United Progressive Democrats leader Elizabeth Volz addressed the crowd at the Mullica Hill library to prepare for the Glassboro No Kings protest.
Peg Lyle (left) and Staci Greenberg made protest signs for the march, which was planned for March 28 in communities across the country.
A group of residents from several towns across Gloucester County met at the Mullica Hill library last month to plan for a No Kings protest that was to take place along Delsea Drive and Dalton Drive in Glassboro on March 28.
The protest by the United Progressive Democrats was expected to be among thousands around the country planned for the same date to protest the policies of President Donald Trump. Leading the county group is Elizabeth Volz, a longtime South Jersey resident and Rowan University professor who’s been challenging Trump and his policies since he was elected to his first term in 2016.
The United Progressive Democrats have more than 3,000 members on Facebook and are active in several counties, including Camden and Cumberland.
“There is one goal for this event,” Volz explained to the dozens in attendance at the library, “one big over-arching goal for this event. Every single person in America should know that No Kings happened at the end of it. They should drive past one, they should read about one, someone should mention it in the supermarket.
“There shouldn’t be anyone in this country that doesn’t know that this is happening.”
The library hosted male and female volunteers to discuss the logistics of the Glassboro march, conduct peacekeeper training and make protest signs. About 800 people had RSVPed for the local protest as of deadline. They were among 9 million who are expected to participate around the country.
Among those in attendance at the library was Kathy Innacone of Williamstown, who has not only been politically active since the 2016 election, but going back to the late 1960s and early ’70s. She helped organize the original United Progressive Democrats group with Volz after that election.
“That never ended, though it did calm down for a while thank goodness,” she noted. “Until the villain (Trump) was elected and when we first started this after the first election, it was almost like a self-help group. We just needed to be with other people who were going through the incredible heartache of what had happened.”
Families were also drawn into planning for the march, including mother and daughter Lisa and Becky Schaeffer of Woolwich Township.
“I’ve been involved with United Progressive Democrats since November 2024,” Lisa recounted. “I have been to at least six protests. Becky has been to three or four with me, and the main reason (I got involved) is to make sure that Becky, her generation, that they can have the future that they choose, versus the one the administration wants to choose for them.
“The reason we’re doing the No Kings protest is to show in numbers those of us who don’t like what’s happening, and numbers don’t lie,” she added. “What’s happening is not right and it’s not okay.”
The county group also discussed how to deal with potential counter-protesters. It wanted to ensure that the Glassboro protest would be a peaceful one.
“I will tell you that in my time as the moderator of our Facebook page, I have deleted more hateful comments from No Kings posts than from anything else,” Volz noted. “They are scared of this, and they should be. Because when it is visible, when there is a visual signal that the majority of Americans are not happy with what is going on in the White House, that is extremely powerful.”
