Unity!

Well, I made it to the "No Kings" march yesterday, only here in England (for obvious reasons) it wasn't called "No Kings." Instead it was the "Together Alliance March Against the Far Right," which is a mouthful but the idea was simple enough: Unity. There were people there representing all sorts of issues, from climate change to education to workers' rights to Palestinian liberation to LGBTQ+. As the sign above says, we mustn't allow the right-wingers to divide and segment us, and instead we must stand united against the likes of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump.

There were Ukrainian flags, Palestinian flags, Iranian flags and rainbow flags. The right-wingers like to point out that some of these issues and identities are opposed to one another -- for example, religious extremists in the Middle East don't treat LGBTQ+ people very well, to put it mildly. But the evil there is the extremism, not the people of the Middle East.

I personally was a little uncomfortable with some of the pro-Palestinian rhetoric, the chants of "from the river to the sea" and that kind of thing. I support Israel's right to exist. But I also support Palestinian statehood. I don't see why those have to be contradictory positions.

Basically, I'm for any social progress that allows people to live in freedom as they wish -- any people -- and freedom for one group lifts us all up. People who are free and empowered are less likely to discriminate against others. Right?

So as the signs say, don't let the right divide us!

I started the march at the Green Park tube station, where I emerged onto Piccadilly and began taking pictures. I stuck a little rainbow flag in my hat and walked from there through Piccadilly Circus and Pall Mall, past Trafalgar Square and down Whitehall toward Parliament. Below are some photos. I usually set a maximum of about eight photos for my posts, but in this case you're getting 12 because I couldn't narrow them down any more. Plus a video at the end!

These two were American, and we exchanged some short lamentations about the state of our country at the moment. No points for spelling, but her heart's in the right place.

There was a touch of anti-Brexit sentiment, Brexit being not only incredibly damaging, but also Farage's pet issue for years and the one that lifted him to prominence.

The mysterious Red Rebels, from the climate change organization Extinction Rebellion, made an appearance.

This guy broke out his "pussy hat," which I had to admire! I always wanted one of those.

In the middle of all the darkness and toxic masculinity that seems to be afflicting modern politics, it's great to be reminded how many like-minded, reasonable, freedom-loving people are out there.

The mix of issues did cause some questions. I heard two boys, about twelve years old, quizzing a woman holding a rainbow flag about the reasons for the march. "I'm just so confused!" one told her. But like I said, it was all about unity. (Those same boys gave me a fist bump as they passed me.)

Here's a video to show you some of the atmosphere. It was all overwhelmingly positive, though you'll see one person challenging a guy who's carrying a British flag down the parade route. I'm not sure what his intentions were -- maybe he wants to reclaim it from the ultra-nationalists? I didn't see any right-wing counter-protesters at all, though I suppose they were around somewhere.