An hour before the start of the No Kings rally, the commies set up shop in Daley Plaza.

The Revolutionary Communists of America has a 45-member cell in Chicago. They raised a hammer and sickle flag, unfolded a table, and covered it with literature: copies of their newspaper, The Communist, the Communist Manifesto, and How Marxists Use Bourgeois Elections. The communists don’t believe in God — their founder, Karl Marx, called religion “the opiate of the masses” — but they do believe in evangelism. Daley Plaza was about to be filled with tens of thousands of left-leaning Trump haters, so it seemed like a perfect day to convert a few to the cause of worldwide, working-class revolution. 

The No Kings march was not a communist movement, but the communists were one of many special interest groups who claimed a place in it and attempted to use it to recruit followers to their cause. The march became a Leftistpalooza: for communism, socialism, and a few other less expansive, less controversial movements.

“Not everyone is willing to fight the system, but there is a good chunk of the audience,” said Revolutionary Communist member Samir Qaisar. “We believe we shouldn’t have kings. We believe we shouldn’t have an oligarchy, and a billionaire president. We want to build a worker’s government. We also need to get rid of the oligarchy and the capitalist class.”

I bought a copy of the RCA’s newspaper. The front page headline: “Capitalism Is Dying, Prepare for Revolution.” It cost five dollars. 

“Union labor is expensive under capitalism,” a Communist told me.

I didn’t have any cash on me, so I paid by Zelle, through my Chase bank account — as capitalist a transaction as I could imagine. The workers’ paradise isn’t here yet.

There was a time, during the Cold War, when communists were seen as subversive and un-American, when their presence would have discredited the No Kings rally. Now, since the fall of the Soviet Union, they seemed more like an innocuous club. One Communist wore hammer and sickle earrings. Another had a hammer and sickle tattoo on their shoulder. 

“I got it on May Day, in Philadelphia” said Maddie J. “I stepped off a plane, met my comrades, listened to Bernie, and marched through the streets.”

Not too far away from the Revolutionary Communists was another cell, this one calling itself Chicago Socialist Alternative. Scattered on their table were International Marxism magazine, and the books France 1968: Lessons of the General Strike, and Socialist Feminism and the New Women’s Movement. They wanted a $15 donation for a newspaper. I’d already given the Commies a fin. I haven’t prospered enough in this capitalist society to throw that kind of money around.

“We’re 50 and growing,” said Socialist Zack Jackson. “Despite our small numbers, we punch above our weight.”

Unlike the Communists, the socialists are willing to work within the system, rather than trying to overthrow it. One of their members sat on the Seattle City Council. They collaborated with the democratic socialists on the Chicago City Council to co-sponsor an Inauguration Day protest, but they won’t run candidates as Democrats, because “we think they will always be hostile to our movement.” They’re current cause is a one-day general strike, which they believe is the only way to challenge capitalism.

“If we want to take on the right wing, it has to be economic,” Jackson said. He paused to buy a package of Oreos from a migrant woman carrying a baby on her back, one of several such peddlers circulating through the crowd. “Our end goal is to have a government run by the working class.”

Some of the buttons on the Socialist Alternative Table: Capitalism Sucks, Queer Liberation Not Rainbow Capitalism, Mass Struggle for Palestinian Liberation and Socialism. I asked Jackson what the war in Gaza had to do with the No Kings march.

“The ability for Israel to continue its assault on Gaza and now Iran is predicated on the United States sending arms to Israel,” he said. “If we’re going to be a united working class we have to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Iran who are being assaulted by this regime.”

Not every group bringing its message to the No Kings march had designs to reorder society. Kyle Lucas and Tasnim Tanveer were holding a sign that read “Talk To Me About Transit Service Cuts.” I talked to them about transit service cuts.

“There’s a lot of people from all over the region who got here on public transportation, so it’s a good opportunity to ask them to pass the bill,” said Lucas.

That would be a bill providing $1.5 billion in revenue to public transit in Illinois. It’s currently stalled in the General Assembly. If it doesn’t pass, he said, 3,000 transit workers will be laid off and the Chicago Transit Authority will have to eliminate 74 bus routes.

And then there was the Chicago Teachers Union, without which any mass movement is incomplete. Its members were marching a banner declaring “Millions Can Afford to Fully Fund All Schools.” If you’re just about any left-leaning organization, an anti-Trump rally offers a great opportunity to spread your message.

“In general, we’re opposed to the Trump Administration’s attack on public education and public service,” said CTU vice president Jackson Potter. “And the criminalization of dissent like we saw in Los Angeles.”

As the march got underway, headed north on Dearborn Street, I snapped a photo of another Revolutionary Communists table. Seeing my phone, one of the members raised his fist. Behind him, I saw a hammer and sickle flag floating above the slowly-flowing crowd.