Read the press release about our No Kings Event
Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley
Stand Up for the “Least of These” in Newton
Hickory, NC, Mar. 28, 2026 –Today in Newton, Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley held one of more than 3,200 No Kings protests around the nation and world. More than 1,300 people, according to volunteer crowd counters, gathered in front of the Catawba County Justice Center to hear about the harms being done to the least of these by the Trump regime.
Leadoff speaker Beth Brandes outlined the hardships so many residents in Catawba County face as they struggle to pay rent and put food on the table. In a talk that highlighted the needs of so many neighbors, Brandes said, “North Carolina still has a minimum wage of $7.25/hr., which has been the same since 2009. In Catawba County, 1 in 5 children lives below the federal poverty level which is $33,000 for a family of four. That’s $634 a week before taxes. Over half, or 55 percent, of the children in our public schools qualify for free or reduced lunch.”
Peg Hites, parent and disability rights advocate, spoke on behalf of our disabled neighbors and said, “We are here together to stop this federal funding destruction being led by a man who sees disability as weakness. A man who mocks a disabled reporter and a Governor with dyslexia. We will call and canvas and vote and rally and protest every cut to SNAP benefits, every dismantling of the Office of Special Education, and every reduction of SSI (Supplemental Security Income) benefits … the only acceptable path forward is love and inclusion.”
Rev. Leo Jones-Morton, president of Catawba Valley Pride, said, “The fight for LGBTQIA+ dignity is not separate from racial justice. It is not separate from disability rights. It is not separate from economic justice. Because injustice has always traveled in packs. But so does solidarity. That is why we are here. Because we love democracy. And we do not bow to kings.”
In her spirited keynote address about our struggling neighbors, Rev. Dr. Hanna Broome said, “That is why we center today not on the powerful, but the vulnerable. Not the already-protected, but the already-burdened. Not the celebrated, but the overlooked. What some traditions call ‘the least of these,’ we name here as those whose lives are most exposed to the cost of public neglect: the poor, the sick, the working class, the immigrant, the elder, the child, the disabled, the unhoused, the imprisoned, the forgotten.”
In his closing, Rev. Gavin Gabriel of Sherrills Ford, called the crowd to continue to act, to protest, and to vote. “This isn’t just about policies; it’s really about people who call the United States of America home.”
Other speakers included Rabbi Dennis Jones, Rev. Reggie Longcrier, and Alex Tenjhay.
ICCV is a non-partisan grassroots organization working to uphold the U.S. Constitution, reclaim our democracy, and through its mutual-aid efforts help provide for “the least of these.”
