Weekly Member Update - March 30, 2026
“The provision of the Constitution giving the war-making powers to Congress, was dictated, as I understand it, by the following reasons. Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This, our [Constitutional] Convention understood to be the most oppressive of all Kingly oppressions and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us.” - US Representative Abraham Lincoln, February 1848
Photo credit: u/onmyownplanet
More than 8 million people attended at least 3,300 protests actions this past Saturday for No Kings 3. There were protests in every single Congressional District in the Country, and approximately two-thirds of event attendees did so in a suburban or rural area. And, once again, there were awe-inspiringly massive protests in major cities like New York City, Boston, San Diego and at the flagship demonstration in Minneapolis. No paid protestors, just Americans exercising their Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and air their grievances against a corrupt and authoritarian regime.
As usual, the Mighty 518 showed up in droves. Last June’s No Kings 1 on Wolf Road was huge and unprecedented, and No Kings 2 in October 2025 on Western Avenue was even bigger than that. And then, this past Saturday at Central and Colvin, you topped yourselves once again, filling the streets with decorated cars and the sidewalks with your bodies, all of you waving the most goddamn clever signage imaginable. And then there was the March on Colvin Avenue; for those of us that bore witness to thousands of you marching down the hill to join your comrades flooding Central, it was truly a sight to behold. Led by a contingent of veterans and flag bearers all marching to the beat of drums and other musicians, those of you who marched injected the rest of us with a joyous energy that rippled through the crowd like an electric current and sustained us all afternoon, despite the early-Spring cold. We can’t thank you enough, Capital Region; for your dedication, for your patriotism, for your willingness to stand in solidarity with friends and strangers alike. But the best part of it is that we know that you understand that Saturday was not the end. You know that the work must continue. We must still organize to defeat ICE, we need to register voters and get them to the polls in November, we will need to keep chipping away at the corporate pillars of the regime and taking action to defeat the expanding surveillance state. May Day is coming, and every day between now and then and thereafter will be an opportunity for all us to do one little thing to help defeat the Regime. We’re proud to stand with you, Capital Region, and we are looking forward to working with you every single day as we take our country back from the Tyrant and his minions.
Odds & Ends:
The Times Union reporting on our No Kings 3 action also mentioned our ongoing campaign against Flock cameras and, to that end, we’re taking our show on the road again this week. We’re headed to Saratoga this Thursday to spread the DeFlock gospel with our friends at Indivisible ADK/Saratoga. We’re also working on additional anti-Flock presentations throughout the Capital Region in the coming weeks, but if you’re reading this from north of the Twins come catch us in Saratoga on Thursday evening.
As a corollary to our ongoing work against the Flock infestation, our next Monthly Member Meeting, on April 13, will include a presentation on How to Foil Fascists with FOIL: An Introduction to Public Records Requests. The Freedom of Information Law, aka FOIL, is an indispensable tool of transparency and government accountability, and this presentation will cover all the basics; what FOIL is, what FOIL isn’t, and how to tailor your own requests to best achieve your own particular goals.
Elsewhere in the fight against the burgeoning police state, the Justice Center of Rensselaer County is hosting its fourth annual Robert J. Doherty Memorial Lecture on Thursday night in Troy. This year’s installment features Douglas A. Blackmon, a journalist, filmmaker and the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Thursday night’s lecture at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is entitled, "What Comes Next? Redefining Police Power, Restoring Personal Freedom, and Rebuilding Faith in American Democracy.”
As the Department of Homeland Security shutdown likely stretches into its seventh week, with the second week of ICE standing around airports looking at their phones and mostly doing nothing productive, the Immigrant Defense Project has issued a travel alert highlighting the risks of domestic travel for vulnerable people.
As Governor Hochul seeks to roll back provisions of New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and amid talk that Legislative leaders may be warming to Hochul’s efforts, a fossil-fuel and utility-interest front group, the the so-called “Coalition for Safe and Reliable Energy” has filed a petition with the State Public Service Commission seeking to suspend the renewable energy goals laid out in the CLCPA. You can be heard in public comment to this fossil fuel industry effort here.
Conversely, in Illinois, lawmakers have proposed a bill to allow for small, plug-in solar panel systems to be used by renters and others who cannot install rooftop solar panels. In this time of skyrocketing local home energy costs, imagine being able to plug a solar panel into your wall outlet to help offset your utility bill!
Finally, there was news this week that our Orange King intends to have his signature added to US legal tender, a move sure to increase Sharpie sales as Americans start redacting Trump’s name from US currency faster than it is redacted from the Epstein files. In case you need reminding, the New York Times has a rundown of everything that Trump’s name and likeness has been placed on since he returned to office. Our King’s narcissism and need for tribute is truly bottomless.