by Jeana Edmonds
Throughout the United States and in other nations as well, No Kings 3 was a truly powerful tribute to our embrace of humanity and our love for our fragile and imperfect democracy.
From large cities to small villages like West Brookfield, crowds gathered to speak about dignity, people power, courage and the view that in the U.S. neither oligarchs nor kings will prevail. Our group, Grassroots Central Mass, chose to attend – and to march.
Each standout and rally expressed these ideas in its own unique way, and participants in the West Brookfield No Kings 3 Standout, organized by our sister group Brookfields Fight Fear, were no exception. They too created their own powerful event.
Dedication and beauty in movement and music
I felt especially inspired by two elements of the West Brookfield No Kings 3 event. First were the folks who walked six miles from East Brookfield to West Brookfield to show their dedication to the ideas embedded in the No Kings movement. Second, a group of singers added their beautiful voices to the words of the 500+ members of the crowd displaying their amazing signs.
The walk was organized by Danelle LaFlower, and 10 people participated. Eight stalwart souls walked from East Brookfield to Brookfield, and then two traded places with two new walkers. That group of eight walked from Brookfield to West Brookfield. Therefore, six folks walked the full six miles and arrived in great spirits to participate in the West Brookfield No Kings standout.
I asked Danelle, a member of Grassroots Central Mass, what inspired her to organize this walk. She talked about how important motion is to her — moving has a message and always feels empowering. She elaborated that walking is joyful for her. Also, that having a group walking along Route 9 for the hours it took to cover the six miles made very visible the ideals of No Kings and the commitment of so many to this movement.
Peace in every step
Two people accompanying Danelle on this walk were her sister and a friend. Both are part of a Buddhist group associated with a pagoda in Grafton, New York, which holds many marches for peace. Throughout the walk, they drummed and chanted “Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō.” I asked Sherry Zitter, another Grassroots Central Mass member, what the chant meant, and she said it meant “Peace in every step.” This was profound in its simplicity and beauty, and it touched me deeply.
“Peace in every step.”
— Buddhist chant, while walking
I also asked Sherry, who walked the full six miles from East Brookfield to West Brookfield, why she decided to participate in the walk. She said she wanted to celebrate Danelle’s many creative ideas and also wanted to honor the monks who recently walked 2,300 miles from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, D.C., to foster peace, compassion and unity.
It took them 15 weeks to make that amazing journey, but sadly, one of the monks was struck by a car on the walk and subsequently lost his leg. For Sherry, her participation in the No Kings walk was also a way to honor the extraordinary dedication to peace embodied by the walking monks and to express compassion for the monk who was injured on his journey of love.
Nancy Tame, another Grassroots Central Mass member who participated in the walk, added a lovely touch of everydayness by claiming that the high point of the walk for her was enjoying the fabulous cup of coffee provided at the Joy of Beans Coffee Shop once she reached West Brookfield.
Once our steadfast walkers arrived and the standout participants began to assemble with their creative signs and irresistible energy, we were treated to yet another inspiring display — protest songs performed by the members of the newly formed Chorus for These Times under the direction of Nym Cooke.
As one would expect, “We Shall Overcome” and “Hold On” were part of this group’s repertoire. Other deeply moving songs were performed as well, with lyrics such as “I send my love, I send my care, I send my strength to those resisting everywhere” and “You gotta put one foot in front of the other and lead with love” and “No kings here, not in my America.”
Yet another dimension of joy was added by a group of flash dancers who arrived unannounced to the standout and began spontaneously dancing to the singing with abandon and jubilation.
Wow, what a day!!!
Jeana Edmonds is a founding member of Grassroots Central Mass. She is especially passionate about issues of racial and social justice.
IndivisiBlog posts reflect the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy positions of Indivisible Mass Coalition.
