Green Party Members Evaluate No Kings Rally
Green Party of Pennsylvania
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, October 25, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT
Chris Robinson, Communication Team Co-Leader
267-977-0570 and [email protected]
Green Party Members Evaluate No Kings Rally
The organizers from the No Kings Alliance said, “In one of the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in U.S. history, nearly seven million Americans gathered [on October 18], two million more than June. In more than 2,700 cities and town, the No Kings Day of Peaceful Action, [they stood] together in nonviolent defiance of authoritarianism, affirming that this nation belongs to its people, not to kings.”
More than 1,500 people demonstrated at the No Kings rally in Altoona, PA. An unnamed Green Party member said, “The No Kings rally in Altoona was a bit later in the day and a shorter demonstration. A good mix of people came out. The speakers encouraged people to get involved in community politics. Could have had more action calls. Roads were blocked for the walk. Bigger turnout than the Centre County rally. Saw more young people involved than last time as well. Only counter protesters I saw were a Trump couple, who were easy to ignore and the hacky Blair County news guy.”
Green Party candidate for re-election as Cherry Valley Mayor said, “I went to the Akron, Ohio, No Kings Rally. Several thoughts jump out at me. The first was the sheer energy of a locally organized event. There were maybe over 1,000 raucous ralliers, and they were loud and self-organized into groups on each of the corners in front of the Federal Building which was the centerpiece of the whole event. Even more impressive was the number of cars that went by expressing solidarity with the No Kings Rally. Car horns were almost continuous for the entire time I was there, and the signs that poked out of windows and sunroofs were almost as plentiful as the ones at the rally. Signs were clever and reflected a range of issues -- though most were tepid, tripe, and Trump-centric.
Organizers said that 3,000 people attended the No Kings rally in State College. An unnamed Green Party member from Centre County said, “Got there a half hour early. Wasn't too crowded at first but saw people I could identify as participating in going to the campus. I handed out flowers with one of our piller headlines and websites for more info to about 55 people. I think they were welcome. Everyone was very friendly, a mix of older and some younger folks. Could not really hear any of the speakers, and could not tell if any actionable calls were stated. Talked to a few Democrats who would be interested in a coalition against Data AI. The crowd got much larger in the middle of the event. I didn't notice any hecklers or counter protestors. Centre County Green Party Chair Neil Haagen got compliments on his constitution sign and I on my Tree of Life Stronger Than Hate sweatshirt. It was a nice day out, and with how convenient everything was set up, I think it was easily accessible to participate in. It seems a lot of people were enjoying their time out. I'm hoping this means they will get more active.”
At least 4,000 people took to the streets along with Lancaster Green Party members who attended the No Kings rally there. Tony Dastra, the Green Party candidate for Mayor of Lancaster City, said, “It would have been nice to be asked to table by the organizers like other political orgs and the democrat party was, but aside from that it was great to see so many people who recognize this is not how governments should operate. Just being there with my sign and talking with people, I think many understand the importance of working across political affiliations to have a government of representatives who care about civil rights and not prioritizing one party as a prescription.”
GPPA Co-chair Timothy Runkle demonstrated in Lancaster City. Runkle said, “It was good gathering with folks who agree that the U.S. is a threat to the survival of the world. Unfortunately, the improvement of our situation won't occur on the weekend. Let's see No Kings during the weekday. Let's see a general strike!” Another Lancaster Green Party member said, “I liked the energy of the people around me marching and how people greeted and encouraged the marchers from their front porches.
GPPA Steering Committee member Barbara Laxon said, “I was very happy to realize that the organizers of the No Kings rally in both Bradford (McKean County), PA, and Olean, NY, decided to collaborate in order to ensure that people would be able to attend both rallies. Bradford is just 25 miles from Olean. Both rallies included speakers, creative signage, and music. The unofficial counts of attendees in Bradford were approximately 210, and for Olean (a much bigger town) approximately 600.This was an excellent turnout in my rural Republican-dominated district. The best part was my conversation with a group of young people in Bradford who asked me about my Green Party button. They were happy to come back to my place to receive handouts about what the Green Party stands for and information about local meetings.
Philadelphia police estimated there were more than 15,000 people. The rally stretched from Independence Hall to the National Constitution Center. Speakers invoked the historical sites surrounding the stage in their remarks, likening the Trump administration’s actions to those of King George III ahead of the American Revolution. Chris Robinson, an organizer for the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP), said, “We had members of the GPOP Migration is a Human Right Working Group handing out our newsletter. It was energizing to see that so many people are disaffected with the duopoly.”
Jon Lessner, another GPOP organizer, said, “The No Kings it's really more of a rally and march than a protest due to the fact it has no goal or action request to people or the gov't. It's a demonstration of the people to show voices of discontent. It's a way to get people outside and feel good about being loud, however, it does not allow for change or civil disruption of the machine. Coordinating with the state and obeying their rules on how to display discontent defies the purpose of a protest. It can be useful for getting people more involved and connected to other activities, like voting Green Party for the first time. Using a demonstration like No Kings for those purposes is what I believe makes it important.”
Not All Were Favorable
A group of Green Party of Allegheny County (GPOAC) members organized by Chair Jay Ting Walker attended the No Kings protests. One common criticism of these actions is that they did not have clear demands. Furthermore, the atmospheres were those of a rally or a festival. These events can be good for bringing attention about meaningful issues to people who otherwise would be at brunch. But what can people do to get involved and take meaningful actions to make a difference?
Bagdes-Canning said, “The things that were disappointing, though, were glaring. The most dangerous was a lack of peacekeeping/de-escalation/marshaling. Another failing was missing the opportunity to engage ralliers in next steps. There were no sign-up sheets, no handouts to give to passersby, and no calls to action, not even an invitation to come to the next big thing -- whatever that is. Finally, the focus was entirely on Trump and not what got us to Trump. The messaging was very Democrat focused. There were some signs calling out the corporations and billionaires, but no demands for the Democrats to foreswear corporate cash.”
Maria UmKashif, a Green Party member in Lackawanna County, said, “I considered attending the No Kings event, but then I decided not to after I was told not to bring any Palestinian flags or keffiyeh to Scranton. To further solidify my decision, there was a member of our local Palestine Advocacy/Protest Group who was told they could not speak in Wilkes-Barre for No Kings because they wanted to mention Gaza in their speech. After serious reflection on my conflicted emotions about this No Kings event -- because I do support immigrants, refugees, women and children and I do not want to see fascism and authoritarianism to spread across the USA -- but I also wonder “what about Gaza?”
Aidan Williamson, a member of Green Party of Philadelphia, agreed, saying “I decided to not attend the protest because the organizers of No Kings refused to allow a pro-Palestine speaker. There was a pro-Palestine contingent that day, though who were very disciplined and everything. But they still got trouble for being there. Families For A Ceasefire was in attendance, and one of the organizers of No Kings harassed them so badly that a legal observer from Up Against The Law had to be called in. Personally I find all of this really disturbing and reason enough for me individually to have nothing to do with No Kings moving forward.”
The Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA), https://www.gpofpa.org, is an independent political party which stands in opposition to the two corporate parties. GPPA candidates promote public policy based on the Green Party’s Four Pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, ecological wisdom, and social justice/equal opportunity. For further information about GPPA, please email [email protected]. Please follow GPPA on social media: Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/gpofpa/; Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/pagreenparty/; and X, https://x.com/GreenPartyofPA
For more information:
“Nearly 7 Million People Attend Overwhelmingly Peaceful No Kings Day of Action, No Kings Alliance, news release dated October 18, 2025,
“PA Greens Attend No Kings Day of Defiance,” GREEN STAR lead story, Green Party of Pennsylvania, dated July 2025,
https://www.gpofpa.org/july_greenstar_2025
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Green Party Condemns ICE Terrorizing Mexican-Americans
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
PA Greens Oppose Tree-cutting in Philadelphia Park
Green Party of Pennsylvania
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 10, 2024
CONTACT:
Chris Robinson, Communication Team Co-Leader
215-843-4256 and [email protected]
PA Greens Oppose Tree-cutting in Philadelphia Park
On May 5, the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) Steering Committee endorsed a public letter to Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker requesting that she end the slaughter of heritage trees in Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Park. As chainsaw crews level acres of trees in the Park, regional and state organizations, along with environmental experts, convened at the site and delivered a message urging Mayor Cherelle Parker to intervene before the Fairmount Park Conservancy clear-cuts and fills a natural floodplain.
GPPA Steering Committee Member Alex Casper said, “The City of Philadelphia is tearing down 441 trees at FDR Park. Many of them are heritage trees, sacred to the Lenni Lenape people. The city wants to make room for 16 artificial-turf soccer fields to host the FIFA World Cup.” Casper continued, “I myself go bird watching at FDR Park ever since I used to live in Point Breeze. The meadows and habitats within them are home to red-winged black birds, gray catbirds, red cardinals, tree swallows, etc. Destroying these habitats takes away a vital home for wildlife. I have urged our state and local Green Parties to sign on to the demand that the Mayor protect these sacred trees and our cities best habitats.”
Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP) Co-chair Belinda Davis said, “All aside from the public's recreational enjoyment, it is hard to see how this is consistent with the city's climate goals, of which the Mayor has made so much.”
The organizations which have requested the intervention of Mayor Parker include: Clean Air Council, Clean Water Action, EnviroPhilly, Green Party of Philadelphia, Green Party of Pennsylvania, LandHealth Institute, Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania, Monarch Defenders, Save The Meadows, SEAMAAC Inc., Sunrise Movement Philadelphia, PennEnvironment, Philly DSA, Philly Thrive, and Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania.
“I am glad that the Green Party has joined the coalition of environmental organizations (and a petition from more than 3,000 citizens),” said GPPA Communication Team Co-leader Chris Robinson. “Ecological Wisdom is one of the four Green Party Pillars, and the Green Party Platform calls for a Green New Deal, which includes, ‘creating a federal program . . . for carbon sequestration to fund local public initiatives [to] plant trees, reforest and afforest public lands.’ Unfortunately, the interests of the two corporate parties lie elsewhere.”
The Green Party of PA, https://www.gpofpa.org, is an independent political party which stands in opposition to the two corporate parties. GPPA candidates promote public policy based on the Green Party’s Four Pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, ecological wisdom, and social justice/equal opportunity. For further information about GPPA, please email [email protected]. Please follow GPPA on social media: Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/gpofpa/; Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/pagreenparty/; and Twitter, https://twitter.com/GreenPartyofPA.
For more information:
Joint News Release about FDR Park, May 6, 2024,
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_9hH7ASvTgGAKoNQamYvgJmwXZWtHvFn56mkqnkO3dI/edit
Our Ten Key Values, Green Party of the U.S.,
https://www.gp.org/ten_key_values
Platform of the Green Party of the U.S., III. Ecological Sustainability, A. Climate Change, Economic Bill of Rights, GREEN SOLUTIONS, 7. Carbon Sequestration Using Ecological Restoration, https://www.gp.org/ecological_sustainability#carbon
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Mozambican Liberation Day and Green Party Ecological Wisdom
Sunday, October 8, 2023
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I am truly honored to be speaking to you today, among such distinguished guests. In the name of the Green Party of Philadelphia (www.gpop.org), I want to welcome the ambassador of Mozambique, members of the consulate, and the other dignitaries who have come to join in this flag-raising.
We know the green in the flag stands for the gifts of nature and living in harmony with it, and that is what we too are about, as Greens. We are here in the interests of friendship and building on that friendship in peace and justice. I have been asked to talk briefly about Ecological Wisdom, one of the Green Party’s four pillars, and connected with the messages of the Partido os Verdes de Moçambique and the Ecological Party of Mozambique.
I believe, as an historian as well as chair of the Green Party of Philadelphia, that it is especially important for those in the U.S. and the global north generally to recognize the historical and the ongoing ecological damage rendered out of all proportion in the global south, including and even especially in Mozambique. Friends don't let friends contend alone with destructive droughts and related fires. Friends don't cause friends to confront catastrophic floods and cyclones, with their devastating immediate and also cumulative effects.
Aside from exponential increases in the spread of disease that can be linked to climate change, there are now already extremely serious deficiencies in the availability of surface water, despite the country’s many rivers, and the intrusion of saltwater deep into the country. Average temperatures are quickly climbing, especially in the southern and central regions, challenging the survivability for people, animals, and plants alike, even as conditions have paradoxically caused an astronomic increase in fossil fuel consumption from the mid-‘90s to present.
These conditions also deeply threaten relations with Mozambique’s neighbors, such as Zimbabwe and Zambia, while at the same time foreboding a crisis of climate refugees. Even in moments as celebratory as the present one, we need to all take action to halt further climate change, as well as to deal equitably with its already drastic effects in Mozambique as in the U.S., and across the world in the spirit of friendship and peace.
We are one planet. We are here to celebrate and build on relations. Building those relations means knowing one another better. I look forward to learning more about the vibrant nation of Mozambique today - - including what we can learn from Mozambicans about ecological wisdom. Thank you!
Belinda Davis (Mount Airy) has been chair of the Green Party of Philadelphia since 2019.
The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) is an independent political party which stands in opposition to the two corporate parties. GPOP candidates promote public policy based on the Green Party’s Four Pillars: grassroots democracy, nonviolence, ecological wisdom, and social justice/equal opportunity. For further information about GPOP, please follow GPOP on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
For more Information:
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