If you care about democracy, about climate change, about human rights, please show up on Saturday, Oct. 18 for one of the local “No Kings Day” rallies. There are lots of them: Williamsburg (9:30 a.m.), Northampton (11:30 a.m.), Hadley (noon), Springfield (noon), Amherst (1:30 p.m.), Greenfield (2 p.m.), Holyoke (4 p.m.). More details are available at https://indivisible.org/.
These rallies are easy, safe ways to stand up against the MAGA forces who are: sending troops into our cities, giving tax cuts to the ultra-rich by cutting services ordinary people need, kidnapping immigrants, subsidizing more fossil fuels and fewer renewables here and around the world, ignoring court orders, etc. More importantly, perhaps, attending one of these rallies is a chance to stand up for kindness and decency, for our caring about each other, for including everyone.
Do such rallies make a difference? It’s not likely that they will change Trump’s mind about anything, but as these rallies grow larger more of our political leaders, universities, news media, business leaders, people of faith, and entertainers will find the courage to stand up against the lawless authoritarianism that is being imposed on us. Perhaps more importantly, when lots of people show up, we all feel a greater sense of solidarity and hope. We renew our courage and energy and commitment to resisting tyranny.
When I was in New York City for Climate Week in late September, I joined in the “Make Billionaires Pay” march in Manhattan. More than 25,000 of us took to the streets with signs and chants and a spirit of joyful resistance. Advocates for many different issues joined together with a sense that this moment calls for solidarity and animated persistence. I found it uplifting.
I don’t know how long this struggle will be or what we will have to face, but I am confident that if we keep showing up and bringing our friends, we can grow a people’s movement large enough to turn the tide toward sanity, the rule of law, and caring for each other.
I think taking action is important regardless of how modest our efforts may be right now. I also find that I am sustained by those who speak out in ways that touch my heart and lift my spirits. Here are three examples that have been significant to me recently.
The first is from Scott Nakagawa. He’s a social justice author and activist who usually writes about the details of possible strategies and tactics. He often shares about the history of resistance movements throughout the world. I respect his work generally, but this quote just seemed to come right off the page and grab me.
“The choice before us … is between a world organized around domination and a world organized around love. The future is calling us forward. Let us answer with joy.” Scott Nakagawa, 2025.
There’s probably no way to know exactly what this will mean over the coming period of time, but I know I want to remember this one and seek to join with others in answering with joy.
The second is from Jane Goodall, who was widely known for her lifetime of working with chimpanzees, researching their behavior and building relationships with them. She was also renowned for her advocacy for the environment. Goodall died recently, but before her death she recorded an interview to be released after she was gone. She made many comments, but said that the message she wanted to communicate “above all” is that “when we’re on planet Earth, we are part of Mother Nature.”
She described herself as “somebody sent to this world to try to give people hope in dark times, because without hope we fall into apathy and do nothing. And in the dark times we are living in now, if people don’t have hope we are doomed.”
She said that everyone on Earth “has a role to play. … Don’t give up. There is a future for you. … Do your best while you’re still on this beautiful planet Earth.”
The third is recent, practical, specific advice from the new Pope, Leo XIV. He spoke at a conference convened to mark the 10th anniversary of his predecessor’s landmark document on the environment and climate change, Laudato si’. Pope Leo said, “Everyone in society, through non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups, must put pressure on governments to develop and implement more rigorous regulations, procedures and controls.”
I am grateful to these three for their wise words for all of us.
Russ Vernon-Jones lives in Amherst and is a member of the Steering Committee of Climate Action Now (CAN). The views expressed here are his own. He blogs regularly on climate justice at http://www.russvernonjones.org and can be reached there.