On this little video podcast I wanted to talk about the No Kings rally that took place last Saturday and honestly more so about the conversations that have been surrounding it regarding its productivity and the fact that more people this time around have called it out for being performative. I feel like this is a very important conversation to have because it will lead to identifying and condemning more hypocrisies of the Democratic Party which is something we desperately need right now if we want to progress in any way.
One of the main criticisms the No Kings rally has faced is its sole focus on attacking Trump and his administration rather than the system that even enables someone like him to do what he does. The other view is that by focusing on Trump and what he has done since he’s been in office minimizes all the same violence and atrocities committed by other Presidents, but since now its hitting closer to home, more white people care. ICE is not a new thing, deportation is not a new thing, locking kids in cages is not a new thing these are things that Obama and Biden have done to a massive extent and what Harris promised to continue and expand if she was voted into power, but because they wear blue on their sleeve, liberals never cared. The most amplified period in the history of the genocide against Palestinians administered by Biden and Harris had the whole world crying for Palestinian children. Mass protests and encampments, we were witnessing history. We demanded for a ceasefire yes but first and foremost we demanded for people to pay attention to what is going on and understand that none of us are the exception. If you allow what is happening in Palestine, what’s to say it won’t happen to you are and your children? The media wants to desensitize us one dehumanizing title at a time so that when it creeps onto OUR homelands we won’t have such a visceral reaction. We watched Palestinian children cry for their parents, we watched Palestinian parents cry for their homelands, now we are watching the same thing happen to our Latinx neighbors. Families ripped apart, shutting down food stamps to restrict access to food, we have been witnessing the same things happen to Palestine, but the people who weren’t paying attention think this all started with Trump.
It’s the lack of intersectionality in the No Kings rally that makes it performative. Of course we say “Fuck ICE”, but then also be able to say “Fuck the IOF”. My question is where were all of you guys when Palestine was burning the most? Just because it’s happening on the other side of the world you don’t care? Or is it because you party people supported and caused it? A lot if not most people attending these No Kings rallies didn’t show up for Palestine in the past two, three years and I’m not even just saying this statistically but also personally because I know so many people of my age group who attended No Kings that reverence showed interest in attending a Palestine protest. Even just looking at the No Kings rally you can tell most didnt show up for Palestine because Palestine is barely mentioned in the crowd. Support for Iran was basically non-existent in the last rally which is so odd considering it was supposed to be focusing on no war. Because yeah we hate war if it’s started by Trump but if it’s done by a dem we don’t give a shit.
This then bleeds into the performative label. First off, while there have been many critics for this No Kings rally, there are still a lot of people showing up. These are massive marches, and its not that we didn’t have massive marches for Palestine of course we did all over the world but these No King attenders, because I’m not gonna say protesters, don’t know what they are there for. Like yes, theres a lot of you but why are you guys showing up every couple a months then? There was No Kings last June, then October, and now March. It’s not that you don’t have the people to show up all the time you clearly do, but then why aren’t you showing up every single day if you are that angry and fed up!? I’ll keep coming back to Palestine because it is a great example of how protesting is actually done. There were protests for Palestine every day during its most heightened time. Thats just not the case here. You guys are just showing up when convenient only on weekends every 5 months. This is one of the reasons many have labeled the No Kings rally a parade instead of a protest because that they really aren’t protesting for anything or really against anything substantial but also because they walk hand in hand with the police. For two long years of genocide under Biden the world not even just the US flamed up with protests and the police tried desperately to shut it down when it was deemed “unsafe” through violence such as beating up protesters, unlawfully arresting them in mass, and using tear gas. That is what protesting is, it is going against the status quo and going against the ruling class. When the force of protection for the ruling class walks hand in hand with you then you’re not opposing them therefore not opposing who they protect.
If you want to read similar content to this check out my website because thats all I have for you today. I just wanted to air my feelings about the No Kings rally since I know a lot of people who attended it and since I surprisingly saw a lot more critics for this March rally. I will be back with another controversial topic soon, thank you so much for listening!