By Donald Gilpin
The weather report was ominous and the rains came, but on Saturday, June 14, thousands of people poured into Princeton to make their voices heard — on Witherspoon Street marching up to the YMCA field for the Pride Parade and Afterparty in the morning, and in Monument Park and Stockton Street for a No Kings Day and Day of Defiance rally in the afternoon.
“‘Nothing is going to dampen our joy’ was the slogan I heard most doing the day,” said Sara Wasserman, queer educator and local community organizer at the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice (BRCSJ), which was the lead organizer of the Pride events. “We had quite a huge crowd of folks who didn’t care about the rain.”
The No Kings rally, one of hundreds of similar events Saturday throughout the country with more than five million total participants, was a protest against authoritarianism, corruption, and billionaire-first politics. The Princeton Battle Monument with its representation of George Washington towering over a massive crowd was a particularly appropriate reminder of the nation’s founding on the principle that the president is not a king.
Princeton Police Department (PPD) Captain Matthew Solovay, one of about 10 officers overseeing the morning events and one of a dozen officers on duty for the afternoon rally, reported “no significant issues” except the weather and movement of the huge crowds and management of traffic during the day’s proceedings.
Solovay estimated the crowd for the Pride Parade and Afterparty at 500-800 and the No Kings Rally, for which they were expecting 500-1000 people, at more than 3,500. Pride organizers estimated the Parade and Afterparty crowd at well over 1,000.
The greatest challenge for the PPD was helping to move thousands of people and hundreds of vehicles out of the area at the end of the No Kings rally. Solovay reported some traffic congestion as the PPD managed traffic flow and navigated the departure of pedestrians and vehicles.
BRCSJ Chief Activist Robt Seda-Schreiber described the Pride Parade and Afterparty as “an extraordinary event and truly a magical day.” He wrote in an email, “Last year we beat the heat and soaked in the sun (figuratively). This year we tamed the torrent and got soaked in the rain (literally). It is again an extraordinary example of not only how we powerfully persevere, but we fabulously thrive together.”
Wasserman added, “It was truly an incredible celebration to highlight who we are and what we can do as a group.”
Gathered under the big roof at the YMCA field as the rain continued in the early afternoon, Pride participants listened to speeches and music, and socialized. “I came to support my grandson,” said one woman from Burlington. “He’s 12 and he wanted to be able to come here. That’s how I knew about the event, and in spite of all the rain, it’s a success.”
A young woman from Montclair, standing with a group of friends, commented, “It didn’t matter too much to me if it was sunny or rainy. Engaging with queer people in my community — that’s an awesome thought.” One of her friends chimed in, “I was excited to come out and enjoy the company and the community of Pride.”
A middle-aged woman from East Windsor carrying an American flag stated, “I’m a supporter of LGBTQ and of people in general wanting to be themselves. I think everyone has the right to do that. In America they should. We’re a part of this nation, and you can’t take that away from us.”
The No Kings rally, which was sponsored by Indivisible Princeton, the Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA), and the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO), featured six speakers — Emcee the Rev. Robert Moore, Ezra Rosenberg of ACLU-NJ, Princeton Mayor Mark Freda, former N.J. Public Defender Joe Krakora, SWEEP N.J.’s Louise Walpin, and N.J. State Assemblywoman Tennille R. McCoy — and two musicians, Sharleen Leahy and Diane Doolittle.
The crowd, many carrying placards and signs, filled Monument Park and overflowed on all sides, and the rain cooperated by stopping about 15 minutes before the 3:30 p.m..start of the proceedings.
At the end of the event people stayed around and lined both sides of Stockton Street/Route 206, the Monument side and the Trinity Church side, holding signs and chanting. People drove by honking and cheering, prompting a response from Moore: “Those are the sounds of freedom we’re hearing, freedom from the tyranny of kings.”
PCDO Second Vice President Dosier Hammond, a lead organizer for the event, described the mood as “boisterous.” He added, “Definitely people are angry at what’s going on around the country, but it was more upbeat than that. I wouldn’t say it was a dour mood at all. It was upbeat — not in the way that things are going well, because they’re going horribly, but people are energized to fight back, to resist — definitely nonviolently. People were really energized and charged up.”
Hammond pointed out that there have been rallies in Princeton in conjunction with nationwide events each of the past three months, and that this one was the biggest so far, maybe twice as big as the “Hands Off” rally on Hinds Plaza in April.
“I think people were more motivated this time,” he said. “I think they’re much more motivated as things get worse in this country. People were very motivated to show up.” Another event will be planned for July, he added.
“The narrative is that the people of America are very upset with Trump’s trashing of democracy and tearing down all the checks and balances,” said Moore. “We’re trying to save our Constitution and save democracy, and that’s really what we’re here for. And now we have the additional factor of him militarizing things.”
Moore talked about the “3 Cs” of the Trump administration: corruption, chaos,and cruelty. He closed with a quote from the chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, the Rev. William Barber: “There are no kings if we don’t bend the knee.”
Moore went on to lead the crowd in a chant: “We refuse to bend the knee to any king.”
He added, “That’s the attitude we have to have. Don’t bend a knee to them and then they don’t have the power.”