No Kings. No Crown. No Fear.

Yesterday, I spoke at the No Kings rally in Atlanta, and what I witnessed reaffirmed for me why we fight.

People didn’t gather for one candidate or one issue — the placards ranged from being pro-choice to ending Veteran’s homelessness to defending free speech. But regardless of message, they all came because something deeper is at stake: the idea that no one person is above the people. Patriots don’t trade freedom for loyalty. America has no kings.

The crowd reflected the extraordinary diversity of our nation, all joined in common cause. In every face, I saw the same determination: we refuse to let authoritarianism take firm hold in America.

But we gathered because it has already taken root. We know it from the blatant disregard for established rules and laws, the punishment of truth-tellers, the praise for strongmen and silence for corruption. We see it. Yet we refuse to pretend it’s normal.

Authoritarianism grows stronger when people accept it as inevitable and themselves as powerless to resist. The No Kings rallies across the country serve as a declaration that we are paying attention, and we won’t stand by while a Republican regime crowns a ruler rather than an executive. Not in a nation built on resistance to that very idea.

When we come together, lift our voices and demand our liberties, we reclaim what power truly means: Participation, Care, and Courage.

We don’t need kings.
We need community.
We need each other.
And we’re just getting started.

— Stacey