No Kings: A Dispatch from Florida

I attended the No Kings rally in Sanibel, Florida, which was the first time I ever showed up to a political rally dressed in shorts. I welcomed the good weather—since it was quite cold at home and warm and breezy here.

I’m not just a fair weather activist. I’ve attended every No Kings rally, going back to when it was Hands Off! The last one in October was shortly after my knee surgery. My husband dropped me off close in. I stayed for the speeches and the music, shouted and applauded and waved my sign, but skipped the march through town.

I’d brought no signs with me, so we hit the CVS for posterboard and markers. My husband agreed to do the lettering.

My former colleague from the University of Akron happened to be visiting this week, so we arranged to meet up at the rally.

I didn’t know what to expect in terms of turnout. Lee County, Florida has 21/2 times more registered Republicans than Democrats. But nobody has been hit harder by the effects of climate change than the residents of Sanibel Island and Ft Myers Beach. The region attracts multitudes of tree-huggers and birdwatchers, marsh hikers and beachcombers.

The rally was held in front of the Sanibel Community Park on Periwinkle Way, which is the main drag through the business district on Sanibel. During the busy winter “season,” the traffic is nonstop pretty much all day—onto the island in the morning, and back to the mainland in the afternoon.

So we had a constant stream of traffic, divided into three basic camps:

The enthusiastic drive-by supporters, honking their horns, hanging out car windows, giving thumbs-up and sometimes displaying their own signs. People in Big Trucks and golf carts, pickups and BMWs and Jaguars.

There were the look-straight-ahead folks, who kept a deaths grip on the steering wheel, just trying to navigate the gauntlet of cheering, shouting demonstrators.

And a few hecklers. Two ladies with Mar-A-Lago faces gave us a thumbs down. One man shouted, “We’re gonna win, even if you cheat!” One guy had Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA blasting from his car radio.

I’m thinking, “Dude! Nobody loves America more than us. That’s why we’re out here.”

I’d say the feedback was 90% positive.

Although I’m a writer, I’m terrible at devising clever political signs. Just as I’ve never been good at writing taglines or elevator pitches. But I enjoy seeing the work of folks who ARE good at it. And I saw some great signs today.

I’m not good at judging crowd sizes, either, but my friend estimated it was about 500 people. At the rally, I spoke to long-time residents as well as snowbirds from Michigan, Minnesota, and Maine. There were also rallies in Fort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, and Pine Island.

I’m told that turnout nationwide was 8 million people at 3300 protests in all fifty states who gave up their Saturday to stand on streets and sidewalks, town squares and parks to make their voices heard. If accurate, this was the largest protest in the nation’s history.

The White House dismissed the protests as “Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions.” Some people downplay the value of public protests, skeptical that they change any minds. It’s true that, in isolation, they are not enough—there is work to do alongside, and conversations to be had. A rally alone is unlikely to create an epiphany in the hearts of those who wholeheartedly support the MAGA agenda. But I believe that there is value in coming together in community and shared belief (therapeutic, even.) It is reassuring to know that we are not alone. And hopefully, at least, this massive display of unity and spirit will give folks on the far right something to worry about, and folks on the fence something to think about. A home to come to when they are ready to make a move.