No Kings in Rockaway

By Katie McFadden

“This is what democracy looks like…No Kings Rockaway!” chants could be heard at the Rockaway Beach Amphitheater on Saturday, October 18, as a group of Rockaway residents participated locally as part of a nationwide No Kings rally day.

An effort that began on June 14, a second No Kings movement took place this past Saturday with millions across the country participating in thousands of rallies across small towns and big cities. According to NoKings.org, “NO KINGS is a peaceful national day of action and mass mobilization in response to the increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption of the Trump administration.”

On Saturday, more than 200 people came out to Rockaway’s No Kings event, with signs in hand, t-shirts with various messages and even a few costumes, including an inflatable chicken, duck and angler fish. They joined on the dance floor as fun tunes like the “Electric Slide” were played to set a positive tone for the event.

Amy Dawson, dressed as Lady Liberty, hosted the program, introducing each speaker, performer and leading the crowd in chants. “We all have rights. We’re going to fight for those rights today,” Dawson said, after encouraging people to pick up informational “know your rights” cards before the program began. She also encouraged people to participate in a bingo game for a chance to win prizes, to pick up their own Statue of Liberty props and use a photo booth, and to pick up crayons and chalk to express themselves through art and messages.

Among the performers were Luis and Tim, or LuTi, a musical duo that plays around the area, who played “Lean on Me” to begin the program. Later on, the Rockaway Theatre Company performed numbers from their upcoming November show, “Hair,” including “Let the Sunshine In.” On acoustic guitar, Sarah Lacoff played Tracey Chapman’s “Talkin’ About a Revolution.” Spoken word performances were given by Phonetic Wisdom or Bastat and Elwin Cuevas, who spoke about what it means to be an American as the son of immigrants.

Speeches were given by model and surfer, Farmata Dia, who told the crowd, “You matter, your voice matters, and you being here creates an impact more than you can even imagine,”  Kim Fraczek of Sane Energy Project, who called for everyone to take action against the latest threat of the Williams NESE pipeline that could be coming off the coast, and local attorney and member of Rockaway Women For Progress, Sarah Kenny, who began with a reference to the infamous Tiananmen Square protestor, who stopped a line of tanks during student-led protests in 1989. “He didn’t have a weapon. He wasn’t famous. He just stood there with his shopping bags, refusing to move, and stopped. We remember what he did, and that’s the thing about action, it’s not always loud. Sometimes, it’s about people saying enough, and not backing down,” Kenny said before speaking on the ways she has personally taken action in recent years, including by going to law school at age 45, and encouraging others to take action.

The event was met by one counter-protestor in a Trump t-shirt who jumped on the stage to speak. Speakers continued despite the disruption, and the man was asked to leave by police after a few minutes.

Between the speeches and performances, led by a single bagpiper, the group marched to the beach to hold a moment of silence, followed by a collective yell while facing the ocean, before heading back to the Amphitheater for the continuation of the program.

Participants were encouraged to take photos and tag @nokingsrockaway on Instagram, which shared some of the highlights, saying, “Today we came together peacefully and powerfully as New Yorkers to show what collective strength is capable of. This country no longer has an issue of left versus right, we have democracy versus dictatorship. Right vs wrong. The federal government is waging a war on Americans. However, they’ve got their work cut out for them because we will not go gentle into that good night. From here on the Rockaway peninsula, to the shores of the Bay Area, Americans will resist fascism as long as we have to.”

Photos by Dan Guarino and Katie McFadden.