Indivisible Florence: 164 Weeks of Protest in a Row, Looking Forward to No Kings Day II

By Brian Bahouth

For 164 weeks in a row, at least one member of the group Indivisible Florence has stood at the intersection of the Oregon Coast Highway and route 126 in Florence, Oregon, to protest an ever-changing assortment of issues. According to Darlene Norwood, a core member of  Indivisible Florence, typically 30 people show up every Saturday.

“We did a Black Lives Matter protest that lasted for probably a year. And then Roe v. Wade happened, and we went back to the corner with women’s rights, women’s reproductive rights signage messaging, and we were well into that when Trump was elected. 

“And then once Trump was elected, we began having various and sundry kinds of signs out there, depending on the issue at the moment. But we’ve been continuous for at least 164 weeks that I’ve tracked,” Norwood said by phone.

Florence organizers estimate roughly 500 people attended the No Kings Day I protest held on June 14 of this year. Norwood said many more protests are planned across the nation for No Kings Day II on October 18. Two other groups will be joining the Florence contingent for No Kings II, and based on sign-ups for the event so far, she expects a much larger crowd in Florence.

Norwood explained, “In No Kings I, we estimated we had 500 to 600 turnout. This time, I would say we’ll double that at least.”

In a continuously churning news cycle, issues enter and leave the public consciousness like passing clouds. With 126 more days in office since No Kings I, the president has created many more concerns for critics. Is it the accumulation of outrage, or are there more salient issues driving wider engagement for No Kings II?

“The news has not been anything but grim, as I read it,” Norwood said. “The militarization of the cities, particularly in Portland, I think, will drive more turnout here in Oregon. 

“The military raids on civilian populations are terribly disturbing and upsetting, and I think people have a heightened sense of awareness of the health care costs that are going to rise. 

“There’s just a lot of things that people have strong feelings about at this point, and particularly watching our democracy being [dismantled], the rule of law being ignored, lots of unlawful, even corrupt actions that we’re seeing. 

“So, we have lots of feelings about that, and it sounds strange, but when you get out on the street and you get together with others of like mind, you start to feel a certain energy around American patriotism, around a love of country and community. And so I come away from the rallies more energized than when I entered them, and I think that’s true of everyone that I talk to.”

I asked Norwood whether standing on the street holding a sign is an effective form of activism. 

“I do it for myself a lot,” she told me, “because I look around at what’s going on and I want to do something, and standing on the street—I know people have various and sundry opinions about that, but I just I feel a need to be out there. I feel the need to let others know that they’re not alone. If they’re feeling it too, they’re not alone. 

“And we get lots of good, positive responses, and we get them particularly since Trump was elected. It’s more positive than negative, and that tells me something, and that tells the people that are passing something, and they’re waving back, blowing kisses, sending their love, sending signs of their love back to us. That’s energizing. That’s energizing for both of us. 

“I particularly like to see the kids in the car seeing Mom and Dad being part of the community, being part of looking at each other and seeing each other, and seeing the needs that are out there and the joy and the love that’s out there. So it’s a pretty big deal to me, obviously, because I wouldn’t be doing it for that many weeks if I wasn’t feeling like it was a positive, good thing.”

On September 22, President Trump issued an executive order that designates the loosely-defined group known as Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization. The designation implies that the group is breaking federal law and is therefore subject to federal prosecution. 

Indivisible Florence does not identify itself, nor has it ever, as a member of the nebulous group called Antifa. But Norwood is concerned that such vague executive proclamations open the door for indiscriminately cracking down on the president’s critics and free speech. 

Norwood said Indivisible Florence works closely and collaboratively with local law enforcement and they are comforted that the police keep an eye on them, in a good way.

“Overall, we’re concerned about the administration’s wanting to call us insurrectionists and terrorists and labeling us in ways that are just not true. That isn’t how we operate. 

“Mostly our group has involved itself in doing good for the community. We’re not here to destroy anything. So I just hope people understand that there’s a reason why they want them to be afraid of people like us, but I don’t see why you should be. I can’t find a reason in the world.” 

Locals and tourists drive on the Oregon Coast Highway, and the intersection with the 126 is the busiest interchange in Florence, but almost all of the traffic is vehicular. Interactions are typically limited to waves, honks, and other gestures from passing vehicles. There is little or no foot traffic or subsequent person-to-person interaction, except for one time.

“We did have a moment to interact with people who oppose our position, and that happened, I believe it was September 20. There was a competing rally announced for our intersection to commemorate Charlie Kirk’s passing. And so we knew that we were going to be on the corner with people who were not going to share our feelings about what was going on. 

“But we did show up and we stayed; even though we were outnumbered three to one, we stayed. We stood our ground. We did have opportunities to interact. Some of us managed to get eye-to-eye contact with people and have a bit of a conversation. I don’t know that [those conversations] were all that deep, but there was an interchange, and we stayed the whole hour. 

“We stayed two hours, actually. There were no incidents. The police were watchful. We notified them of our concerns and asked them for their advice about how to keep it peaceful. We had six safety monitors that are trained in de-escalation. There was a bit of that going on, but they were more like bickering kinds of things that happened between us.”

As edgy as the interactions were, Norwood views the dialogue as a positive step. 

“I’m hoping that we can move past the strict ‘my side or your side’ and start having more of those conversations, because I really think that’s what’s going on with us, is we’ve just pulled into our own little bubbles, and we’re still all humans, and that’s the thing I learned at that corner that week. We are still all humans, and I want the other side to hear me say that.”