Saturday, March 28th: No Kings March
This Saturday, March 28th, we will join the No Kings Protest in Midtown Manhattan, which is shaping up to be the largest nonviolent protest in American history. RSVP here to join us!
It’s been over a year since President Trump took office—and in that time, his mass deportation agenda has torn families apart, taken lives, and inflicted lasting harm on our communities. In response to Trump’s authoritarianism, our communities are organizing and building people-based power like never before. Together, we are taking to the streets again to show our strength and say: NO KINGS.
History teaches us that people-powered movements are how we end authoritarianism. In America, we have NO KINGS, and power still belongs to the people. Can you join us in the streets this Saturday, March 28th? Register here.
There are now nearly 3,000 No Kings Day events happening across the country (including all over New York state. If you’re not able to join us in Manhattan, you can find a march or rally near you here.
Ahead of Saturday’s No Kings march, our members, interns, and staff joined a community art build led by Hands Off NYC at the Many Hands Workshop. It was a great time to be in the community together, making beautiful and powerful art for the upcoming No Kings march.
Check out this recap video of the art build and see photos below.
Our members and staff at the No Kings Community Art Build, 3.20.26
Our MSW interns, Katherine and Amira, at the Community Art Build, 3.20.26
If you have any questions about the upcoming No Kings protest or future art builds, please reach out to Melanie at melanie@katalcenter.org.
1st Death at Rikers under Mamdani & City Council Preliminary Budget Hearing for the DOC
Our organizing director, Melanie Dominguez, testifying at City Hall 3.25.26
Yesterday afternoon, news broke that Barry Cozart, 39-years-old, died while incarcerated at the George R. Vierno Center at Rikers Island. This is the first death at Rikers since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office. Here is the statement we put out in response to yesterday’s death.
Yesterday, the New York City Council Committee on Criminal Justice held a preliminary hearing on the budget for Fiscal Year 2027. Right now, the crisis at Rikers is worsening, the jail population is rising, and the closure plan remains off track. Yet the FY2027 preliminary budget allocates $2.99 billion to DOC, which represents a 5 percent increase. The Mamdani administration’s budget continues the status quo of increasing the budgets used to cage people while inadequately funding the programs and services proven to keep our communities safe and thriving without relying on incarceration. It also fails to provide a clear and reconfigured plan that provides a definite date for when Rikers will be closed.
See our written testimony here.
Here is a statement we issued after the budget hearing: “If the mayor is truly committed to shutting Rikers, the city budget should decrease the DOC’s budget and personnel costs to align with the closure plan and invest in proven solutions to safely reduce the jail population such as ATI’s, supervised release, JISH housing, IMT and FACT teams, B-HEARD mental health responses, and more. The City Council must also use its budgetary power to advance the closure of Rikers and hold the mayor accountable to the closure law.
We demand a budget for New Yorkers that will cut the jail population, shut down Rikers, and invest in real community safety, with housing, health care, including mental health care, education, and jobs.”
If you would like to get involved in our organizing efforts to shut Rikers, please contact Melanie at melanie@katalcenter.org.
Recapping Our Shut Rikers Zine Event
On Saturday March 14th, we hosted a Shut Rikers Zine-Making Event at our office in downtown Brooklyn. Together with our members, supporters, and staff, we assembled our zine – #ShutRikers: A Brief History of Political Graphics in 15 Stickers. The zine, created by Artist Josh MacPhee, traces the arc of reproducible political graphics over the past 100 years via a collection of 15 images that have been re-imagined as graphics mobilized to shut Rikers Island.
If you have any questions about the Shut Rikers Zine, please contact Yonah at yonah@katalcenter.org.
April Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call
Our next NY Statewide Criminal Justice Reform Call is Thursday, April 9th, at noon! Right now, the Senate and Assembly are in negotiations with the Governor on various issues around the FY26-27 Executive Budget. On our statewide call, we’ll spend extra time discussing what happened with the final budget (if it is passed by the 9th) and the latest updates from Albany. As usual, we’ll also hear from organizers and advocates leading criminal justice reform campaigns across the state.
Register to join us Thursday, April 9th, from noon to 1 p.m.
If you have any questions about the statewide call or would like to be a presenter, please contact Yonah at Yonah@katalcenter.org.
Inspiring Resistance This Week
-New story about Minnesotan rising engaging in civil disobedience and mass protests discussed how in minus-9 degree weather, Minnesota faith leaders, workers, and tens of thousands of supporters shut things down to protest ICE abductions and state violence. Read more about it here.
-After the Hudson River Park Trust confirmed that it will not cancel its contract with ICE that allows the agency to park its vehicles at Pier 40, dozens of New Yorkers crashed a public meeting to protest the decision. Read more about it here.
For more examples of resistance, check out Choose Democracy’s Resist List!
Quotes of the Week
“Were not here because there’s hope, there’s hope because we’re here!” – Protest sign from a previous No Kings march
“No Kings. No Fascots. No Tyrants. No Dictators.” Protest sign from a previous No Kings march
For printing and distribution, download the Katal Weekly Update PDF version.
Katal develops intergenerational leadership and organizing capacity to build community-based power and win systemic change for equity, health, and justice.
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Email: info@katalcenter.org
Phone: 646.875.8822.