I had a conversation yesterday with a friend who was worried that protesting was meaningless – that nothing changed afterward.
After yesterday’s No Kings protests, there are two points of view I want to share – first, this piece from MSNow.
The No Kings protests that took place across the country this weekend were massive. These demonstrations continue to drive home how Trump’s presidency is not only unpopular, but unpopular in a manner that infuriates and mobilizes people. But something is missing, writes Zeeshan Aleem. There is an absence of friction. The contained and routine choreography of these demonstrations every few months is central to their mass appeal, and, paradoxically, it is also what limits their power. Americans interested in using collective action to push back against Trump’s authoritarian agenda will need to show more ambition and creativity to move the dial.
In other words, protest, in and of itself, won’t get you where you want to get.
The second is Tim Snyder’s 1 minute explanation for why joining the protests matters: substack.com/@snyder/no…
Protests
- change the atmosphere;
- they change the sense of what’s normal;
- show people who aren’t protesting that others see what’s wrong, see a different future – maybe they’ll come along next time;
- they’re a first step toward working with other people;
- because protesting build coalitions, and coalitions win elections – they help people make the connections with the ongoing work needed to organize the vote
(That’s my synopsis of Snyder’s brief video)
In other words, protests set the stage for bringing people together to set up the work that needs to follow.
This just in from Joyce Vance:
The national protests are that first step toward pushing against trump’s authoritarian agenda; No Kings is the immediate face of the growing coalition that knows it now must turn its efforts to organizing for the November elections – if you read the newsletters from 50501 and Indivisible, for example, you see they understand what they have to do next!
Some people have suggested these marches are meaningless. But that is not true. Today, we put Donald Trump and his cronies on notice that we are coming for them at the ballot boxes and that we understand how this democracy works and who holds the power. By showing up, we show that we are not afraid. That we will jump through whatever hoops they put in front of us to vote. Be wary of anyone who tries to convince you that people like us aren’t powerful in a democracy—it smacks of trolls, or worse.
I’ve heard from many people this week expressing sentiments similar to what one Civil Discourse reader wrote to me today: “We sense some of the Republican voters in our area are beginning to grasp, and question, the costs of their loyalty.” Courage is contagious, and we spread it by showing up today and continuing to push for democracy.
In Freeport, Maine, where I was, we saw children, teenagers, and young people lining Main Street in increasing numbers as the morning drew on. I hear that’s the case across the country. Young people engaged, fired up, marching. We need more of them!
And I guess a final word to Michael Cohen:
Yesterday was loud. It was visible. It was, in many ways, inspiring.
But if it does not translate into ballots, into turnout, into sustained pressure, it becomes just another moment. Another headline. Another day where people felt good about showing up before going back to a system that continues, largely unchanged.
Still, I walked away from 7th Avenue with something I did not expect. A cautious sense of optimism.
Not because everything is fine. It is not. Not because the system suddenly fixed itself. It did not. But because people showed up. In massive numbers. For different reasons. With different grievances. But with a shared understanding that something is not right.
And sometimes, that is where change begins.
jmn 