Weekly Member Update - October 20, 2025

Credit: Vin Giordano

In the weeks leading up to this past weekend’s No Kings 2.0 protests, we here at Indivisible Albany did encounter some preemptive criticisms of the No Kings movement on our social media and elsewhere. Perhaps you’ve seen a version of these gripes too. The critiques essentially fall into two distinct — albeit related — camps. In the first camp are those that viewed the No Kings protests as essentially pointless because, when we all awaken the day after No Kings, Donald Trump will still be President. The thinking in this camp is evidently that any action that falls short of putting an immediate end to our current national nightmare is hardly worth the effort, so why bother trying? From the second camp comes the critique that No Kings protests do not do enough, that they are not aggressive enough, and that they are essentially performative parades that lack the mass civil disobedience actions that could effect real change. For the gadflies in this second camp, No Kings is weak sauce that does not confront those in political power with enough belligerence; the event location is always invariably “wrong,” the rhetoric is not pugnacious enough and any embrace of patriotic imagery such as American flags is inherently counterproductive because it fails to acknowledge the myriad ways that our nation has historically failed to live up to its founding promise. While the resigned defeatists in camp one and the frustrated pugilists in camp two differ somewhat in their respective critiques, they definitely agree on one thing; No Kings protests are a big giant waste of time and energy.

If you are one of the estimated 20,000+ that came to Western Avenue on Saturday — or one of the thousands more that gathered in Saratoga, Hudson and elsewhere — do you feel like your time and energy was wasted? To be sure, here we are nearly 48 hours after No Kings 2.0 has concluded, and the Orange King sadly remains President of the United States. But we also know for sure that Donald J. Trump, the most fragile narcissist in the world, is fully aware that he was the primary object of the largest single day of concentrated protest in the United States in at least half a century. How do we know? Because on Saturday night, the current President of the United States saw fit to post an AI slop video of himself as a “fighter pilot King” literally dumping shit on the American people as they protested (we don’t share the video; it’s vile). We also know that the King was hardly unbothered because Trump’s Republican Party lackeys spent the week before No Kings trying to depress turnout and demonize No Kings participants out of fear that their Orange King would have his feelings hurt. So we’re satisfied that the sheer magnitude of Saturday’s No Kings protests across the nation inflicted plenty of pain inside the ketchup-splashed walls of the White House.

But aside from trolling Trump personally to great success, Saturday’s No Kings protests also did so much more. If you were one of the thousands out on our local streets yesterday, you probably came away from Saturday feeling like we did. Recharged. Energized. Not alone. All day, we heard gratitude for the efforts of our Safety Teams who made sure that everyone — from the old protest veterans, to the incredible amount of young first timers, to moms and dads with kids in tow — all had the peace of mind and confidence necessary to engage in the brave act of collective nonviolent demonstration. We saw strangers become marchers to the beat of Troy Samba, costumed characters beside others dressed in black with orange warnings of fascism, and a road full of cars decked out for the occasion, with a musical billboard truck doing laps for good measure. The trolls were few and far between, massively outnumbered and largely ignored; unable to generate the negative content they craved to fuel right-wing narratives. Instead of danger and confrontation, we had solidarity and community. Elected leaders, students, extended families, friends and neighbors all connected by a singular conviction and common purpose. Call it a pointless parade if you want, but the truth of the matter is that standing with others in collective unity has intrinsic value to the soul. It fills us with strength and contagious courage. It keeps hope alive when others want us to just give up and take it.

As social movement researcher and author Lisa Corrigan recently pointed out, marches and protests also serve the purposes of expansion. Not only does mass protest expand the sheer numbers of individuals involved by giving people an available outlet for their outrage in a place of solidarity and joy, but these events also expand all of our individual thresholds for acceptable risk. Simply put, the vision of millions of people engaged in simultaneous mass dissent is a bad look for fascism; these jubilant events give people the good will and confidence to do braver things down the road, and these massive actions give politicians and institutions the political cover to resist fascism at every turn in the here and now.

So don’t listen to the haters. Laugh at the tepid local coverage with right-wing framing from employees of Nexstar and Sinclair. Instead, trust your own eyes and your own heart at what was accomplished both here in the Capital Region and all over Country this past Saturday. Use that memory as a reminder that we have friends everywhere and that there are more of us than there are them.

And remember as well what we can together accomplish in short order when the need arises. For example, this past Indigenous People’s Day, news exploded of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem airing a propaganda video in the Nation’s airports, a televised Hatch Act violation gaslighting Americans about the role of elected Democrats in the government shutdown and any attendant delays encountered by weary air travelers. When word spread on social media and Indivisible email chains that these ridiculous videos were airing at our humble Albany International Airport, you all sprang into action almost organically, flooding local electeds and the Airport Authority alike with emails and phone calls of complaint. Sure enough, the videos were gone from our Airport within hours, another palpable little testament to the power of mass collective action.

If only other mass action campaigns concerning our Airport were so instantaneously successful. For those of you that may be new here, the bargain basement air carrier Avelo Airlines has contracted with ICE to conduct almost daily deportation flights, without any regard for whether the folks being deported have first been afforded the process due to them under the US Constitution. Avelo has therefore found itself as the object of political and public-relations scorn all across the Country and, given that Avelo flies twice-weekly flights to North Carolina out of Albany International, the airline has also been a subject of a monthly Airport demonstration for going on six months now. You can read all about Avelo, its relationship with our Airport and Albany County and what we’ve been doing about it on our dedicated Hell No Avelo page. And you can join us this coming Saturday at Albany International Airport for the latest installment of our monthly protest action.

Given the fundamental human rights issues involved and the visibility of our longstanding activism concerning Avelo, we were profoundly disappointed at the recent revelation that the City of Albany also has an ongoing sponsorship deal with Avelo Airlines. This Saturday, for example, the City will be holding its Trick or Trot Pumpkin Run 5K in Washington Park; Avelo is listed as one of the “generous event sponsors” for this event on the City’s own website. Avelo also helped underwrite the Riverfront Jazz Festival on Corning Preserve back in September, and is a regular sponsor of Alive at Five as well. Our friends at Guilderland Indivisible have been digging into this and called the City out on Bluesky about it last week. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan responded to Guilderland Indivisible directly by email that same day, explaining that the City’s sponsorship deal with Avelo predated Avelo’s contract with ICE (as if that matters) and that terminating the contract would cost the City the crippling sum of . . . $4,000 (the City’s budget is in the neighborhood of $200 million, for frame of reference). Somehow making it worse, Mayor Sheehan also told Guilderland Indivisible that the $4K it gets from Avelo is an “in-kind” donation in the form of free airline tickets. Tickets for for whom, you ask? Mayor Sheehan has not said. We therefore join with Guilderland Indivisible in calling for the City to terminate its sponsorship deal with Avelo. Four thousand dollars is hardly justification for linking our State Capital City to the human rights abuses being perpetrated by ICE and its corporate accomplice, Avelo Airlines. Call the Mayor’s Office (518.434.5100) if you agree. While we can’t offer the City a free flight on a plane previously used to deport someone’s shackled abuela, like Avelo can, we’re pretty confident that the City would be well rewarded for doing the right thing.

Our newfound disappointment with the City of Albany only magnifies our continuing dissatisfaction with the stonewalling coming from Albany County when it comes to the ongoing presence of Avelo Airlines at Albany International Airport. In addition to being on the streets for six months running, we’ve had you all contact your County Legislators about Avelo, and still, no action has been taken. We’ve made repeated requests since this summer for disclosure of the Albany County Airport Authority’s contract with Avelo pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law, and the Airport Authority has ignored us. When pressed, some local leaders have expressed their personal distaste at Avelo’s presence at Albany International, but everyone claims to be utterly powerless in terms of actually making Avelo’s expulsion happen. To that end, we all learned from last week’s Kristi Noem propaganda saga what we had always suspected; when it comes to Albany International Airport, County Executive Dan McCoy can get shit done with a phone call:

When it comes to Avelo Airlines, however, Dan McCoy’s phone stays on airplane mode. The silent inertia of County electeds, the ignored FOIL requests and the complete absence of any explanation for why Avelo continues to be tolerated by Airport officials are beginning to make us believe that something even more nefarious may be afoot here. Avelo’s corporate depravity is as plain as day, yet those with power in our deep blue County still refuse to act. Well, we’re not giving up until Avelo is gone without a trace from Albany County. With an approaching winter and deafening silence, we may have to take our monthly protests inside to the County Legislative Chamber at some point soon.

We close with two last-minute reminders. First, be reminded that Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado is holding a meet and greet tonight at 6 at Lionheart on the Green on Broadway in the Warehouse District. Come hear about Lt. Governor’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor and his plan for the future of the New York Democratic Party.

Finally, the next Indivisible Albany Monthly Member Meeting will be held at the Guilderland Public Library on Monday, November 10 starting 6:00 pm. We hope to see you there, particularly if you are new to Indivisible Albany or discovered us for the first time at No Kings 2.0. You may just have found your community; welcome aboard, there is much work to be done together!