On Saturday, June 14, local organizers, activists, partners, and leaders from across pro-democracy and pro-worker movements will come together for more than 25 "No Kings: A Nationwide Day of Defiance" events across Vermont.
It's part of more than 500 events nationwide on Flag Day, which also coincide with President Trump's birthday and a planned military parade in Washington, D.C., to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army.
The largest event in the state will be a No Kings rally, organized by 50501 Vermont, in Burlington. It will include three marches converging at the city's Waterfront Park, organized by Queen City Indivisible of Burlington and the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation.
The event will feature speakers and performers, including Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, cartoonist and author Alison Bechdel, Avi Salloway with Miriam Bernardo, and the Solidarity Singers.
The Resister Sisters will organize a die-in, where, organizers say, "dozens of protesters, carrying tombstones to memorialize people, programs, and policies under lethal threat from the Trump administration will lie down, stand, and sit in silence as a stark reminder of what is at stake."
Events in Windham County
• Brattleboro: A gathering at Centre Congregational Church, 193 Main St., at 3 p.m., will be followed by a parade into town with The People's Resistance Marching Band and The Good Trouble Street Choir that end up on the Town Common. Another, shorter, march will go directly to the common, also accompanied by music.
According to organizers from Brattleboro Area Action and Indivisible Brattleboro, "Let Freedom Fly" will be the theme of the march, "to stand together in love and unity to honor the flag of the United States, a symbol of freedom and national solidarity. We will celebrate the diversity that makes America shine and invite flags representing earth, country, organizations, and other issues."
On the Common, participants will hear briefly from a few speakers.
Local groups will have tables to share information. Participants can buy food from Cocina Lupita's Salvadorian food, Jamaican Jewelz cuisine, and Mama T's Sweet Shop desserts. Strolling musicians and others will provide entertainment.
"Together we call for justice, for our Constitution to be upheld, and for the government to respect the rule of law, including the rights of every person within these borders," said organizers.
For more information, visit mobilize.us/event/790650.
• Bellows Falls: A gathering celebrating the LBGTQ+ Pride Whistlestop Tour on June 14, as the Amtrak Vermonter travels south, will take place at 12:30 p.m. at the train station at 54 Depot St.
"Demonstrate unity and community to those traveling through Vermont," organizers urge.
"Afterward, march to Westminster Street to support democracy and No Kings! Bring your creative signs, loud voices, and determined spirits! We need to work together to save our democracy and halt the slide into tyranny."
For more information, go to mobilize.us/nokings/event/793318.
• Wilmington: A protest, with the theme of "Our Military belongs to the American People, not Trump," will be meeting at the traffic light in downtown Wilmington from noon to 2 p.m. on June 14 as part of Indivisible's No Kings protest.
Ann Manwaring, one of the organizers, said that "for the April protests, we turned out 150–200 people in the pouring rain in our small town," and hopes even more people will join the June 14 event.
For more information, go to 50501vermont.com/event/no-kings-wilmington.
Other events in southern Vermont
Other southern Vermont events will held in Bennington and Chester.
• Chester: The Chester gathering will be on the Town Green from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Nick Boke, one of the organizers, said it will feature "local speakers and guests like well-known former Windsor County Senator Dick McCormick, who will remind us about what we must protect and what we must prevent."
For more information, visit mobilize.us/nokings/event/786083 or email [email protected].
• Bennington: Organizers from Bennington Indivisble say a flash mob will gather at Willow Park starting at 9 a.m. to make a huge human banner spelling out "No Kings," to be captured on video by an aerial drone.
Participants can find out more at mobilize.us/nokings/event/790946.
• Route 7 corridor: And, in honor of Flag Day, a "Relay for Democracy" will begin in Williamstown, Massachusetts, at 8 a.m., and continue along U.S. Route 7 into Vermont from Pownal to Swanton.
"This statewide action will be a peaceful stand against extremism and a powerful reminder: the flag belongs to the people, and democracy belongs to us all," organizers said in a news release.
Along the way, the flag will pass through Bennington, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Manchester, East Dorset, Danby, Mount Tabor, Wallingford, North Clarendon, Rutland, Pittsford, Brandon, Leicester, Salisbury, Middlebury, New Haven, Waltham, Vergennes, Ferrisburgh, Charlotte, Shelburne, South Burlington, Burlington, Winooski, Colchester, Milton, Georgia, St. Albans Town, and St. Albans City, before the relay ends at 4:30 p.m. in Swanton, near the Canadian border.
For more information on all the events, visit nokings.org. In addition, 50501 Vermont maintains an events calendar at 50501vermont.com/events.
This News item by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.