NO KINGS DAY in Benicia – Your Personal Invitation

“A protest is an invitation to a better world. It’s a ceremony.” – Peter Coyote

You are cordially, personally, and expansively invited…

…to the RALLY FOR NO KINGS,  Saturday, June 14th, from 1-2 pm on the sidewalk at the Gazebo, corner of First & Military in Benicia. Rally organizer Susan Street says: Bring noisemakers, signs, your dog, anything to increase the joy of being together to protest the nonsense being played out in Washington DC.  We will be on the sidewalk, so please stay out of the street and allow pedestrians to walk by on the sidewalk.  This is a joyous occasion, so please be civil to any dissenters.

The rally in Benicia is one of close to 2000 events planned nationwide as a counter-measure to President Trump’s $45 million military parade, complete with 150 tanks and other vehicles, 50 airplanes, 50 helicopters, and nearly 7,000 soldiers marching in front of the White House, supposedly to commemorate the establishment of the U.S. Army, Flag Day, and, oh, it all happens to fall on the President’s birthday. As the State Department’s Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley put it, “June 14 is a special day. Of course, it’s the president’s birthday, so I’m sure the crowd will break out into a ‘Happy Birthday.’” Former Vice Chair of the Joint Chief of Staff, Paul Selva, used a different characterization, calling such a parade “what dictators do.”

“Trump’s birthday parade and his attack on LA are all part of the same agenda of fascist theatrics, divide and conquer politics, and the consolidation of power,” wrote Leah Greenberg of Indivisible. “Our flag was first raised nearly 250 years ago in defiance of a king, and we won’t let Trump disgrace it as he tries to become one.”

No Kings in the USA.  Flag Day, claiming and re-claiming the flag that waves over the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Gathering as Beloved Community aspiring to “liberty and justice for all.”  June 14, 2025, 1-2 p.m. An invitation to a better world.


NO KINGS – ALL OVER THE BAY…

Benicia Gazebo, corner of First & Military Streets

>> IN BENICIA: June 14th NO KINGS DAY! 1-2pm at the Gazebo (map: First and Military Streets). Bring your signs, noisemakers, and your goodwill. We’ll “parade” this block for the hour on the sidewalk. – Susan Street

>> IN VALLEJO: Vallejo-Benicia INDIVISIBLE is sponsoring a NO KINGS rally and march on Saturday, June 14 in the plaza at the Vallejo City Hall, 555 Santa Clara Street in Vallejo. The event will start at 10 am with brief speeches, with speakers including Benicia Mayor Steve Young and others. The Vallejo event is listed (with a map) on the mobilize.us website. Bring your signs. Crowns optional.

>> IN FAIRIELD: Sat June 14, 12 – 1pm, corner of Jefferson and Texas Streets under the flags, 605 Texas St., Fairfield. Here’s a map.

> ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to the nokings.org or mobilize.us website and zoom in on the big map. Then click on a city for detailed info about the specific event in that location. 

Benicia Juneteenth Celebration, June 19 2025 at Benicia Public Library

UPDATED INFORMATION …
[Note from BenIndy editor: Black lives matter! And multiracial solidarity is increasingly important in our times as we confront a powerful and coordinated renewal of overt white nationalism. – Roger Straw]

Please join Benicia Black Lives Matter for an important event in honor of Juneteenth 2025.
Program: Radical Reparations: Unpacking Freedom & Justice on Juneteenth

Join special guest scholar and author Dr. Marcus Anthony Hunter, Civil Rights attorney Brandon Greene, and Assemblymember Isaac Bryan as we explore “Radical Reparations” in a thought-provoking discussion on justice, history and healing.

The Manchurian President


Speaking hypothetically…

 Stephen Golub, A Promised Land – America as a Developing Country

A Promised Land – America as a Developing Country, by Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author, June 7, 2025 [UPDATED ON 6/10/25] (Previously appearing in The Benicia Herald, “Benicia & Beyond,” 6/8/25)

In the 1962 film, “The Manchurian Candidate,” a US soldier is captured during the Korean War and brainwashed in Manchuria (a part of China bordering Korea) by Chinese and Russian agents. They then arrange his supposedly heroic “escape” that earns him the Medal of Honor back in America.

The point of this plan? Acting as an automaton, he will then unwittingly assassinate a presidential candidate and usher in an authoritarian regime serving our enemies’ interests.

Which brings us to Donald Trump. I am not suggesting that he’s been brainwashed or that he deliberately prioritizes the Kremlin over America. His main motivators instead seem to be money, power and narcissism.

But, speaking hypothetically, what  if Trump were in fact a “Manchurian President,” brainwashed  by Russia to  undermine the United States? What would he do?

He would intentionally and illegally call in the National Guard and Marines to inflame legitimate protests and to open the door to even more inflammatory, repressive steps.

He would, in contrast, do nothing for hours on January 6, 2021, as insurrectionists violently tried to take over the U.S. Capitol and block a presidential election’s certification.

He would pardon those very insurrectionists and praise them as patriots.

He would badmouth democracies far more than despots.

He would insult long-time friends such as Canada and Denmark by threatening their territorial integrity.

He would have his vice president back a Russia-friendly neo-Nazi party in Germany.

He would alienate other democratic allies through statements, trade policies and foreign policy decisions that force them to reconsider their relations with us.

He would purge the U.S. military brass of many officers, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, likely to prize fealty to the Constitution over loyalty to him.

He would gut our National Security Council staff and other parts of the government that guard us against efforts to cripple our security and democracy.

He would abandon Ukraine, whose fight against Russia’s brutal aggression is so crucial to European security and democracy that even formerly neutral Sweden and Finland have joined NATO.

He would appoint incompetents or people sympathetic to hostile powers to top national security positions.

He would take little action when such officials engage in discussions that leak combat plans to outsiders.

He would sabotage American soft power by ravaging foreign aid and sacrificing millions of lives abroad through public health cuts.

He would attack our democratic institutions right and left, including by condemning judges and extorting law firms and media outlets.

He would authorize a fellow narcissist and associated techno-brats to hastily purge the government of expertise, personnel and resources in a matter of weeks.

He would impose massive staff and funding cuts on medical and other research, harming public health in particular and American scientific leadership in general.

He would select individuals with bizarre public health ideas to head agencies charged with protecting the public against pandemics.

He would deregulate a cryptocurrency industry that could run amok even as it enriches him and his allies.

He would push tariff policies that whiplash practically daily and could hurl the U.S. economy into a tailspin.

He would back budget-busting, billionaire-benefiting legislation that would both damage the economy and deny health care to millions.

He would so undercut America’s financial and defense credibility that the world could lose confidence in the country for decades.

He would seek to block thousands of brilliant foreign students from studying here, ensuring that many of them will instead benefit other nations’ universities, economies and societies.

He would engage in rhetoric that cleaves our country in unprecedented ways, with boasts of retribution and brutal social media blasts against anyone who opposes him.

He would pardon other criminals in exchange for financial favors or political loyalty.

He would embark on an unparalleled reign of corruption that wreaks havoc on our rule of law at home and our image abroad.

He would order a $45 million, Soviet-style military parade on June 14, ostensibly to honor the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary but in reality to celebrate his birthday that day.

He would do all this – and far more – less than 10 percent of the way into his presidency.

He would assume that he can’t and won’t be stopped.

>>> Which brings us to the “No Kings” rallies taking place across the country on June 14. The Benicia gathering will be at the City Park Gazebo (near the corner of 1st Street and Military West) from 1 to 2 pm.
>>>Through such demonstrations, we demonstrate to the media, the world and ourselves that we’re not giving up. By  showing up, we’re standing up for democracy.


Benicia resident and author Stephen Golub, A Promised Land

CHECK OUT STEPHEN GOLUB’S BLOG,
A PROMISED LAND

…and… here’s more Golub on the Benicia Independent

Dr. Richard Fleming: Many Benicia cancer rates higher than Solano County and California

Refinery leaving will hurt Bay Area town’s economy, but there will be a big benefit

The Valero oil refinery in Benicia CA. | Lea Suzuki/S.F. Chronicle

Letters, San Francisco Chronicle, by Richard Fleming, M.D., Benicia resident and author, Older But Wiser. June 3, 2025

Richard Fleming, M.D., Benicia, CA

Regarding “This Bay Area town grew into a prosperous suburb — but is now facing fiscal crisis” (Bay Area, SFChronicle.com, June 1): A key point was left out of the story — the Valero refinery’s adverse impact on the health of Benicia residents.

Despite being an otherwise healthy city, our rates of many cancers are much higher than Solano County and the rest of the state.

Benicia’s rate of lung cancer is between 14.5%-21.8% higher than the county’s and about 44% higher than the California rate. Our prostate cancer rates are 32.8% higher than the county’s and 70% higher than the state’s. For breast cancer, we have a 36% higher rate than our county and a 94% higher rate than our state. This data comes from Solano County and state public health sources.

While it cannot be definitively concluded that these higher cancer rates are due to refinery emissions, they are similar to the higher rates near refineries elsewhere that are well-documented in medical studies.

Yes, it will be economically challenging to weather Valero’s exit. But there is little doubt that when this happens, our community’s risk of cancer will drop. Many Benicia residents are looking forward to being able to breathe healthier air and are willing to work with our city government to move into a post-refinery future.

Dr. Richard Fleming, Benicia

For safe and healthy communities…