting democracy for all of us. We are building
that democracy today.”
After the march, the speaking program got underway.
Lee Clasper-Torch
gave the invocation:
“An invocation is a calling in, a welcoming, an invitation,
invoking spirit and power, guidance, strength, and peace. Together, friends, we
have already invoked this spirit with our marching today. Let’s continue to
welcome the light and invoke the spirits of the many revered figures who have
gone before us. We are here today as part of a long lineage: Abraham Joshua
Heschel, Rabbi, philosopher, and prophet for justice, walked side by
side with Martin
Luther King Jr. on the march from Selma to
Montgomery in 1965. That is 61 years ago to this month. When asked
about his experience of marching, Heschel said, “I was praying with my feet.”
Friends, in the face of the injustice and depravity of this regime, marching
and protesting become a profound and poetic act of worship and resistance.
“Abraham Joshua Heschel reminds us of the sacredness of this
work. Legs are not lips, he says. And walking is not kneeling, yet our legs
uttered songs. Today, friends, our legs uttered songs in the street.
“Mahatma
Gandhi, the nonviolent liberator of India from repressive colonial
rule, reminds us to keep the surging, generative fuel of hope alive. When I
despair, Gandhi asserted, I remember that all through history, the way of truth
and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time,
they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it: always.
“And Martin Luther King, that mighty cultivator of love and
fighter for justice. The question, King exclaimed, is not whether we will be
extremists, but what extremists we will be. King asks, ‘Will we be extremists
for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice
or for the extension of justice?’ May we here today call upon that spirit of
love for justice. May we call upon the spirit of resilience. May we call upon
the spirit of perseverance. May we call upon the spirit of power. And along
with that musical genius and poetic prophet of truth, Jimi Hendrix, may we as
well realize that when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world
will know peace, and our country, my friends, will know justice and freedom
from this tyranny.
“As Rebecca Solnit writes, the beginning comes after the end. For a new beginning, press on now. Press on. Press on, friends. Amen and amen.”
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