We arrived early – my wife, several neighbors, and I – stepping off the municipal bus at 8:30 a.m. near Bixby Park, a half-hour before the No Kings Day demonstration was scheduled to begin. But it was already clear: this wasn’t going to be an ordinary protest.
The crowd gathering even then easily rivaled the 5,000-person demonstration we attended in Lakewood last month – and this one had barely started. More than the numbers, what struck me immediately was the diversity. Young adults, families with strollers, elders like myself, people of every background and color – standing side by side in joyful defiance of ICE raids, military deployments, and the desecration of our constitutional rights. This wasn’t anger in the streets. It was resolve wrapped in community. The mood was celebratory, grounded in purpose.
One of our neighbors had made seven computer-generated signs for us to wave. We didn’t lack inspiration: “No Kings,” “Protect Families, Not Fascists,” “Stop the Raids,” “This Is Our Country Too.” They were met with constant honks, cheers, and smiles from passing cars. One car slowed in the empty parking lane while the passenger passed bottles of cold water to demonstrators. In another, a man waved a rainbow flag from his truck bed. Most honked not once, but continually. Joyous, committed solidarity was in the air…