How To Get Ready For No Kings #3, March 28 2026, or, Saturday Morning

Some of you won’t show up for the No Kings protest on Saturday, March 28th.

• Your cousin is getting married in Bali that weekend. Dang. But you figure you can support everyone else, so maybe you donate to a sponsoring organization. If that one feels too new, the ACLU and many others are also on board.
• Alternatively, you just CANNOT. You are tired or hot or cold or overwhelmed, and you just can’t. But come March 28th, as you are driving to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions for someone you love, you spot a smallish group of people holding up No Kings signs. Maybe you honk. I will tell you that the Honkers are part of the movement and every single honk helps those of us standing on the sidewalk or marching up the road.
• Edited to add this comment from Maria, below. “I’ve tabled at these and every time heard of at least one vulnerable loved one who was desperate to attend but stayed home for their safety. We all chimed in with please thank them for taking care of themselves and tell them they’re here with us too.” Excellent, excellent point that I neglected in my attempt to write from behind my own eyeballs.
• We’re all in this together

Now let’s say you decide you do want to go to a No King’s protest. But you’re not sure where or how. You check the Mobilize map. Hey presto, an event near me!

You get excited.

But you waver, as we all do now and then. “I don’t want to go alone.” However, you know some people, and you’re on Facebook, or you have a family chat, or a WhatsApp with your friends,. So you Google “No Kings,” and sure enough, up comes a site with dang good graphics you can use to cajole your friends and family into keeping you company.

Your loved ones say, “Fine, we’ll come.” But they need signs. “What are we going to do about signs?”

“No problem,” you reply. “First of all, you don’t need signs. Just showing up counts. But if you really want one, I have ideas.”

Me too. If you feel creative, use those same No Kings graphics and make a sign of your own. Set up a 36″x24″ file on Photoshop, or Canva, then get it printed on poster board or foam core at Fedex or Staples. Go to Michael’s and buy a dowel amid the tulle, beads and other craft supplies. Attach it to your poster with duct or packing tape.

Alternatively, never mind all that and get paints, felt pens and collage supplies from your cupboards. If you don’t have a dowel, make a something small enough to hold in your hands. A mix of handmade and printed signs makes these events even more joyful. Here are examples from protests past, with all kinds of feelings expressed across many levels of production:

Notice that a sun hat may be critical. I add sunscreen, water, and little protein snacks of choice. Some people say chocolate but I leave that up to you.

Hmm. I never have. Have you?

The innocent so often suffer most.

One more scenario. You sigh, “My friends don’t see the point. Surely someone’s got a list of why No Kings matters?”

We got you.

If someone cares most about ICE and the secret police

• • Have you seen the detention centers they are building? We need to let construction companies know that we won’t let these go up without a right

If someone cares most about the Iran war:

• • Iran may have a terrible regime, but this war is not the way to make that change
  • The leadership has been incredibly incompetent here. Qataris say Trump’s people didn’t even pay attention to the translations of the discussions, and missed the signs Iran was willing to negotiate
  • We spent $11 trillion dollars in the first week of this war that could have gone to people here.
  • Protests against war are an American tradition
  • Surely you don’t support Hegseth and his Christian nationalism, war fighters, and nonsense expenses?

And if someone cares most about losing our democracy, AKA our right to choose our elected representatives in free and fair elections?

• • Protests were the engine of the Civil Rights movement, the foundation of the modern era we want to preserve. They matter.
  • While the SAVE act is expected to fail in next week’s vote, those who know they will lose in free elections will try again. We want them to know we are never giving up the fight.
  • By organizing now, by practicing and realizing it’s not too hard to show up, we will be ready for non-violent actions to support voters should that be necessary

HOW DO PROTESTS HELP, AGAIN?

Protests instill doubt in the powerful and build national capacity for widespread resistance and action should we need it. Witness the Minneapolis community and Kristi Noem. It’s pretty astonishing, what we can make happen.

You find this all really compelling. Me too.

But. One more sigh. Your sister, the perpetual doubter, remains reluctant. She wants to see the faces of some of the people in charge. You tell her that each event has local leaders, but she’s not satisfied. “Who’s in charge of THEM?” she says. “Well,” you say, “Maybe not in charge, per se, but the Indivisible groups were started by Ezra Levin and his now-wife Leah Greenberg, and they host a weekly hour-long Zoom webinar called, “What’s the Plan?” that’s really useful.”

She doesn’t appreciate you joking she should start a local Indivisible group, since she’s always liked to boss people around, but she does accept your calendar invitation for the next What’s The Plan, this Thursday.

And you close up your laptop, put that phone in your pocket, and head out to buy some more black beans. Or salad makings. Or turmeric or star anise. No matter how sad, scary and enraging things might be, at least you’ve done what you could.

We are the majority, we who believe in the rights of all and the laws of our Constitution, we who know compassion has to trump hate if we are to continue. Have a wonderful weekend.

P.S. This week was what gets us going, next week, what can settle us down:)