What comes next, after No Kings 2.0
Robert Reich
No Kings 2.0 was a huge success. More than 7 million (by
some estimates, more than 8 million) showed up. We were peaceful. We were
patriotic (many of us waved American flags). We stuck to one message: that we
refuse to live under a dictator. We had fun (the costumes and signs were
fabulous). We felt powerful in our solidarity.
And we are powerful.
What’s next? How do we use that power? What should we
do now? I’ll leave to others bigger or more dramatic
suggestions. Mine boil down to a dozen simple ones:
1. Organize for the 2026 midterms.
Millions of us just participated in one of the largest
demonstrations in American history. The most important thing we do with that
power is wrest back control of Congress from zombie Republicans who are
rubber-stamping whatever Trump wants. Otherwise, we will continue to lose our
democracy and rule of law to this tyrant. We must:
- Counter-balance
Republican gerrymandering in red states with, at least temporarily,
Democratic gerrymandering in blue states (in California, be sure to vote
YES on Proposition 50).
- Work
with local, county, and state grassroots organizations to identify
qualified voters who rarely vote, and make sure they do so next year.
- Organize
young people to participate and vote.
- Make
sure everyone you know — including friends and relations who have voted
Republican in the past — are aware of the stakes in the midterms, and vote
against Trump Republican candidates and incumbents.
2. Protect the decent and hardworking members of our
communities who are undocumented.
This is an urgent moral call to action. As Trump’s ICE
continues its vicious roundups and deportations, many of our neighbors and
friends are endangered and understandably frightened.
If you haven’t done so already, consider forming an
unofficial “sanctuary community” that widely shares information about where ICE
agents are located, where ICE raids are occurring, and how ICE is violating the
rights of people here legally as well as the undocumented, and that takes
videos of what ICE is doing and provides those videos to local and national
media.
It’s especially important to protect access to schools,
public hospitals, and courthouses. Undocumented parents should not feel afraid
to send their children to school. Undocumented people who are ill, including
those with communicable diseases, must not be afraid to go to clinics and
hospitals for treatment. People who believe they are here legally should never
be afraid to report to court.
If you trust your mayor or city manager, check in with their
offices to see what they are doing to protect vulnerable families in your
community.
If you haven’t done so already, I recommend you order these
red cards from Immigrant Legal Resource
Center and make them available in and around your community: Red Cards / Tarjetas Rojas.
You might also find this of use: Immigration
Preparedness Toolkit.
3. Help people who are losing their jobs and benefits.
Tump’s cruel budget is eliminating food stamps for hundreds
of thousands of Americans and reducing or eliminating health insurance for
millions more by cutting Affordable Care Act subsidies and making it harder for
people to qualify for Medicaid.
The federal government shutdown gives Democrats bargaining
leverage to extend the expiring Obamacare premium subsidies in order to head
off a spike in insurance premiums for more than 22 million Americans.
But the shutdown is creating its own hardships — such as
eliminating paychecks for two million federal workers. Trump is also using the
shutdown to fire tens of thousands of federal workers.
As a result, our generosity is needed now more than ever —
to support community food pantries, local food banks, community charities, and
shelters.
4. Call your members of Congress.
Phone your representative and your two senators. If they’re
Democrats, tell them that as their constituent you support the shutdown as a
way to extend Obamacare subsidies, and ask them to hang in there.
If they’re Republicans, tell them that as their constituent
you demand they join Democrats to extend the Obamacare subsidies, and also stop
doing whatever Trump wants.
Never underestimate the power of a constituent phone call.
Every office keeps track of how many there are and what they’re supporting or
opposing.
The Capitol Hill switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. The
switchboard operator will connect you to your representative or senators.
5. Protect LGBTQ+ and Black and brown members of our
communities.
Trump and his lapdogs are already making life more difficult
for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other people — through
executive orders, changes in laws, alterations in civil rights laws, and
changes in how such laws are enforced.
The Trump regime is also changing laws to favor white people
and disfavor people of color. He is prioritizing white refugees over refugees
of color. He is strong-arming corporations to eliminate programs that have
fostered diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Trump’s rhetoric is encouraging hatefulness.
Please be vigilant against prejudice and bigotry, wherever
it might break out. When you see or hear it, call it out. Join with others to
stop it. If you trust your local city officials, get them involved. If you
trust your local police, alert them as well.
6. Participate in or organize boycotts of companies that
are enabling the Trump regime — starting with Tesla, X, Amazon, Home Depot,
Walmart, and Palantir Technologies.
Never underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts.
Corporations invest heavily in their brand names and the goodwill associated
with them. Loud, boisterous, attention-getting boycotts can harm brand names
and reduce the value of corporations’ shares of stock.
7. Support groups litigating against Trump.
Some of the most important measures for resisting Trump are
occurring in the federal courts. Groups behind this litigation include the
American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, Center
for Biological Diversity, Environmental Defense Fund, Southern Poverty Law
Center, and Common Cause. They deserve your support.
In addition, Lowell & Associates, Democracy Defenders
Fund, and the Washington Litigation Group are representing clients battling to
get their jobs back, avoid prosecutions, and recoup millions of dollars that
Trump has illegally blocked.
8. Spread the truth.
Get accurate news through reliable sources, and spread it.
If you hear anyone spreading lies and Trump propaganda, contradict them with
facts and their sources.
Here are some of the sources I currently rely on for the
truth: Democracy Now, Business Insider, The New Yorker, The American Prospect, The Atlantic, Americans
for Tax Fairness, Economic
Policy Institute, Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities, The
Guardian, ProPublica, Labor Notes, The Lever, Popular Information, The Bulwark, Heather Cox Richardson, and,
of course, this
Substack.
9. Join coworkers in getting employers to resist Trump.
If you work for a university, law firm, media company,
museum, or any other organization that is being pressured (or could be) by the
Trump regime to surrender its autonomy to the regime, urge them not to.
Join with your coworkers, colleagues, and alumni to pressure
boards of directors and trustees, explaining that it’s impossible to appease a
dictator. Join with other organizations or companies in the same industry to
demand resistance. Most labor unions are on the right side — seeking to build
worker power and resist repression. Support them by joining picket lines and
boycotts and encouraging employees to organize in places you patronize.
10. Push for progressive measures in our communities and
states.
Local and state governments retain significant power for
good. Join groups that are moving our cities and states forward, in sharp
contrast to regressive moves at the federal level by Trump and his lapdogs.
Lobby, instigate, organize, and fundraise for progressive
leaders and legislators. Support higher taxes on the wealthy and on big
corporations to finance affordable housing, health care, child care, and elder
care.
11. Meanwhile, keep the faith. Do not give up on America.
Remember, Trump won the popular vote by only 1.5 points. By
any historical measure, this was a squeaker. In the House, the Republicans’
lead is the smallest since the Great Depression. In the Senate, Republicans
lost half of 2024’s competitive Senate races, including in four states Trump
won.
America has deep problems, to be sure. Which is why we can’t
give up on it — or give up the fights for social justice, equal political
rights, equal opportunity, and the rule of law. The forces of Trumpian
repression and neofascism would like nothing better than for us to give up.
Then they’d win it all. We cannot allow them to. We will never give up.
12. Finally, please be sure to find room in your life for
joy, fun, and laughter. We must not let Trump and his darkness take us over.
Just as it’s important not to give up the fight, it’s
critically important to take care of ourselves. If we obsess about Trump and
fall down the rabbit hole of outrage, worry, and anxiety, we won’t be able to
keep fighting.
Be careful. Be strong. Hug your loved ones. We will win
this.
.png)
