No Kings Rally Speech
March 28th, 2026 - “Just in this Littleton Common area, think of all of the social justice protests, residents gathering together to work towards building a new library, senior center and school, of more housing for families, and supports for those who live in the shadows of society in our communities.
Today, there will be more than 3100 No Kings demonstrations across America. And as important as the rallies are in our capital cities, including Boston, it is equally important for rallies in small towns across the United States, to send a clear message to President Trump and his corrupt sycophants that we are absolutely sick and disgusted with how you are destroying this country.
It was less than a year ago when many of us attended the first No Kings rallies, six months into Donald Trump’s second term. Sometimes, it’s difficult to fully comprehend and quantify the constitutional, human, economic and community damage that the Trump-Vance administration has wrought on the United States, especially in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where both government and the people strive to provide the most opportunity, security and quality of life for every single resident. Despite our nation’s flaws, we have always been a beacon of hope, a land of equal protection, a vision of economic mobility and progress, a land where people from across the world dream of coming here.
Yet, in the Varieties of Democracy Institute’s Democracy report that was just released, the United States slipped from 24th to 51st place in the rankings of countries’ democratic attributes, with legislative constraints on the executive being weaker than at any point in the last century. The report notes, “Democracy in the USA is deteriorating at unprecedented speed. The level of democracy for the average citizen is at its lowest level in over 50 years.” Civil Rights & Equality before the Law, Freedom of Expression and Media are now at their lowest levels in 60 years. In other words, we are talking about the level of equal protection and due process being degraded to the era of legalized racial discrimination that the Civil Rights movement had just dismantled.
And despite this sobering news, in a nation engaged in an illegal war, with an economy that is sputtering, our immigrants family members, friends and neighbors getting swept off the streets and stolen from their homes, and rank corruption spreading everyday in our federal government, I truly have to say that standing here today, I have great hope, inspiration, and a feeling that a majority of America has woken up to what is at stake, and more and more Americans willing to fight back.
Against the elite that are ransacking our government for their private gain, no matter how much suffering the 99% endure. Against the racist, xenophobic, sexist, homophobic, antisemitic, Islamophobic, militant MAGA crowd that only seeks to drive up hate, distrust, fear, violence and division. And against the corporate bigwigs who if they are not licking the feet of Donald Trump, by their inaction are setting themselves up to end up in hell for maintaining their neutrality in this time of great moral crisis.
My sense of optimism is not just based on public opinion, who show just unpopular how this creeping authoritarianism is to most Americans, but the kind of actions happening on the streets and in our town halls and state capitols, that are bringing fresh ideas and legislation to combat a federal government that is attacking us every day. On immigration. On one of the few issues where voters initially trusted Donald Trump on more, the resistance in Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Chicago, and in Massachusetts with groups like LUCE has transformed this state violence into an albatross around Donald Trump’s neck.
Immigrant support groups have not just helped protect hundreds of thousands of immigrant families, but it’s moved a majority of Americans to not just disapprove of the Noem-Mullin mass deportation tactics, but help pass legislation to protect our immigrant neighbors. It has woken people up to the reality that immigration is actually GOOD for our country, and that particularly here in Massachusetts, the fate of our Commonwealth depends on being a more welcoming state.
On healthcare, Republican efforts to gut millions of Americans’ from Medicaid has moved more and more people to recognize the flaws in our private, for-profit healthcare system. You’re seeing legislation to advance better payments for our primary care doctors, more unionization of healthcare professionals, greater appreciation for our public health professionals and boards of health, and a growing movement to bring universal healthcare as a right through the states.
On climate, Massachusetts has led the effort to not just take legal action against the Trump administration’s attempts to stop offshore wind and solar, but maintain our state’s commitment to meeting our carbon emissions reductions goals. With more Americans realizing, perhaps with the aid of our current Middle Eastern military conflict that depending on fossil fuels is not just more expensive, but bad for our national security, interest in clean energy is growing. More communities, residents and businesses are embracing solar, geothermal, hydroelectric and offshore wind, to improve reliability, lower energy costs, and do their part to combat climate change.
And you’re seeing these new ideas and energy carry over into electoral politics. Across Massachusetts, we are seeing more people run for public office, from more diverse backgrounds, challenging the status quo, and championing issues that have for far too long been collecting dust on a shelf. I encourage you to channel some of your organizing and protest energy into supporting progressive candidates for election and re-election, if you want to see more of these new ideas turned into policies that help everyday residents.
We stand together again to say NO KINGS. But like 250 years ago, we cannot just resist a King, we must be bold in our ideas, our organizing, and our political will, to take the courageous next steps to make our communities, our Commonwealth, and our country an even better place for all of us to live in. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak to you all today, keep up the fight, and it is a truly great honor to represent you all.”
End of Speech
