Header photo shows the crowd gathered on one of the four corners at Market and 3rd for No Kings 2.0. Credit to Williamsport Organizers.
That’s right. 650 people of all ages and backgrounds gathered on the corner of 3rd St and Market St to stand together with one voice and say, once again, “No Kings!”
(We had someone walk around all the corners and count. So yes, we are very confident in that number.)
Thank you!
First, THANK YOU! You all showed up, made noise, and made it known that even in central, rural, Republican-leaning PA, we will never, ever bow to a would-be monarch.
2.38%
Second, we did the math. 650 ÷ Williamsport’s population of 27,292 = 2.38% of Williamsport’s population was at the protest today.
Change is the goal
Third, why is this significant? Because we are aiming for 3.5% of the entire population to peacefully protest in order for change to be guaranteed. And if we can do it here, then we can do it anywhere.
It matters
We’ve seen comments like:
- “It doesn’t matter, who cares what happens in a small town?”
- “They should focus on the capital cities!”
- “No one is paying attention to these kinds of protests.”
So this brings us to our fourth point:
It. Absolutely. Matters.
- When rights are being threatened.
- When people are being disappeared off our streets (yes, including Williamsport’s).
- When the National Guard is being deployed against civilians.
- When whispers of martial law are being heard.
That’s when we have to stand up and yell louder.
They want us to be scared. They want us compliant. But when we stand together, they can’t stop us.
If they weren’t trying to suppress us, why would they be trying to scare us into compliance?
Our objective
The objective is to get so big and loud they can’t ignore us. To spread our movement so far that there is no corner of the US where they can plant their fascist seeds. To be so blaringly obvious that there isn’t a golf course in the world that fascist leaders can escape to without being reminded of their opposition. (And yes, this was an international protest, as AP and Newsweek report.)
Simply put: they can’t rule when we don’t want to be ruled. They can’t ignore us when there are so many of us. And that’s why every single person and every single protest location matters.