Durham’s second No Kings rally wasn’t just a protest against authoritarianism, it was a rally for workers. Speakers included a variety of union representatives and Rev. Dr. William Barber II.
The first No Kings protests, a nationwide push to bring as many people as possible out to protest President Donald Trump, were held in June. Durham’s June No Kings event at CCB Plaza was organized by individual local organizers. This time, a variety of groups came together to organize and support the protest, which they dubbed “No Kings, No Billionaires”.
Thousands gathered at Durham Central Park, one of about 2,500 such events that took place across the country Saturday and drew an estimated 7 million participants. Attendees were concerned about ICE raids, free speech, workers’ rights, voting rights and Palestinian liberation, among other issues.
In Durham, Barber, a theologian, professor, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign and member of the national NAACP board of directors, emphasized the importance of unity and the undue influence of billionaires on the federal government.
“Extremism empowered billionaires to illegally cancel funding for programs that Congress had already approved this election, [and] set up a president to abuse his power to impose taxes on Americans through tariffs. It created a political alliance that passed the largest transfer of wealth from poor and low wage Americans to rich Americans since the transfer of wealth from the slaves to the slave masters. They slashed Medicaid and tripled funding for ICE and unleashed an assault on American communities,” Barber said.
The event was endorsed by Labor South, Common Defense,, BLACK WORKERS FOR JUSTICE, Bull City Indivisible, Union of Southern Service Workers, Africa World Now Project Collective, Library Workers United, Duke Graduate Student Union, Bullhorn Arts and Education, Climate Action NC, Free Us Coalition, Muslims for Social Justice, Durham Association of Educators, Triangle Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, Speak Out Socialists and Engaged Durhamites for Democracy.
Kathryn Pollak is the founder of Engaged Durhamites for Democracy, a group that has held 17 to 20 demonstrations a week since it was founded in February. Pollak said that concern and fear over Trump administration policies has grown since the last No Kings event, and that focus on labor made this event different from the previous one.
“One of the things I think was so beautiful about this demonstration was again, that it was bringing unions and the grassroots organizations together, because we have a common mission. We are fighting fascism that is funded by billionaires, and the billionaires are hurting workers,” Pollak said. “I would say that a lot of the people who are fighting the fascism haven’t been paying attention to billionaires. They haven’t been paying attention to the plight of the workers.”
An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people attended the event, according to Pollak. The June rally, which Pollak helped organize, drew a crowd of roughly 5,000. After the crowd listened to speakers and did call and response cheers on the hill of Durham Central Park, it took to the streets, led by union workers. The protestors marched through downtown before wrapping back around to the park for a smaller “teach in” and spontaneous speeches by community members.
Many attendees who spoke to the INDY said they had also attended the June No Kings protests, though many were concerned about speaking with the media. Jonathan, an attendee who preferred to be identified only by his first name, said he had even attended another No Kings event Saturday before attending this one in Durham.
“We were at the Raleigh event, and it’s more just lined up on the side of the road, so I really like this vibe a lot better. This is a lot more active, a lot more visible,” Jonathan said.
Many other attendees were wearing inflatable costumes, including several axolotls, an elephant and a duck. Retired pharmacist Susan Monpetit dressed as a panda bear as an ode to protestors in Portland, Oregon, where people dressed as inflatable frogs and other critters have been staring down ICE agents.
Monpetit said things had changed since the last time she came out.
“Then, it seemed like it was on the edge. Now, we’ve fallen off the edge. We are falling, free falling. So it’s that imperative, like today, to come together even stronger,” Monpetit said. “Hopefully, coming together like this, we can figure out who we are and what we’re doing together. The more we talk, the better.”
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