'NO KINGS' Rally: Philadelphia Edition
Yes, we're heading into war; but first, photos.
It's Tuesday, June 17, 2025.
As we are almost certainly heading into an inevitable war with Iran—potentially within hours—I’m having a lot of thoughts; it’s hard to gather them all.
I’ve been struggling to keep up with writing here on Substack because I have a hard time not only collecting but also “perfecting” my thoughts. I’m a writer, but not a writer—if that makes sense. I spend an extraordinary amount of time trying to make every sentence “perfect”, which is almost always to my detriment.
Then, enough time passes that the topic no longer feels relevant—usually due to an even newer, bigger, unprecedented, totally abnormal, erratically horrifying breaking piece of news that ends up taking priority—and I essentially cease to continue, call it a day, and kill my own story.
So! Before even more time passes—before our conversations shift indefinitely to topics of war, I’ll share some of the photos I took during Philadelphia’s ever-so-peaceful No Kings Day rally, where it was reported that 80,000—100,000 people were in attendance.
It’s reported that over 80,000 people in Philadelphia—the City of Brotherly Love—the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the U.S. Constitution (1787)—came out in full force, PEACEFULLY, for the ‘NO KINGS DAY’ protest on June 14, 2025.
Some Special Guests included:
•Martin Luther King III & Arndrea Waters
•Rev. William Barber II
•Timothy Snyder, author of the best-selling book “On Tyranny”
•Mike Lee, President of the ACLU in PA
•Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers
And more.
America serves under the institution of democracy. And though it is FAR from perfect, WE WILL CONTINUE to fight until we ALL have equality, equity, liberty, and JUSTICE for ALL. That means we are NOT going back.
We reject hate. We reject senseless violence. We acknowledge that this land was STOLEN from Native Indigenous peoples, and we understand that NO HUMAN BEING is “illegal” — especially on stolen land.
We will not capitulate; we will not live in fear; we will not back down. We do not and will not serve ANY wannabe kings in America.
