By Arnie Alpert, Active with the Activists
Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace. Officially retired since 2020, he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements.
Patriots Rally Against Authoritarian Rule
No Kings Day, observed Saturday on the 250th anniversary of the battle on the Lexington Green that touched off the American revolution against Great Britain, featured plenty of flags. They were mostly American flags, some upside down to signify distress, but there were also Ukrainian flags, Canadian flags, Palestinian flags, Trans equality flags. I don’t know if I would have recognized a Greenland flag if I saw one, but it wouldn’t have been out of place at rallies expressing outrage at the Trump administration’s turn toward authoritarianism and disorder.
Rally-goers in Keene and Concord also had plenty to say about the abduction of immigrants and their rendition to a foreign prison known for human rights abuses. “Bring them back,” the crowd in Concord shouted, as well as “We are neighbors. Arrest the traitors,” and “Nobody is above the law.” Democratic activist Sebastian Fuentes read the names of 238 prisoners being held in El Salvador. Human rights activist Faisal Khan decried the detention of students for expressing opinions critical of the US-backed Israeli war in Gaza.
Crowd estimates are not my forte, but I can say that Keene’s Central Square (which is really a circle) was ringed shoulder-to-shoulder all the way around, with the area around the gazebo packed with people and others across the streets in the city’s center. Concord’s State House lawn, too, was packed with people, perhaps less densely than the demonstration two weeks prior, but with another group, bigger than the one on April 5, on the City Plaza and lining both sides of Main Street. I’ve had reports of two hundred at Weeks’ Corner in Dover, a thousand at Market Square in Portsmouth, and four hundred in Nashua. There were three people holding signs at the Epsom Traffic circle, a location that did not show up on national protest lists.
If we were to count those who showed up in other communities from Colebrook to Kingston, it was a large enough outpouring to indicate that opposition to Trump’s approach to governance may still be building strength.
Nationwide, more than 800 demonstrations were publicized by the 50501 and Indivisible networks of local activist groups
If there’s one thing that characterizes this social movement, it may be the creativity displayed in home-made signs. Lots of “No Kings,” of course, since that was the day’s theme. “One if by land, Two if by DC,” had a poetic ring. A sign borrowed from an orchard illustrating that a bad apple can spoil the barrel didn’t need more words to imply the identity of the worm. A fourth grader held one that said, “Kids know Trump hurts America.” Many decried deportations of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and other immigrants and likened Trump’s tactics to those of the Nazis. Others were more creative, with suggestions for what MAGA and DOGE might stand for.
The wordiest sign I saw was held by Spofford resident Linda Snorek, reading, “We stand for the Constitution of the United States of America, for its democracy and liberties and justice, for free speech, for fair law that uncovers truth for the brave judges, lawyers, lawmakers, who honor and uphold the law ethically, knowing that all have rights, even immigrants, and no one is above the law! We stand for the workers forced, fired from their jobs that educated fed, helped many needs everywhere; for the immigrants, arrested, deported, jailed without due process; for the unions who need to organize, for educational institutions which are being suppressed; for educators, researchers, students and staff who are giving their lives (and have given) toward saving, healing and discovering ways to help us all over the world, but are being repressed. We stand as those seeing and knowing the truth and goodness that is here in so many ways, including everyone… and we hope those who don’t see will realize soon that we are one nation, not just out for ourselves, but with the intention of liberty, justice, kindness and goodwill for all.”
At the State House lawn, teams of “peacekeepers” wearing white vests circulated through the crowd, ready to intervene if provocateurs showed up or counter-demonstrators were getting too aggressive. They reported nothing more disruptive than a few pre-adolescent boys on bikes at City Plaza.
Organizations including the Kent Street Coalition, 350NH, NH Peace Action, and the Democratic Party had information tables on the State House lawn. Volunteers at another table collected signatures on letters to Governor Kelly Ayotte opposing cuts to Medicaid and promoting a “Hands Off Medicaid” rally being held next Thursday. Another volunteer collected donations for the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness.
Concord’s rally had several speakers, including Luz Bay, a State Representative from Dover, who recalled being in the streets of the Philippines during the nonviolent “People Power” revolution which took down Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship in 1986.
“I was there, and we all played a role. We were called then to show up. And we showed up,” she said. Bay’s group was assigned to sit at the gate to a military base. “We just stayed there for a couple of days so that the tanks cannot come out,” she said. At the same time, her sister was in a group protecting the one TV station that was not under control of the dictatorship. Bay encouraged everyone to find their own role, which might include running for office.
“We are at a very critical junction right now,” Faisal Khan told the Concord crowd. “The United States democracy is at risk. And take this very seriously. The dark cloud of fascism is hovering over this country. Do not take this very lightly.”
“We will not look away,” he continued, “not from the injustices abroad, and not from the injustices on our very own streets We are living in a time where silence is being encouraged, where fear is being manufactured. Our leaders want us quiet. They want us hopeless. They want us divided. But we know something deeper, something stronger, something because the opposite of fear is not hate. The opposite of fear is solidarity.”
Khan’s plea was to demand more of elected leaders. “What we need to do is identify that people that we elect are public servants,” he told me in an interview after his speech. “They’re working for us. We’re not working for them, and I think we’ve become very complacent, somewhat complicit in some ways, and also not willing to challenge the power to hold these people accountable.”
The one member of New Hampshire’s Congressional delegation who did show up was Representative Maggie Goodlander, whose message drew cheers from the crowd. “I work for you,” she said, and praised her listeners for speaking up. She also pledged to defend Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and voting rights. Goodlander, who recently announced she will seek a second term as Representative from the second Congressional District also stopped by the No Kings rally in Nashua earlier in the day.
Other Democratic politicians who spoke in Concord were Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill and State Representative Heath Howard.
Vicki Farrell, one of the main organizers of the Concord rally, said she was pleased with the turnout and the messages from speakers. Citing social research indicating that a 3.5 percent minority of dedicated activists can be large enough to bring down an authoritarian regime, she’s banking on the movement’s continued growth. “But at the same time,” she said, “this is also about building community. It’s about having common goals. It’s about showing the world who we are.” Several people told me they take heart from the rallies, which serve as a contrast to the often grim news emerging from Washington day after day.
While big rallies and national “days of action” may attract the most attention, there is plenty going on at the local level, where groups in Kingston, Wolfeboro, Keene, Concord, and no doubt other communities are holding weekly demonstrations. Portsmouth has two, one on Saturday at the Tesla showroom and one in Market Square. In Keene, there were indications, as well, of activists tied to a variety of organizations and networks coalescing. Kristen Petricola, one of the key Keene organizers, said they were tied to national groups like Third Act, 50501, and Indivisible, as well as to the local Monadnock Action and the newly formed NH-Forward. In many communities, there are ample ties between protest groups and local branches of the Democratic Party. “We have a lot of groups that have come together to work together. And then there’s another group in Peterborough,” Petricola said. That one is called Monadnock Women for Action, a still-small group with members in Jaffrey, Peterborough, and Fitzwilliam.
Sixteen organizations, many of them connected to national organizations, have united to organize a State House rally on May 1, International Workers Day. Another rally is planned that day in Lebanon.
From Saturday’s coverage:
Hundreds of people from all over southwest New Hampshire thronged Keene’s Central Square, most carrying signs denouncing Trump administration actions they see as contrary to democratic principles. On the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Lexington, a new uprising against authoritarian rule is well underway.
Saturday, April 19, No Kings Day
Colebrook – 10 am to noon, 21 Parsons St. “Support Vets and USPS”
Concord -3 to 6 pm, State House. “No Kings”
Derry – 1 to 4 pm, Macgregor Park, 12 Boyd Rd. “The Party’s Over”
Dover – Noon to 1 pm, Weeks Crossing
Exeter – Noon to 2 pm, Exeter Town Hall. “No Kings in America”
Franconia – 10 am to noon Post Office, 308 Main Street. No Kings
Keene – Noon to 1 pm, Central Square. “Unite and Resist”
Kingston – 11 am to 2 pm, across from Kingston State Park. “No More”
Lebanon – 1 to 2:30 pm, Colburn Park. “No Kings”
Nashua – Noon to 2 pm, Library Hill. “No Kings”
Newmarket – Noon to 1 pm at the Bandstand.
Peterborough – 1 to 2 pm, corner of Rtes. 101 and 202.
Portsmouth – 10 to 11 am, 2454 Lafayette Rd. “Tesla Takedown”
Portsmouth – Noon to 2 pm, Market Square. “Day of Protest”
Salem – 12:30 to 2:30 pm, Lou’s Corner, corner of Main and Bridge.
Wolfeboro – Noon to 2 pm, Pickering Corner. “Wolfeboro Area Peaceful Protest”