“There are no kings in America” was first presented at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Meeting on July 9, 2019 in keeping with the poet laureate’s duty to open quarterly sessions with an original poem. It has since been published in Vox Populi (2020), poets.org (2022), and Poetry Foundation (2023).
In 2022, it was featured in the Academy of American Poets’ multimedia education project, Dear Poet, and selected by the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai as their official Independence Day poem.
In 2023, since its inclusion in the Poetry Out Loud program, the poem has been performed annually by high school students nationwide and featured at various public readings including the Gettysburg College Baccalaureate Service.
It circulated widely on social media following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision 603 U.S. 593, and on February 19, 2024, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth and New Mexico State Representative Joy Garratt each quoted lines from the poem in public statements. The poem has also been reproduced in postcards, placards, and other popular media.
On April 19, 2025, it was featured in a printmaking exhibition as part of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution in Concord, Massachusetts. In October, the National Endowment for the Arts made significant changes to the Poetry Out Loud program removing many works from the roster including “There are no kings in America.” That same month, Will Nixon photographed a woman at a protest in New York wearing the poem on her cape.
Aileen Cassinetto 
