PopGeeks (@popgeeks.bsky.social)

No Kings 2.0 NYC: When fandom values meet real-world stakes Yesterday in Times Square, New Yorkers joined a nationwide “No Kings” day of action, part of a coordinated pushback against executive overreach and the normalization of authoritarian tactics. We usually cover games, comics, anime, film, and the communities around them, but some stories outgrow the page or the screen. This is one of them. Pop culture has been warning us about unchecked power for decades, and our readers live at that intersection where fandom values like solidarity and resistance become real civic choices. At the morning press briefing, speakers framed the stakes in plain language. Emcee Hannah Stoss of 50501 NYC and Strong Economy for All called the event “just the start of that movement,” urging people to keep showing up after today. New York Immigration Coalition president Murad Awawdeh said “authoritarianism and fascism is here today in America,” describing masked arrests outside 26 Federal Plaza and asking New Yorkers to document and organize. Comptroller Brad Lander invoked the city’s Revolutionary-era history to argue that New Yorkers have a role to play “against tyranny and for liberty,” promising to keep showing up even as crackdowns escalate. Civil-liberties voices reinforced the theme that no leader sits above the law. NYCLU executive director Donna Lieberman said, “Ours is a government based on rights and laws, and no one is above the law,” adding that they “will not be bullied into silence.” Actress and activist Christine Lahti spoke about refusing to be scared into staying home, describing the crowd as “peaceful patriots, united by love and respect for each other and for our Constitution.” Movement organizers connected protest to next steps. Working Families Party national director Maurice Mitchell told the crowd, “Today, we rally. Tomorrow, we organize. In November, we vote,” framing courage as contagious. AFT executive vice president Evelyn DeJesus called the march a peaceful demonstration of unity and insisted that “authoritarians always fear organized people.” Charlotte Soehner of ROCC NYC shared the story of Shakira, a trans asylum seeker detained by masked agents after a court appearance, underscoring the human cost behind legal abstractions. Federal, labor, and civil-rights leaders, including NYC Central Labor Council president Brendan Griffith, New York State Nurses Association president Nancy Hagans, NAACP New York State Conference president L. Joy Williams, and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights CEO Maya Wiley, each tied the fight for democracy to everyday work, public services, and equal protection. Why cover this on PopGeeks? We already live in this space. We have looked at how tariff policy hits gamers’ wallets in Grand Grift Auto: How Trump’s Unmitigated Tariff Disaster Is Affecting Gamers, how culture teaches empathy in Ms. Rachel, Empathy, Imagination, and Mister Rogers, how disinformation mirrors “evil AI” tropes in 10 Evil AI in Pop Culture That Walked So Grok Could Spew Hateful Nazi Bullst**, and how fandoms mobilize in the Anti-Fascist Pokémon stream around Pokémon ZA Legends. The stories we love are full of warnings about crowns that corrupt and systems that fail when people look away. Today’s press event was those themes in real time, spoken by people who have to live with the consequences. Culture makers are mobilizing too. Artist Dread Scott previewed “Fall of Freedom,” a two-day, open-source cultural action in November that will enlist comedians, musicians, playwrights, and galleries to “be the visual and soundtrack of this movement.” The throughline is clear. Whether it is a comic-book rebellion, a tabletop party toppling a tyrant, or a live march through Manhattan, the lesson is the same. Stories are practice for what we do next. PopGeeks is not pivoting to politics. We are acknowledging something our readers already understand. Some subjects are too important to ignore, especially when the values that bind geek communities, such as cooperation, accountability, and imagination, are precisely what our culture needs. More 50501 and No Kings: 🐸 https://50501movement.bsky.social/ 🐸 https://www.youtube.com/@FiftyFifty1Movement 🐸 https://www.facebook.com/50states50protests 🐸 https://discord.gg/50501 More PopGeeks: 🐢 https://popgeeks.com/50501-pokemon-za-legends-no-kings-event/ 🐢 Pop-culture AIs and the reality of propaganda: https://popgeeks.com/10-evil-ai-in-pop-culture-that-walked-so-grok-could-spew-hateful-nazi-bullsht/ 🐢 How tariff policy hits games hardware: https://popgeeks.com/grand-grift-auto-how-trumps-unmitigated-tariff-disaster-is-affecting-gamers/ What children’s media can teach us about empathy: https://popgeeks.com/ms-rachel-empathy-imagination-mister-rogers-new-york-post-response/ 🐢 Join Forums: https://popgeeks.com/forums/ 🐢 Join Discord: https://discord.gg/Txd2Hvv 🐢 Support PopGeeks with a $1/month Subscription: https://popgeeks.com/paid-subscription-popgeeks/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5khWOLd8e7M