Local group for the Indivisible movement, Greater New Haven Indivisible (GNHI), held a No Kings protest on the New Haven Green Saturday, March 28.
The No Kings protest is a political demonstration in which people protest against leaders they believe are acting with too much power, or acting as a king.
GNHI was also the organizer for the October 2025 protest. Though it didn’t have official numbers yet, it predicted a 33% increase in turnout from the October protest.
Speakers included the Mayor of New Haven Justin Elicker, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, New Haven Federation of Teachers Union President Leslie Blatteau and New Haven Rising Director Reverend Scott Marks.
GHNI tried to limit the number of politicians speaking this time, due to feedback received in October, organizer and GNHI board member James Farnman said in an interview with The Chronicle.
There was a much younger crowd, which was largely purposeful, according to Farnman.
“We did make a special effort to reach out to the college Democrat groups and to the youth wing of the NAACP and other youth, and the Citywide Youth Coalition,” he said.
He said that the youth participation was encouraging.
While attending the protest is great, Farnam said, what really matters is action.
“We want everyone to get into action. And we had the 30-plus tables there with all the organizations connecting people to action. They were… they were swamped,” he said. “They had very good responses.”
The protest was meant to be uplifting and fun, according to organizer and GNHI board member Maureen Campbell.
The goal was to “get people to come out that maybe have never been to a rally before, maybe are frustrated at home, they’re upset, but they don’t know where to begin or how to… how to get involved, and make them feel comfortable doing that,” she said.
Entertainment included the Groovement Band, Movimiento Cultural and a drum band for the parade, as well as puppets.
Both Farnam and Campbell agreed that this format helped with community building.
“There’s just a sense of… You know, togetherness of joy and celebration that we’re here, we’re not going anywhere, we’re gonna…we’re gonna fight, and that… that, I think, helps… in building that community, definitely. And the music, I think, definitely helped,” Farnam said.
It seems everyone walked away feeling joyful, Campbell added.
“They came back from the parade with the biggest smiles on their face.”
Campbell’s grandchildren also participated in the protest, carrying banners and posters.
“It was great for them to see democracy in action,” she said.
The movement has faced pushback nationwide.
“We’re doing it while we can, let’s put it that way,” Campbell responded when asked how they felt about the arguments against the protest.
Farnam says there’s evidence in this administration that we may be heading into an authoritarian regime, citing sources such as New York Times articles and historian David Blight.
“There’s definitely…so much evidence of… of this administration seizing power, seizing control and unconstitutional means, and he’s been repeatedly beat back by the courts,” he said. “We are in unprecedented times in terms of attacks on the Constitution, attacks on… on the rule of law, especially the Justice Department has been hollowed out.”
It’s not just radicals that participate, Campbell said.
“We are people that love our country, that love our democracy, that believe that… still believe and have hope, that we can make the goals of our democracy come true. It’s very complicated because we are such an experiment in many ways, but when you see groups getting together like we had at this rally, and how passionate they are about their missions, and how joyful they are about the work they’re doing. You really get a sense of the goodness in the world,” she said.
Both said that the GNHI is planning more events for May Day.
They encourage everyone, especially young people, to get as involved as they can.
“Unless people go home and actually do things, you know, call their legislators, write postcards, do canvassing, do electoral work, do agitation. Get other people on board and organize. …It’s just… it won’t… it won’t have the impact that it should,” Farnam said.
Barbara GOKEY • Apr 2, 2026 at 12:32 pm
Thank you to everyone who participated 😊