"No Kings Day" in San Jose, California, Saturday, 28 March, 2026

Five months ago, on Saturday, October 18, 2025, we gathered in downtown San Jose, over 10,000 young and old, women and men, veterans in wheelchairs and toddlers in strollers, to participate in the ”No Kings Day” protest march, as part of marches that were taking place throughout America.

Today, Saturday, March 28, 2026, we were back in downtown San Jose, again as part of 3,300 rallies in all 50 States across America. The war of choice Trump unleashed against Iran a month ago, in collusion with Israel, added more urgency to these rallies against the reckless demagogue in the White House.

As soon as my wife and I reached St. James Park, the venue of the event, the organizers informed us that this was a non-violent event, that under no circumstances were we to argue or debate with any agitators, shout or heckle, gesture or smirk, or block and follow them. Instead, we were advised to move away calmly and, if things got out of control, to find a peace ambassador or “yellow vest.” An available resource to de-escalate is
https://www.gandhiteam.org/.

We saw no agitators. 

From noon until 2 PM, St. James Park was loud with our united voices demanding an end to Trump’s tyranny and the unconstitutional and illegitimate war he launched against Iran that has already caused widespread death and destruction, including the deaths of several American soldiers. Gas and food prices have gone through the roof, bringing immense pain and suffering to Americans and to people worldwide.

Perhaps the most moving moment for me came when Democrat Ro Khanna, the Congressman for California's 17th Congressional District since 2017, representing Silicon Valley and cities that include Santa Clara, Cupertino and parts of San Jose, and the prime mover behind releasing the infamous Epstein files, addressed the gathering: “My grandfather was imprisoned for 4 years when he protested against the British King for India’s independence from British colonial rule in the 1940s in India. Today, I, his proud grandson and a proud American, am joining you against a demagogue pretending to be America’s King. There is no king in America and we the people must see to it that there is never any king in America.”

San Jose is what America looks like, said a veteran to thunderous applause. Protesting peacefully is one of the most patriotic things we can do, said another, again drawing vigorous agreement from the gathering. 

We walked along several streets before returning to St. James Park, passing in front of City Hall, and everywhere, motorists honked loudly and continuously in support.

The protest signs told the story of what these marches and rallies were all about. It is easy to feel despondent about how Trump is destroying democracy in America and wreaking havoc in the world, but participating in these marches fills us with hope and courage. We viscerally understand that we are not alone in this fight, that together we can defeat Trump and Trumpism and restore the values on which America was founded.

One of the most inspiring protest signs I saw at the San Jose rally: "They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." But the seed must grow into a towering tree of defiance and power until the last trace of Trump and his sycophants are gone.

The sign says "Stop the US-Israel war on Iran." But it doesn't stop there. Beneath it says: "No to Islamic Republic." The theocratic Iranian regime has been killing dissenting Iranians with impunity. But will liberation by US and Israel bring peace to Iran and the Middle East? Unlikely.

Indeed, but we the people cannot let up until Trump and his enablers are removed from power. The existential question is: Can America survive another three years of Trump, with the current Iran War costing billions and inflicting terrible sufferings on humanity?

 

"No Kings Day" in San Jose, California, on 18 October, 2025

More than 10,000 of us San Joseans gathered in downtown San Jose, Calif., on Saturday, October 18, 2025, to protest Donald Trump’s authoritarian presidency. I saw Americans from all walks of life and representing all age groups, from babies in strollers under the loving care of their parents to children, students, working moms and dads and veterans in wheelchairs to a 105-year-old woman with a walker and holding a sign that read, “I am 105 and striving to survive worst president since I’ve been alive!”

Downtown San Jose resonated with our irreverent, vigorous voices demanding the rule of law, an end to immigration raids, mass government layoffs, deep budget cuts for essential services, and Trump's illegal use of the power of the federal government against his political and legal adversaries. 

One poster summed up the reason why we were protesting, along with our fellow Americans, estimated at 7 million, roughly one for every 50 Americans, in 2,700 cities and towns across all fifty "Red" and "Blue" states and beyond: “Democracy dies when good people stay silent.”

We met at noon at St. James Park, and after about 45 minutes of full-throated slogans denouncing Trump, we walked through the busy streets of downtown San Jose, including in front of City Hall, supported by loud honks from motorists passing by. Smiling and friendly policemen guided us along our route to keep the rally orderly and prevent traffic jams.

Authoritarianism and fascism are on the rise throughout the world as a democratic recession takes hold. In the United States, the rule of law is vanishing as Trump bends the judiciary to his will, supported by a genuflecting Republican Party. There is no independent judiciary anymore. Threats against the right to speak and assemble freely, undermining higher institutions of learning through threats and blackmail, and the unethical grab of power by all three branches of government, dictated by Trump, are crippling our country.

On this “No Kings Day," we were asserting our rights to get our rights back from Trump’s blatant assault on the Constitution. He has deployed U.S. troops in our cities to round up people he deems undesirable, including American citizens.

Democracies do not die from without but from within. Today’s “No Kings Day" is proof that we will not let our democracy die from within, no matter how powerful Trump and the Republican Party may think they are. More than the Constitution and the rule of law, it is the ideas of liberty, freedom and democracy embedded in our hearts that are the most powerful weapons against authoritarianism and fascism.

What heartened me today in the beautiful and diverse city of San Jose was the sense of unity and duty that bound us together, participating in a march that was peaceful and family friendly The signs and props told the story more eloquently than any journalistic reporting could. Here are some:

“My dad fought fascism. So do I!”  “No troops on our streets.”  “Reject Fascism.”  “My dad was Antifa. The only one who called him a traitor was Hitler.” “Immigrants and slaves built America.” “Hate won’t make America great.” “The power of the people is stronger than people in power.” And, of course, the ubiquitous “No kings in America.”

Tyrants and dictators fear satire and parody because they reveal their weakness and emptiness. Comedians speak truth to power and so become thorns in their sides. Some signs - tactical frivolity and cosplay - played on this truth:

“Give us liber-tea. Hold the ICE.”

An elderly lady held this sign: “The only orange monarch I want.” Underneath was the picture of a monarch butterfly.

“Dear great pumpkin, please do something
about your evil cousin.”

“No kings. Only Burger King.”

A little girl wanted the world to know she was not being paid to participate in the "No Kings Day" rally.

A dire warning from a person who will not allow anyone to arrest him without due process.

And this sign affixed to a stroller from which is peering a baby girl: “A woman’s place is in the resistance.” 

I was touched by two women with this sign on their T-shirts, front and back, to help any diabetic patients in the rally if needed.

A smiling San Jose policeman keeps protesters safe

while ensuring a smooth traffic flow.

Lady Liberty lifts her lamp in the Golden State.

Inflatable frog ensemble, anyone?

There will be more rallies and demonstrations across America against Trump in the coming days as his illegal grab for power becomes more brazen. Any American concerned about the fate of democracy and of a government of the people, by the people, for the people, not perishing from our beloved country, needs to participate. Silence translates to support for Trump. Every time I participate in these rallies, I feel connected to something larger than myself. It is a transcendent feeling that makes life worth living. If you have held back until now, it is not too late. Mark your calendar for the next rally in a city near you, and join. The transcendent feeling you experience will inspire and empower you and connect you to the foundational values that made America.

Memorial Day 2024: Our Duties and Responsibilities

https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/05/25/opinion-memorial-day-the-gettysburg-address-and-the-november-2024-election/

Gettysburg Address offers special significance for Memorial Day

In this fateful election year, Abraham Lincoln’s words of courage and compassion can transcend political divisions

By HASAN ZILLUR RAHIM

May 26, 2024

On Memorial Day, we remember our fallen soldiers.

For several years I have visited California’s oldest secular cemetery, the Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose, every Memorial Day to silently express my gratitude to those who sacrificed their lives so we can bask in the sunshine of freedom and democracy.

Veterans and politicians make moving speeches and observe a minute of silence on this hallowed day as the U.S. flag flutters in the breeze, rustling the surrounding sycamore trees. Doves are released as symbols of unity and peace. Small flags line rows and rows of headstones of 14,000 veterans with names that connect the living to the dead: Joseph Milligan of Tennessee (World War I), Charles Harding of Colorado (World War II), Andrew Montello of California (Korea), and on and on.

This year, I will do something different. I will carry a copy of the address President Abraham Lincoln delivered at Gettysburg, Penn., on Nov. 19, 1863, and read it as I walk alongside the graves at Oak Hill. More than 160 years later, Lincoln’s timeless words speak to us with an urgency we must heed.

In particular, two topics demand our attention in this fateful election year. First, as much as we would like our democracy to be strong, it is, in reality, a fragile entity, as the Jan. 6 insurrection showed. Unless we are vigilant about safeguarding it, democracy can succumb to autocracy. Second, the most powerful tool to ensure the flourishing of democracy is to exercise our sacred right to vote. Ignoring or neglecting this right can open the gate to tyranny. Complacency is the enemy of democracy and good governance.

As Lincoln saw it, the Civil War tested the very survival of the nation “conceived in Liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” Slavery, the antithesis of equality, was the evil of his time, and until it was eliminated, even at the horrific cost of a North-South war, Lincoln knew America would not endure.

We may not have slavery today, but the challenges are as daunting. Despite making modest progress in race relations since Lincoln’s time, the undercurrent of racism in many facets of our lives continues to undermine America. And political division over issues such as reproductive freedom, affordable health care, an unfair tax code, gun violence, volatile borders and climate change also threaten the integrity of the Constitution and the survival of our nation.

I request my fellow Americans on this Memorial Day to conscientiously read the Gettysburg Address. It comprises just 272 words and took Lincoln only two minutes to deliver to the gathering of 15,000, yet it has the power to evoke the noble and the transcendent in each of us, a nation of almost 335 million.

The courage, compassion and vision inherent in the Gettysburg Address should persuade us not to think North or South, Blue or Red, coastal or inland, or working class or elite when we vote in the November election but instead, to think America.

As in Lincoln’s time, “the great task remaining before us” today is keeping our nation whole. We can do it by resolving that those who “gave the last full measure of devotion … shall not have died in vain.”

So while we enjoy the biryani and the barbecue on this Memorial Day, let us set aside some time to reflect on the Gettysburg Address so we can dedicate ourselves to the “unfinished work” that our fallen soldiers and veterans “have thus far so nobly advanced.”

Lincoln concluded his address with the hope that democracy “shall not perish from the earth.” While that remains our goal too, we must first ensure with our votes in November that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish” from these United States.

Hasan Zillur Rahim is a mathematics professor at San Jose City College.