FEATURE

Chapel Hill Echoes National ‘No Kings’ Movement, Carolina-Style

June 14, 2025

Leah Cimone Paige

On Saturday June 14th at 11a.m., Chapel Hill and surrounding county residents gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza on East Franklin St. to rally and march in the national No Kings Mass Protest and share in a communal call for democracy to take precedence in the U.S. government once again. The march, one of hundreds across the country, commenced with speakers and musicians to set the tone of the march, followed by sharing safety guidelines and learning meaningful call and response chants to propel the march forward.

Because of safety concerns, once the march began at 1p.m., Chapel Hill Police worked with protesters, blocking off M.L.K. Jr. Blvd.

Because of summer break the majority of UNC- Chapel Hill students are absent from campus, however locals appeared in droves– the majority of whom were white and over 40 with a noticeable turnout of senior citizens. There were signs such as “You know it's bad when the well-off, middle-aged, white guys are out,” and “Citizens are not subjects,” while others simply stated, “There are no kings in America.” American flags were gripped tightly in hands, printed on clothing and drawn on posters. And billowing puppets flew high and wide around marchers, keeping some cool and all inspired along the way.

The puppets– handheld fish and colorful monarch butterflies as well as a large bird with four rods and a wingspan no less than 5 yards– were made by members of the Paperhand Puppet Project in Graham, NC. Their large paper mache person, with fiery hair and a deep reverence in her eyes guided the mass of protesters.

Paperhand Puppet, Leah C. Paige

Jan Burger, 52, co-founder of the Paperhand Puppet Intervention explained that the group

attends many rallies and marches. “Our role is to create inspirational imagery that excites people and inspires them and makes them want to participate.” On the 87-degree afternoon, the towering white egret shaded marchers as it soared in the sky like a fresh sheet.

After the peaceful 1.1-mile march down Franklin St. and into Carrboro, some marchers stopped at Weaver Street Market, a favorite neighborhood grocery. Other marchers gathered in the Carrboro Century Center to cool off and learn about social justice groups in the Triangle through tabling while repleting themselves with water and snacks.

Buffie Webber, 72, an active member of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), has a fervent goal to integrate dormant community members into social justice work. She sat behind her table alongside other members to gather email sign-ups, share SCSJ pamphlets and hand out Hershey’s chocolates.

Buffie, a decades long Chapel Hill resident, was raised as a New England Unitarian and is now a Quaker, which continues to motivate her work. Quakerism’s long history of intervening in justice causes, especially affecting marginalized persons, is unceasing. She says, “Both

religions have a strong emphasis on consensus, which is time consuming. Democracy is time consuming. Treating people equally is time consuming.”

Kim and Lewis Caraganis of Chatham County perched on a wooded wall with a sign that read, “Trump doesn’t believe in or abide by our Laws– Therefore, he is unfit to be our president.” Kim, 70, and her husband attended the Chapel Hill march because their grandchildren's birthday party was nearby. She says, “We wanted to be visible. We're just upset and grossed out every day– angry, stressed, and just feel this is what we can do to help change things.”

Kim and Lewis Caraganis, Leah C. Paige

Lewis Caraganis, 77, fueled by experience, says, “I've been going to demonstrations

since the 60s...And I really believe that this mass group action is going to be the only thing that's going to persuade enough congressional Republicans to consider impeachment– the right way to fix what’s wrong.” Lewis qualifies, “It's nonviolent, and it's a vote, and it's binding.”

He believes this fight can only be won by viewing it as a binary. “So, it's a zero-sum game,” he says. “If they win, we lose. If we win, they lose. You've got to fight.”

The protest ended peacefully and allowed marchers to know that many of their neighbors have parallel views.

As the afternoon turned into evening, participants of the Chapel Hill- Carrboro No Kings Protest rested in their execution, basking in a cathartic kind of hope, and looking toward future democracy.