No Kings protests - keeping it peaceful and non-violent

[wnylib]

For me, the No Kings protest is a means of taking a stand FOR something more than against someone or some thing. There are many things in the Trump regime that I'm against and I don't mind saying so. But the things that I'm for, if supported and followed, would negate the entire MAGA shitshow.

I am for democracy and following the constitution. I am for human and civil rights. I am for diplomacy over extortion and brow-beating.

So I want to sing traditional patriotic songs for the No Kings protests, songs that we learned in school so that everyone knows them and can sing along, like America the Beautiful; My Country "Tis of Thee; God Bless America; Star-spangled Banner. Singing those songs publicly in a group is taking a stand for the values that the nation is supposed to uphold. It also can keep people focused on the peaceful aspect of the protests. And, as a bonus, it undercuts Trump's claim that protesters hate this country and are violent.

I would not underestimate the value of such songs. Remember Captain Von Trapp in "Sound of Music" singing Edelweiss at the Salzburg film festival? Remember the resistance leader, Victor Laszlo, singing the French National Anthem in Casablanca?

I expect that there will be agitators trying to create violence at protests. I am certain that Trump approves of such agitators at protests in order to have violent reactions that will give him an excuse to declare martial law. At the No Kings protest in June, there was a single counter-protester striding up and down the street shouting, "God bless Donald Trump and God bless the USA." One of our own protesters tussled with him at first but the rest of us repeated, "Peaceful protest" over and over to drown out the argumentative words between those two until the protester from our group finally listened to us and backed down.

Not a bad idea to stop something from escalating if it looks like that could happen. Just chant, "Peaceful protest" and then break into America the Beautiful or My Country 'Tis of Thee.

Have fun on Saturday and enjoy the protests.

EDIT TO ADD: I'm printing out and taking with me several copies of the lyrics to those songs for people who might not remember an entire verse.