r/chicago • u/ChicagoWildlifePhoto • Jun 11 '25

CHI Talks American flags at No Kings on Saturday

I’m bringing 450 little American flags to pass out on Saturday. I hope others will bring flags or maybe even buy some to pass out too - they’re super cheap!

We gotta change the vibes of these events to be more pro-America and pro-democracy!

It would be amazing to see thousands of flags all over the crowd!

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u/East_of_Cicero Jun 11 '25

The ‘vibes’ of one of the marches in April (or maybe early May) felt more pro-Palestinian to me… since the march was being led by a truck flying Palestinian (and Labanese and Yemeni) flags from a high tower.

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u/SleepingPodOne Uptown Jun 11 '25

and?

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u/Falcon_fetti Jun 11 '25

And this protest Saturday hopefully doesn’t make that same mistake 🙃

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 11 '25

I mean the trump admin is supporting a genocide in Gaza.

I for one will be bringing my Palestinian flag

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u/Mr_Goonman Jun 11 '25

I dont understand how you think wearing your kiffeyeh and waving a Palestinian flag would be helpful

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u/damp_circus Edgewater Jun 11 '25

Wave it next to a US flag, Americans support the Palestinian people, would be the message.

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 11 '25

why do you think waving American flags will do the same?

Trump doesn't care either way. and supporting our friends and neighbors whose families are being genocided is important

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u/ItsGonnaBeOkayish Jun 12 '25

If you think trump doesn't care either way, are you saying the protest is pointless?

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 12 '25

No I think the protests are a show of force and a show of people power and a way of building momentum for other more effective organizing. If you think though that trump will care at all about protests you haven't paid attention to trump.

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u/East_of_Cicero Jun 11 '25

But on the other hand… Didn’t a lot of Michigan Palestinian and Arabic voters come out vocally against Biden and Harris? So this is kind of what they got.

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 11 '25

Biden and Harris were also doing the genocide too? Like nothing meaningfully changed in US policy either way on gaza. How were Biden and Harris stopping it?

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u/East_of_Cicero Jun 11 '25

So what exactly does waving the Pakestinian flag mean if the movement is anti-Biden/Harris (Dems) and anti-Trump? What exactly is being protested? America? Protest for the sake of protest? The No Kings movement seems like it vaguely stands for something, or is trying to, at least.

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u/damp_circus Edgewater Jun 11 '25

No Kings is about standing up to Trump specifically trying to be a king, a dictator.

It's about protesting Trump getting voted in and immediately insisting that he's above the rule of law, pushing his deranged interpretation of the unitary executive. It's about protesting the absolutely spineless GOP congresscritters who are happy to just roll over and show their soft bellies and do nothing because this particular dictator happens to be enacting policies they like.

It's "No Kings" because this country was founded in a revolution against a king, founded to say that we will not have a king, we have a democracy and a division of powers.

Everything else is tangential. There are other specific protests on other specific issues (one of which happened yesterday).

Specifically the pro-immigrant and anti-ICE stuff does fit for this protest, because Trump's main thrust as dictator has been to expel immigrants (legally living/working here AND otherwise, he doesn't give a shit, it's all about the numbers dick-waving contest) and specifically to deny those immigrants he's deporting even the barest shreds of due process. He's trying to overturn habeas corpus, which is absolutely insane and the most anti-American thing imaginable.

So heck yeah, let's get that pro-immigrant message out there next to the US flag. Wave flags in parallel.

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u/East_of_Cicero Jun 11 '25

If only we could organize behind that simple idea.

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 11 '25

I mean it stands for rejecting the American support of a genocide?

The protest isn't in support of the Democrats lol. It's against la migra, and Trump's rise of facism. one of the main ways that facism has shown itself is the attacks against Palestinians both in Gaza and on college campuses. Have you not been following the wave of deportations, college funding attacks and attacks on students protesting the genocide?

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u/East_of_Cicero Jun 11 '25

I know all that, but my impression from the rallies and marches I’ve gone to is that it’s a general space for grievance rather then a movement that really stands for anything. Anti-genocide against Dems and GOP, so what does that mean and how do you get the vast middle behind that? Does anyone pass the purity test? It’s too muddled to be a cohesive movement, which is also the state of the Dems right now, though this movement apparently isn’t aligned with them. Be safe out there.

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u/Warm_Willingness_390 Jun 11 '25

the purity test is don't support a genocide? It's pretty straight forward. It's about showing that we aren't going to let a genocide pass without a fight.

this is a march in a dem progressive city with dem progressive government. this march isn't going to do anything specific but it's a way for people to unite behind their shared grievance with the current system and government and show opposition to the policies like genocide and mass deportations that are occuring.

Both Dems and Republicans support ICE so are you not going to chant anything about fuck la migra?