After attending rallies like yesterday’s No Kings (October 2025 version), the take-away is that there are a lot of like-minded people who are unhappy with the way things have been going. Here in Lowell, Massachusetts, a respectful crowd listened to speakers, music, and cheered and chanted. Afterwards the group wended their way from Boarding House Park, up Bridge Street, down Merrimack around Arcand and back to the Boarding House via French. Everyone stayed on the sidewalks, which can be a feat by itself, no pun intended.
I don’t have a clue about the size of the crowd, but by observation, I do know the demographics were wide-ranging. And no one was paid in case you were wondering.
One of the speakers spoke about one power of a group like this which has, to date, seemed untapped. That is the power to VOTE. A voter needs to have reliable information in order to make informed decisions. And from what I’ve been reading, the act of voting is going to be a challenge in and of itself, not so much here in Massachusetts, but perhaps in other states where the right to vote, the act of voting, is slowly being eroded.
But, as one of our Lowell speakers stated, what if every person of voting age in group assembled in Lowell along with people assembled for No Kings across the United States, were to vote what would the US government look like today – same or different?
There’s a very detailed analysis of who voted and how published in this Pew Research Center article. What I have difficulty wrapping my thoughts around is the juxtaposition of election analyses like the Pew Research Center’s report and the number of people who, just yesterday, seemed to be unhappy with the direction of the government. Did all of these people vote? Were they eligible voters, but passed on voting because of frustration, alienation, or another reason? Have minds been changed in the short time the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans have been in power (at this writing that’s 10 months).
There is a lot to think about in the days and weeks that follow yesterday’s No Kings protests.
Often many people rightly assume that news sources are skewed one way or the other, and as an avid reader, I feel that much of the time, this is a truth. While I find myself gravitating to viewpoints I support, reading opposing thoughts can be informative. However, often unchallenged information stated as indisputable fact is reported without substantiation. This firehose of information makes fact checking difficult, yet still it is absolutely necessary.
I do believe that an informed, educated voter might have made a different decision, and if yesterday is any indication, there is a sense that change is imminent. There are many factors of course that influenced this past presidential election, so what would have been most impactful? Would a change in the way our citizens vote have made a difference? Or would it be the need for better sources of news that appeal to younger voters? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that, if the turnout yesterday is any indication, our government does not really reflect the minds of many of the citizens it represents.
What is one take-away, one action item, I can latch on to? I’m not sure where oldsters like me can be an effective change agent. But being open to opportunities that will transfer the enthusiasm and energy of yesterday’s No Kings rallies and marches is at the top of my list.
Here’s a place to start: What’s Next? No Kings
After An Educator's Journey 