This Is What Democracy Looks Like

The Mindful Activist Newsletter — March 22, 2026

There is a sentence that keeps appearing this week.

In text threads. In neighborhood Facebook groups. In conversations at the coffee shop.

“Are you going Saturday?”

Saturday, March 28. No Kings Day of Action.

Over 3,000 events planned across the United States. Organizers are calling it the largest single-day mobilization in American history. And the movement has been building to this moment for months — five million people in June 2025, seven million in October. Now they’re aiming for nine million.

I want to talk about why this matters — not just as a protest, but as a civil rights moment.

We Have Been Here Before

The fight against concentrated, unchecked power is not new.

It is the story of the Selma bridge. It is the story of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, fought for by people who understood that the ballot is the most direct expression of democratic sovereignty a citizen holds. It is the story of every generation that had to stand up and say, plainly and loudly: power belongs to the people.

That is exactly what No Kings is saying.

The movement draws its name from a founding American principle — that this country was built in explicit rejection of monarchy. That no person, no office, and no administration holds power above the law or above the will of the governed.

When voting rights are attacked, that principle is under assault. When free speech is chilled, it is under assault. When communities are terrorized by federal agents and citizens are killed in the streets, it is under assault.

What we are seeing right now is not politics as usual. It is a stress test of the Constitution itself.

Why Showing Up Is a Civil Rights Act

The ACLU — one of the organizing partners for March 28 — put it simply: the best way to protect our First Amendment rights is to keep using them.

That is not a slogan. That is strategy.

Civil rights movements throughout American history have understood something that data now confirms: nonviolent mass participation shifts power. The No Kings coalition operates on what organizers call the “3.5% rule” — research showing that no government has successfully suppressed a sustained nonviolent movement that engages at least 3.5% of the population.

Twelve million cumulative participants. Over 3,000 events this Saturday. The numbers are beginning to matter.

But beyond the numbers, showing up matters because silence has consequences.

The 2026 midterms are approaching. Voter protection initiatives are already being planned as the next phase of this movement. The connection between street-level resistance and the ballot box is intentional. Organizers are building something long-term — not just a single day of protest, but sustained civic infrastructure.

That is what a civil rights movement looks like.

What You Can Do

This Saturday, you do not have to travel far.

Events are happening in nearly every city, many suburbs, and even small towns across the country. Find your nearest event at nokings.org — enter your zip code and you will likely find something within a few miles.

If you cannot attend in person, the movement needs:

• People to complete the “Eyes on ICE” rights-awareness training
• Volunteers for local event logistics
• Voices on social media before, during, and after
• Voters engaged on the issues through the midterms

And if you have been waiting for a reason to have a conversation with a neighbor, a family member, or a colleague about what is happening in this country — this week is the moment.

A Final Thought

I have been writing lately about reinvention. About the second half of life. About the women who decided that their experience and their voice were not things to quietly retire.

This newsletter exists because I believe that midlife women — particularly those of us who have spent decades managing complexity, navigating systems, and stabilizing things for everyone around us — have a particular kind of power right now.

We have seen enough to know what is real.

We have lived long enough to understand what is at stake.

And we are old enough not to be afraid of saying so out loud.

Saturday is one more opportunity to do exactly that.

No Kings. Not now. Not ever.

See you out there.

Julie Bolejack, MBA

The Mindful Activist

Find a No Kings event near you: nokings.org
Learn your rights before you go: Eyes on ICE training at the same site

Reminder our 5 Day Wake Up series starts tomorrow.

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