Even in divided times, we have a lot to celebrate.

One of the first things the government of the United States of America did, back in 1791, was to ratify the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment laid out a vision for a public and a government that could freely disagree: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Two-hundred-thirty-four years later, as this Fourth of July approaches, people are still embodying these principles, which are as important as ever because they are under threat. In June, President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to quell protests in Los Angeles, and that action prompted more protesters, by the thousands, to come out to oppose the federal government’s actions.

This is patriotism in action – not only recognizing but exercising our First Amendment right. Like any muscle, it gets stronger with repetition. The good news is that local organizers are also flexing their First Amendment muscles.

On June 14, thousands of people protested locally under the banner of No Kings (a message that’s as patriotic as it gets). It was an unprecedented turnout for protests in recent memory. Among the protesters in Monterey I spoke with that day was Page McDonald of Carmel, who’d been to protests before, but that day – with a gathering just hours after a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband were assassinated – felt different, she said. “Everything feels much more dire,” she told me.

Whatever your politics and whether or not you agree, there is something energizing about seeing a throng of people crowd both sides of a street, spanning a half-a-mile, to make themselves heard – this is America, where people can do that. That alone is something to celebrate this Independence Day.

But some protesters I spoke to were also left wondering: What next? Showing up on the street with a sign is one thing. But who’s reading that sign, and do they care? The president, it seems, surely does not.

I was particularly curious about a sign that urged people to call U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Carmel Valley, and listed his office phone number. I asked Rosmarie Heinz of Carmel Valley what she wanted Panetta to hear. “I know he’s been verbal but I wish he put more emotion into it,” she told me.

I asked what she thought people should say to Panetta if they take her up on her suggestion to call – her answer is, really anything. She’s pushing for reengagement with democratic governance as much as a specific issue.

She’s taken lately to calling higher-ups, specifically House Speaker Mike Johnson, thinking it’s time to “go to the top.” “I called once and told him he has no backbone,” Heinz says. Next up, she’ll be calling Johnson to let him know what she thinks of the One Big, Beautiful Bill (in short: not beautiful at all).

As Heinz was describing her strategy to me as we stood on the sidewalk, a man approached, seemingly ready to engage her, but instead just launched into a litany of grievances about Panetta and the federal government in general.

“That guy, Panetta, he really ignored the disaster in Moss Landing,” he said. “The people are being gaslit. Same with vaccines. People have Stockholm Syndrome… Kamala Harris wasn’t voted for. [Panetta] is not my representative.”

Before Heinz had a moment to respond, he walked away, lecture complete. It seemed to encapsulate perfectly the split-screen reality in America – one in which everything is a conspiracy, another in which the old-fashioned democratic process of direct engagement still works.

Perhaps even more elemental, it seems the old-fashioned art of conversation barely works these days in a divided America. So I was intrigued when debriefing with Salinas activist and teacher Heidi Towne about No Kings. Her call to action is talking to regular people in regular places, like neighbors at the store – hers is less a message for people in power than just people. “I want people to be informed and not be scared,” she says. “I am concerned about the apathy out there.”

The remedy for apathy is engagement. And that means keeping our First Amendment muscles in shape.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com.