Behind the “parchment barrier”

From BookFest to No Kings, both excellent places to create and mesh with community

Here I am, a day later than usual, my tardiness due to travel from the Deep South to the North East and a day out for the third nationwide—and international—No Kings Day.

At both the New Orleans Book Festival a couple of weeks ago and at the No Kings rally in Concord, New Hampshire, the atmosphere buzzed with the power of shared loves; at the book festival, the never-ending delights of reading, at the rally, the commitment to the highest ideals on which this country was founded.

Emily Loubiere Social Work Fellowship

At the book festival, Sister Helen and I got to spend a little time with Max Loubiere.

Max’s daughter, Emily, died when she was 33. Having launched into a culinary career after graduation and working as sous chef at the famed New Orleans restaurant, Shaya, Emily returned to school, completing an undergraduate degree in Psychology followed up by a Masters in Social Work at Tulane University, with a special interest in prison reform and restorative justice. She went on to do an internship in client advocacy with the Orleans Public Defender’s office.

Emily’s older sister, Molly, and her twin sister, Savannah, described her as someone who people “people flocked towards…basking in her gentle, joyful nature.”

Emily’s death cut off her trajectory of humor, empathy, and commitment to justice. That trajectory, though, has powered the creation of the Emily Loubiere Social Work Fellowship at Innocence & Justice Louisiana, a two-year fellowship with a focus on expanding long-term, trauma-informed support for people before and after their release from prison.

Applications for the fellowship are now open with a September starting date for work. If you or someone you know might be a good fit, apply now.

You can also donate to help fund the fellowship.

No Kings around the world

“Pas de rois.” - No Kings, Paris

“Per un mondo liberal dalle guerre.” - No Kings, Rome

“Kein Führerprinzip in USA.” - No Kings, Berlin

“We can’t stand him either.” - No Kings, Sydney

“I’ve got 99 problems and Trump is all of them.” - No Kings, Los Angeles

“WE are the POWER.” - No Kings, New York City

“No Kings. No Idiots either.” - No Kings, Philadelphia

“Congress, Do Your Job!!” - No Kings, Concord, New Hampshire

It was windy and chilly (35°F) in Concord, New Hampshire, where I joined a large crowd that filled the grounds outside the gold-domed State House and stretched down both sides of Main Street.

We gathered there with the knowledge that millions of others—over 8,000,000, it turns out—were doing the same at around 3,100 locations across the country.

Since the last two No Kings protests, the assault on our nation’s norms and rights, and on international stability, have ratcheted up with mind-numbing regularity. Waging a grossly under-planned war that has no Congressional approval and is unwanted by most of the populace is the latest in the long line of damaging presidential actions.

A couple of months ago, I asked ChatGPT to maintain a cumulative list of all actions by Trump’s administration that qualify as authoritarian, using the criteria of experts on authoritarianism, Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat. The count currently stands at 64 distinct actions. Approximately eight actions per week; 1.15 actions per day. That’s a suffocating, democracy-destroying load of authoritarianism.

Behind the “parchment barrier”

My sign for the No Kings Day rally was this:

When you break the “parchment barrier” we stand up.

Somewhat obscure, I know, unless you’re familiar with The Federalist Papers penned by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay.

Hamilton and Madison both opined the inadequacy of merely writing constitutional limits on paper, a “parchment barrier”, to prevent the abuse of power.

The flimsy nature of this parchment barrier has become increasingly apparent. Trump frequently acts without legally mandated Congressional approval, as with his war on Iran. Meanwhile, the Republican-held Congress is unwilling to stop this abrogation of its rights and duties.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were crafted on the principle that rights predate government, and that a legitimate government is only one that serves the people, rather than ruling over them.

We have a government that has trampled on this principle. The parchment barrier has shredded and has shown itself, indeed, to be no guarantee.

It is at this time that the only barrier, the only guarantee of a nation that hews to its principled, moral foundation, is the power of the people rising up. Behind the parchment barrier is us.

I’ll leave you with a few photos from No Kings Day in Concord.