signs of the times, part II

June 15, 2025 • 5 Comments

At the end of February, I put on my photo journalist's hat and photographed the "Not My President" rally in Santa Fe. Here we are, almost four months on and I found myself at yet another rally at New Mexico's capital building, with yet another theme, even more people, this time sweating instead of shivering. Many people with whom I have spoken have indicated that the Chinese saying "may you live in interesting times" is becoming more of a curse than a wish, and they are downright tired of the interest. But the yesterday's rally of roughly 2,000 people was definitely interesting. No violence, but packed with creativity and sincere feelings about the leadership in America at this point in time. So I will let the photographs and the people who attended the "No Kings" rally speak for themselves.

This scene presented itself as we walked up the stairs of the west side of the capitol. The "For Sale" sign with Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and Fish and Wildlife Service up for sale to anyone who called the White House telephone number said volumes. Given New Mexico's history with these agencies, that seemed very creative.

But then, I turned my head and looked at the upside down poster underneath the sign. Not being able to find it online, I am wondering if it was a piece of original AI artwork created by someone in town. It is quite the statement.

After the news from Los Angeles this week, I was anticipating a poster that read "I am Alex Padilla." This one was close.

It is obvious that the artist who put this together spent a chunk of time pondering its construction. It is a bit hard to see, but pieces of the printed Constitution are used as the sails. All of the attached American flags are flying upside down, which is the symbol of distress, but he added a banner at the top which reads "Don't give up the ship." I dare say it reflects the sentiment of most of the people at this rally and of the 5,000,000 estimated rally attendees across the country.

The photographs below show the finest costumes of the day.

If you have the capability of increasing the size of the screen image, you might want to do that for the image below. There is a lot packed in here, including large puppets in the center of the shot in the sea of people.

This car was trying to head north on Old Santa Fe Trail, which was impossible at the point when I photographed it, as wall to wall people were marching to the Plaza.

Thanks to Steve, Barbara, Jean & Sam, Terry T. (who shot a great video on YouTube of the No Kings Rally in Taos, New Mexico), Bill & Sue, Orlando, and Ingrid for writing this week. Summer is heating up and one never knows what interesting things lie ahead, so keep your cameras and smart phones handy!

until next Monday,

a passion for the image©

Keywords: protest rallies, , Blacks Crossing Photography, capitols", Daryl A. Black, New Mexico, No Kings Rally, photography, Santa Fe, state

Comments

Fred Barraza(non-registered)

Glad to see this and the efforts people make to show that Morons Are Governing America right now.

Steve Immel(non-registered)

Beautifully captured and said, Daryl. There's endless creativity in the signs. The same was true at our rally in Taos which the Taos News called 1,500 strong. If so, that would be the largest gathering of any kind in our town of 6,500. Pretty amazing. While you were rallying in Santa Fe, we were rallying Taos, and our son was protesting in downtown LA. That's the American Way. Good to see the pathetic turnout for Trump's homage to Hitler and Stalin. All that was missing was jack booted goosestepping and Nazi salutes.

Terry Thompson(non-registered)

Nice work Daryl, you really captured the spirit of the event. And thanks for the comment on my video. It was a action packed hour and it looks like yours in Santa Fe was as well. Keep it up, his days are numbered!

TTT(non-registered)

Too bad we never connected
Glad u got the spray painted dunce man - definitely best costume!
I did espanola after SF, about 30 on Lowe’s corner w signs. Astounding positive honking waving response from passing cars

victoria(non-registered)

Daryl, thanks for being at the no kings march and documenting the wonderful work of the citizens!

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