From No Kings Day to 2028
A Running Start with a New Mayor
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Editor´s Note
By William Minter
William Minter is the editor of the Substack blog AfricaFocus Notes. His latest book, None of Us Is Free Until All of Us Are Free: New Perspectives on Global Solidarity, edited in collaboration with Imani Countess, is available from Africa World Press.
I rarely send out two posts on the same day, but I am making an exception today in order to share reflections on the political road ahead. In this post a commentary on No Kings Day by Cathy Sunshine, and the inspiring speech by Zohran Mamdani on his first-round victory in the race for mayor of New York City. In another post today, reflections by Max Elbaum on the strategic road ahead to push MAGA out of power in 2028.
No kings in my neighborhood
Why I stayed close to home on June 14
Cathy Sunshine
When air travel stinks, it really stinks. I’m not talking here about catastrophic events, but about mundane ordeals such as weather delays. Yesterday Bill and I spent nine hours in the Cleveland airport, waiting for a line of storms to cross the East Coast. Having left our Airbnb for the airport at noon, we finally boarded the plane at 10:20 p.m., arriving home in DC at 1:30 in the morning.
I’m exhausted, so this post will be short. But I do want to share a few reflections about last Saturday, June 14 – No Kings Day – because it gave me more hope and optimism than I’ve felt in a long time.
It had partly to do with what the day wasn’t. It wasn’t the Women’s March, a centralized, leader-driven event drawing millions in their pussy hats to the National Mall. That made a big statement in 2017. It would likely be met with shrugs today.
Instead, the core of the nation’s capital was depopulated, left to Trump and his minions along with a small crowd of onlookers who showed up for the Army parade. Across the country, meanwhile, an estimated 5 million people turned out in big cities, small towns, and rural areas to protest. The message was simple: The United States is a country of laws. No one is above the law. The president is not a king.
The actions were leaderless, at least in the sense of any top-down direction. Many were spontaneous, with people gathering on short notice to wave banners from highway bridges or in front of Fox News. They were, above all, local, melding seamlessly with homegrown community events like picnics and Pride parades. And that, I believe, was their strength.
How I spent the day
Every large city had marchers, in the tens of thousands, but the flagship march was in Philly. I debated taking the train up, but opted instead to stay in DC. I’m glad I did.
In the morning, Bill and I, with several neighbors, waved “No Kings” signs to traffic streaming down 16th Street NW, a commuter artery that runs through my neighborhood, Mt. Pleasant. The response was a cacophony of honks: one car would start, then they’d all join in. Even Metrobus drivers gave brief, professional toots. I know: it’s a blue city. If you don’t get honks here, where would you get them? Still, the message – “We’re in this together” – resonated.
After picking up some NOPE flyers to hand out, I went across town to what was billed as a “pro-democracy picnic” in a public park. With food trucks, live music, and families relaxing on blankets on the grass, it could have been any community get-together, but for all the “No Kings” signs toted by picnic-goers and the tables with sign-up sheets for joining local Dems and like-minded groups.
My last stop of the day was the best. The Mt. Pleasant 5th Annual Pride Popup, held in an alley a few blocks from my home, drew a large part of the neighborhood, gay and straight. We didn’t have Tara Hoot, DC’s drag queen, this year, but there were games and rainbow tattoos, burgers on the grill, and best of all, Gina DeSimone and the Moaners, an all-female, DC-based dance band. And we danced! I didn’t think my aging body could do that, but somehow, it did.
At the Pride fest, I sat for a while at the Mt. Pleasant Village table, where we sold T‑shirts and signed up new members. The Village is an all-volunteer neighborhood association formed 10 years ago, and to my surprise, it has changed my life, greatly expanding my circle of friends. The membership skews older, and one of the goals is to “meet the challenges of aging in the community.” There are exercise programs and field trips, as well as a “neighbors helping neighbors” program for requesting rides, tech support, or other such help. No one thought it odd that I taped my “No Kings” sign behind the Village table and handed out NOPE flyers along with Village lit. Officially nonpartisan, the Village reflects the progressive ethos of the neighborhood and counts many activists among its members.
Building local power
The Trump administration’s capture of elite social institutions such as universities, law firms, and media outlets has triggered alarm. Just as consequential, I would argue, is the MAGA movement’s steady, long-term entrenchment in local communities through its members’ participation in churches, fraternal orders, parent-teacher organizations, and similar entities. From there it’s a short jump to local governance structures like school boards, city councils, and county commissions, and then to state legislatures. And we know how that’s worked out for the GOP.
Those who value democracy and oppose autocracy need to follow a similar strategy. We need to embed. So on No Kings Day I stayed home, joining others in communities across the country to say no to democratic backsliding. We showed the power of our numbers that day, not by convening one massive march but by gathering locally in more than 2,000 cities and towns. Protests erupted in blue and red states, even deep in Trump country, places like Cooper County, Missouri, and Brazos County, Texas. Hundreds of organizations took part, from national networks like Indivisible down to hyperlocal groups.
Apparently hoping for violence, Trump blustered, “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.” But on No Kings Day, the force was with us.
Zohran Mamdani: “We Can Demand What We Deserve”
https://jacobin.com/2025/06/mamdani-nyc-mayoral-election-speech
Zohran Mamdani represents New York’s 36th district in the state assembly.
Tonight we made history. In the words of Nelson Mandela: “It always seems impossible until it is done.” My friends, we have done it. I will be your Democratic nominee for the mayor of New York City.
An hour ago, I spoke with Andrew Cuomo about the need to bring this city together, as he called me to concede the race. And I want to thank Brad Lander. Together we have shown the power of the politics of the future. One of partnership and of sincerity.
Today, eight months after launching this campaign with the vision of a city that every New Yorker could afford, we have won.
We have won from Harlem to Bay Ridge. We have won from Jackson Heights to Port Richmond. We have won from Maspeth to Chinatown.
We have won because New Yorkers have stood up for a city they can afford. A city where they can do more than just struggle. One where those who toil in the night can enjoy the fruits of their labor in the day. Where hard work is repaid with a stable life. Where eight hours on the factory floor or behind the wheel of a cab is enough to pay the mortgage. It is enough to keep the lights on. It is enough to send your kid to school. Where rent-stabilized apartments are actually stabilized. Where buses are fast and free. Where childcare doesn’t cost more than CUNY. And where public safety keeps us truly safe.
And it’s where the mayor will use their power to reject Donald Trump’s fascism. To stop ICE agents from deporting our neighbors. And to govern our city as a model for the Democratic Party. A party where we fight for working people with no apology.
A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few. It should be one that city government guarantees for each and every New Yorker.
If this campaign has demonstrated anything to the world, it is that our dreams can become reality. Dreaming demands hope. And when I think of hope, I think of the unprecedented coalition of New Yorkers that we have built. For this is not my victory. This is ours.
It is the victory of the Bangladeshi aunty who knocked on door after door until her feet throbbed and her knuckles ached. It is the victory of the eighteen-year-old who voted in their first-ever election. And it is the victory of the Gambian uncle who finally saw himself and his struggle in a campaign for the city that he calls home.
Dreaming demands solidarity. And when I look out at this room and out onto the midnight skyline, that is what I see.
Canvas launches that continued in the pouring rain. Children who called parents. Strangers who care about those they will never meet. A New York that believes in each other and in itself. This is solidarity, and it defines our victory.
And above all, dreaming demands work. Last Friday night, as the sun began to drop in the sky, I set off on a 13-mile walk from the northernmost tip of Manhattan to the base of the island. We began in Inwood, where music played and neighbors set out dominoes on the sidewalk. It was 7 p.m. The weekend had arrived. For most people, the time for work was over.
A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few. It should be one that city government guarantees for each and every New Yorker.
But this is New York, where the work never ends. Waiters carried plates on 181st Street. Conductors drove the subways that rattled high above 125th. And world-class musicians tuned instruments as we passed Lincoln Square.
By the time we made it downtown, a crowd marched behind us, a living embodiment of the energy and purpose that defines this campaign. Still, long past midnight, New York worked. Garbage trucks weaved through empty streets. Fishmongers carried in tomorrow’s wares. And when we finally arrived at the Battery at 2:20 a.m. in the morning, the workers who run the Staten Island Ferry were on the job, too. Just as they are every hour of the day, every day of the week.
Each of these New Yorkers carried a dream with them that night as they labored, just as each of us dreams of a New York that is more hopeful and affordable for all, and we have worked hard for our dream. This has been a historically contentious race, one that has filled our airwaves with millions in smears and slander.
I hope now that this primary has come to an end. I can introduce myself once more. Not as you’ve seen me in a thirty-second ad or in a mailer in your mailbox. But as how I will lead as your mayor.
I will be the mayor for every New Yorker. Whether you voted for me for Governor Cuomo or felt too disillusioned by a long-broken political system to vote at all, I will fight for a city that works for you, that is affordable for you, that is safe for you. I will work to be a mayor you will be proud to call your own. I cannot promise that you will always agree with me, but I will never hide from you.
If you are hurting, I will try to heal you. If you feel misunderstood, I will strive to understand. Your concerns will always be mine. And I will put your hopes before my own.
And I know that those hopes extend beyond our five boroughs. There are millions of New Yorkers who have strong feelings about what happens overseas. I am one of them. And while I will not abandon my beliefs or my commitments grounded in a demand for equality, for humanity, for all those who walk this earth, you have my word to reach further, to understand the perspectives of those with whom I disagree, and to wrestle deeply with those disagreements.
Let me close with this. In these dark times, I know that it is harder than ever to keep faith in our democracy. It has been attacked by billionaires and their big spending, by elected officials who care more about self-enrichment than the public trust, and by authoritarian leaders who rule through fear.
But above all, our democracy has been attacked from within. For too long, New Yorkers have strained to find a leader who represents us, who puts us first. And we have been betrayed, time and again.
After so many disappointments, the heart hardens, belief becomes elusive. And when we no longer believe in our democracy, it only becomes easier for people like Donald Trump to convince us of his worth. For billionaires to convince us that they must always lead.
As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “Democracy has disappeared in several other great nations. Not because the people dislike democracy, but because they had grown tired of unemployment and insecurity, of seeing their children hungry while they sat helpless in the face of government confusion and weakness. In desperation, they chose to sacrifice liberty in the hope of getting something to eat.” New York, if we have made one thing clear over these past months, it is that we need not choose between the two.
We can be free and we can be fair. We can demand what we deserve. And together, we have built a movement where every day, New Yorkers recognize themselves in our vision of democracy. Every new voter registered. That is faith renewed.
Every voter who traveled through withering heat to the polls — that is faith renewed. And every New Yorker who sees solutions to the daily challenges they face in this campaign — that is faith renewed. Together, New York, we have renewed our democracy. We have given our city permission to believe again.
And I pledge to you that we will remake this great city not in my image but in the image of every New Yorker who has only known struggle. In our New York, the power belongs to the people.
And as I thank the people that are here with me today, and as I thank the incredible leaders who have long fought for those people who are here across this crowd and across these five boroughs, and standing next to me is the attorney general of this state, is the public advocate of this city, our congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, and our comptroller, Brad Lander, and is every single person who believed in this campaign long before it was easy to do so. And you believed when it was difficult.
We dreamt in the night. And we are now building in the dawn. That new day, the one that we have yearned for, the one that we have struggled for. The one that we have knocked for, have texted for, have called for. The one that we have obsessed over. That new day is finally here. And it is here because you have delivered it.