No Kings Rally Speech

I can’t believe we’re here again. I mean, I can believe it, I just wish we didn’t have to be here again. It’s Saturday. I wanna be at home eating junk food and watching TV. I wanna play with my dog. If I’m completely honest, I really just wanna take a nap. But I can’t sleep while missiles launch. I can’t sleep while senators are handcuffed. I can’t sleep while parents are ripped from their children. I can’t sleep knowing this world we’ve become so accustomed to is changing faster than we know. I can’t sleep with the doors of my house locked for the first time in 9 years of living here.

All this evil starts at the top. Politicians cling to power -- but that’s not new. Corporations prioritize profit over people -- that’s not new. Billionaires heap their hoards ever higher -- that’s definitely not new. But we get a reminder today because today’s Flag Day, and those elites do not own that flag. That flag doesn’t belong to politicians. That flag’s not a logo for sale. That flag’s not theirs to hoard. That flag is our flag. And there are few things I’ve seen in this world more powerful than that flag draped over a casket. Regular people like my uncle had one. When the time comes, my step-brother’ll have one. My brother-in-law will, too. My grandfather’s flag watches over my home in a place of honor. For all its faults, I love this country. I don’t think I realized that fully until this year. I think I might be a patriot. I know this country has a hard history. I know it’s not perfect, but my blood’s mixed with its waters, my heart beats for its diversity, my fingernails’ve carried its soil. I love this country and what it says it stands for, but between what it says and what it does stretches a vast chasm of hypocrisy and exploitation.

Patriots love their country, demonstrate for their country, strive for their country to grow ever more perfect. Patriots know this country isn’t perfect yet. The Founders knew that, too, even wrote paths for improvement right into the Constitution. Remember the Constitution? Patriots know we can do better, and we push our country to get better. You here, you are patriots. I never imagined myself to be one but the tears I’ve shed for my country and its people -- all its people living here -- prove I am a patriot. I didn’t choose to be a patriot, but I can’t help it. I love this place. In spite of all the fear and anger and fury rising in my chest, I love this place because of what it could be, and I love this place because of you. Look at y’all. Yet another weekend of rain, and you’re out here anyway ‘cause you see what’s broken. And for those who’ve disagreed, if you find the creeping fearmongering, the scapegoating, and the violence disturbing, if you’ve had enough, if that still, small voice of your conscience breaks through, we will welcome you. We need your help. Besides, history remembers who stood on which side of the street.

Remember, good always wins. It may be hard to imagine from where we stand today, but if it’s not good, it’s not over. Good always wins. I don’t know what that looks like just yet, but we’re trying to get to good before the national descent into evil is complete. Even if that happens, even if the pseudo-king gets everything he wants, even then, good will win, but we could save ourselves and the rest of the world a whole heap of trouble if we stop him before he’s satisfied. I don’t know the full picture of what good winning looks like. But I do know what this evil leads to. You all do. I know the people that were on the other side of the street last time know, too, ‘cause they told us if we voted blue that’s where we’d end up. And I guess they were right. I voted blue, and here we are.

In time, good always wins. Bear with me just a little longer, and I’ll tell ya what I hope that looks like. When good wins, regular people have what they need. Human decency breeds more decency. Love harms no one, and hate for anything but the hateful is gone. Good winning looks like the people getting their say. It looks like children getting enough to eat. It looks like full lives without the fear of oppression. It looks like joy and hope and kindness. It looks like unlocked doors and sleep-filled nights and neighbors popping over for nothing more than a cup of sugar. Good wins when we embrace the many facets of humanity living together. Good wins when you stand up and refuse to let evil get the final say. Don’t wait for billionaires to get tired of this. Don’t wait for politicians to get tired of this. Don’t wait for corporations to get tired of this. Don’t even wait for your neighbors to get tired of this. Change it now!

Thousands of protests just like this one surge across this country. People like my grandpa are used as embellishments on that tyrant’s lapel. Thousands weep in inhumane cells. And so, we make our stand. Stand for good. Stand for truth. Stand for love. Stand for inclusion. Stand for dissent. Stand for cooperation. Stand for freedom. Stand for hope. Stand for good. ‘Cause good always wins.