Kent Quade, with his big bushy gray beard and large Palestinian flag affixed to his walker, typically engages in one-man solitary protests in downtown Akron.
On Saturday afternoon, Quade stood at the usual corner he’s occupied a few times every week for the last year and a half — at Market and Main streets in downtown Akron — but this time he wasn’t alone. Hundreds of people stood packed together on all four corners of the busy intersection to protest perceived authoritarianism and corruption from President Donald Trump and his administration.
“It’s awesome — awesome — and I wish it was like this every day,” said Quade, whose main focus right now is Palestinian rights but who said he’s “also just sick and tired of fascistic things going on in the country.”
Saturday’s gathering downtown was Akron’s version of the No Kings rallies held throughout the country, coinciding with smaller local gatherings in nearby cities including Cleveland, Cuyahoga Falls, Canton and Medina and massive gatherings in Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities. The Akron rally was organized by Indivisible Akron, Akron Democracy Defenders and Summit County Progressive Democrats.
The protest featured countless signs, many people in costumes, megaphone-led chants, protest music and a constant barrage of car horns blaring in support as they slowly drove through the jammed intersection. Some passengers hung out windows and sunroofs, often holding up protest signs or waving flags.
A dancing Karyn Ludlam donned a massive blow-up pink Axolotl salamander costume in front of the federal courthouse at the southwest corner of the intersection. She said she wore it to avoid cameras with facial recognition and, “if needed, I can zip it off and run away — no one knows what I’m wearing under here. Not that I’m expecting that to happen today.”
Ludlum held a sign with “ARTICLE II SECTION 4 NOW” — calling for the impeachment of Trump and his cabinet — on one side and, on the other, wrote “Keep Your Fat Fascist Fingers Off MY BODY, MY SOCIAL SECURITY, MY FELLOW AMERICANS.”
Local musician Jim Ballard was tasked with the music for the gathering. Indivisible Akron rented a Honda generator and Ballard and his bandmates from The Strangs helped set up a few large speakers in front of the federal courthouse, blasting protest hits from the 1960s and 1970s, mixed in with some newer tunes.
The key to a good protest playlist, he said, is including songs from many eras.
“We’re trying to make sure that everybody hears everything,” said Ballard, whose favorite protest song is “Revolution” by The Beatles.
Fairlawn resident Jan Levin said she joined the protest because she believes in the separation of church and state and because she’s firmly against the federal government’s backing of Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
Levin expressed dismay about the government’s lack of support for her son, who joined the Global Sumud Flotilla, attempting to travel by boat from Barcelona, Spain, to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. She said her son was illegally imprisoned by the Israeli government and denied legal representation, and she said her pleas to the federal government — including the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and the state department — were ignored. Her son was eventually bused to Jordan, she said, before he made his way back to the United States.
“I feel like this is a historic moment, and I am very much against what is happening in our government,” Levin said.
Akron’s No Kings rally concluded after its scheduled two hours with only a few counter protesters — several Charlie Kirk supporters and a megaphone-wielding street preacher drew some attention and contention — and little police presence.
“I’m going to go insult that guy,” said one teenager to people who appeared to be the teen’s parents, about a young man who repeatedly yelled that the No Kings protesters were murderers and terrorists. “Nicely, politely.”
