Historic No Kings Protests Mark Beginning, Not End, of Movement
More than 8 million Americans participated in 3,300 No Kings protests across the nation on Saturday, creating what organizers describe as the largest single-day protest event in United States history. The massive demonstrations called for an end to the war in Iran, removal of immigration agents from communities, and resistance against what participants perceive as Donald Trump's growing authoritarian tendencies during his second presidential term.
Beyond the Single-Day Demonstration
While the scale of participation broke records, movement scholars emphasize that genuine social transformation requires sustained effort beyond a single day of protest. "No Kings was conceived to unite a cross-movement push against authoritarianism," explained Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, which founded the No Kings movement. "There is not one way to fight it. We see No Kings as part of a tapestry of defiance that is going on."
Political scientist Hahrie Han from Johns Hopkins University, author of "Prisms of the People: Power and Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America," noted that "protests build power by garnering attention and pulling people off the sidelines into action. Historically, across different movements, change often results from people taking action through various means, followed by leaders negotiating for power based on those actions."
Diverse Tactics for Sustained Impact
The past year has witnessed Americans employing multiple strategies to demand change. When federal agents entered Los Angeles and Chicago, street rallies erupted with calls for "ICE Out!" Consumers initiated boycotts against Target, Tesla, and Amazon to protest corporate ties to the Trump administration. Students organized walkouts to oppose ICE presence in schools and communities.
Han highlighted Minnesota activists as a successful example, noting their 2023 achievements in passing progressive legislation including paid family and medical leave and driver's licenses for undocumented residents. "It's one of the most generous social safety nets in the country," Han observed. "Organizers combined grassroots energy with institutional politics through multiracial coalitions, legislative strategizing, and negotiation."
Measuring Success Through Ongoing Engagement
No Kings organizers define success not by attendance numbers alone, but by whether participants commit to ongoing community organizing. "What we think is actually important are the ways in which these large-scale gatherings fuel ongoing organizing," Greenberg emphasized. This might include economic non-cooperation, local mutual aid organizing, or legislative advocacy at state and local levels.
Hunter Dunn, an organizer with grassroots group 50501 which co-founded No Kings, reported unprecedented enthusiasm for using protests as "a launchpad to get people involved in local organizing—whether it's election defense with the midterms coming up, immigrants' rights organizing, or organizing against AI data centers."
Historical Protest Methods That Shaped America
Traditional Street Protests and Marches
The most recognizable form of protest remains the street demonstration, immortalized through civil rights movement marches, freedom rides, and sit-ins during the 1950s and 1960s. Recent years have seen numerous mass protests including March for Our Lives (2018), Black Lives Matter demonstrations following George Floyd's killing (2020), and now the No Kings protests. Data from the Crowd Counting Consortium indicates more people protested in 2025, Trump's second term's first year, than in 2017, his first term's initial year.
Labor Actions and General Strikes
Labor unions have a rich protest history in the United States, particularly through strikes and work stoppages demanding better conditions. The first North American general strike occurred in 1835 Philadelphia, where 20,000 workers across 40 sectors successfully demanded 10-hour workdays and fairer wages through rallies, parades, and newspaper campaigns.
In January 2025, after federal immigration agents killed Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, organizers called for a national general strike of "no school, no work, and no shopping" to protest federal agent presence and brutality. Thousands participated in Minnesota protests, hundreds of businesses closed, and work stoppages occurred across multiple sectors with union support.
Economic Pressure Through Boycotts
Boycotts represent another powerful protest method, involving refusal to purchase products or engage with services to create punitive pressure for change. During the 1930s, Black Americans led "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" campaigns in northern cities, creating jobs for Black workers during the Depression through boycotts and picketing outside white-owned businesses in Black neighborhoods.
Related divestment campaigns have also proven effective. In 1985, UC Berkeley students demanded university divestment from South Africa to protest apartheid, leading rallies, teach-ins, and encampments that ultimately pressured the University of California board of regents to divest $3 billion from companies with South African ties the following year.
Community Support Through Mutual Aid
Operating under a solidarity ethos, mutual aid networks gather resources—food, housing assistance, childcare—to support community members. During the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, LGBTQ+ groups developed care networks for vulnerable community members. Coronavirus pandemic response saw local organizations help low-income families, frontline workers, and immunocompromised people through grocery delivery programs.
During Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis in January 2025, when 3,000 ICE agents killed two residents and arrested hundreds, mutual aid networks became vital for distributing food, money, and diapers to immigrant families sheltering in place.
Educational and Workplace Actions
Walkouts represent another impactful protest method, particularly for students and employees expressing disapproval through collective absence. The 1968 East Los Angeles Walkouts saw 15,000 students protest educational disparities between white American and Mexican American students, becoming one of history's largest student protests despite organizer arrests and rejected demands.
Teach-ins represent educational protest forms where activists lecture movement participants about causes, opening debate and discussion to raise awareness. Popularized during the Vietnam War, the first teach-in at the University of Michigan in 1965 attracted 3,500 students and faculty, boosting the national anti-war movement. Teach-ins regained popularity on college campuses in 2024 during Israel's bombing of Gaza following Hamas' attack.
As No Kings protesters return home from historic demonstrations, the movement's ultimate success will depend on translating Saturday's energy into sustained, diverse actions that maintain pressure for change through multiple channels and strategies.
