Missoula rally urges resistance, backs three school levies and local organizing

Speakers at a community rally in Missoula urged continued political pressure on elected officials, called for voters to approve three school levies on the ballot and promoted local organizing and a May 10 follow-up event, organizers said.

The event combined speeches, songs and poems, opened with a land acknowledgement and featured repeated chants of “Stop Trump,” as one speaker framed the gathering as both civic and cultural mobilization.

The rally drew residents, poets and musicians and included a land acknowledgment. “This rally is being held on the lands of the Salish and Kalispel people who have continuously inhabited [the area] since time immemorial,” speaker Ray Curtis said. Curtis, who identified himself as a historian and former government teacher, told the crowd they should keep pressing elected officials: “We have to stop Trump. Stop Trump. Stop Trump.”

Organizers and speakers urged voters to back three Missoula-area school levies that they said are on the ballot and pay for school staff and safety. An event organizer said, “There are 3 school levies right now that are really important. They're on the ballot.” The organizer described the levies as funding paraprofessionals, custodians, bus drivers, counselors and school nurses and said they also help keep students safe at school.

Speakers urged attendees to join local groups to sustain activity between rallies. An organizer encouraged people to connect with Missoula Resists, Missoula Indivisible and Stand Up Fight Back and to sign up at information tables. The same organizer announced a larger event planned for May 10 and asked attendees to follow the listed community groups for details.

Several poems and songs were performed during the program; speakers and performers repeatedly framed cultural expression as part of the civic effort. Organizers thanked volunteers and community partners for logistics; Alan Sasser Goner and Emmanuel Lutheran Church were credited for helping with sound.

Toward the end of the gathering, a candidate for Congress, Russ Cleveland, briefly identified himself to the crowd and said he was available to speak with attendees afterward. Event hosts closed with music and a reminder of upcoming dates and volunteer opportunities.

The rally contained no formal votes or official government actions. Speakers and organizers framed the gathering as a civic mobilization aimed at encouraging turnout on local levies and maintaining organized pressure on elected officials.