I went to a no kings protest in my very red, very rural area and there were hundreds of people. I expected like a dozen of us. Protestors filled the area on the side of the street we started on and people had to start filling in the other. We got nothing but honks of support and cheers from passing cars. It was such an amazing turnout and it was such a great experience.
I think this is an important part of protesting that goes overlooked by the “protests don’t immediately solve the problem” people. I’m in a very conservative area as well but when I protest I get more support than opposition. It helps other people realize that hey, maybe I’m not actually surrounded by people who are okay with this. Maybe there are actually a lot more of my neighbors who aren’t okay with things, and there’s actually hope that if I start acting up more, I’ll have support. Hope and morale are pretty important for resistance movements.
Honestly, just looking at the voting results in red area of my red state. Yes, 65% for Trump is a landslide, but that still means a third of my neighbors actively voted against him and all of the Republican cronies on the ballot.
But just looking around, you would never know it.
Having said that, going to the last two No Kings protests and seeing them in person was heartwarming.
It also helps you see some of your neighbors who are on your side
To put it into perspective, that’s around 2.3% of the whole US population.
Peaceful protests aren’t enough.
Diversified tactics are necessary in my opinion; for example, it wasn’t MLKs peaceful marches alone; the Black Panthers were a necessary part of the civil rights movement.
Fear goes both ways, the state doesn’t have a monopoly on it.
If peaceful protests worked then the US military would be holding hands on the Iranian border singing Kumbayah.
i knew donald trump was going to do fascist stuff as soon as he got into office but nobody believed at the time he was going to do so. people thought he was make the cost of living go down but he did the opposite
Here’s an idea, at the next protest help people register to vote make sure you keep your papers in order. In case if the government makes an effort to stop people from voting you have papers ready.
Yes it is important that the legislation fails, but it is better to be ready for all eventualities. Hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
have you been to a protest? they do this at like, every single one of them.
I have not been to a protest in the US. Over here you don’t have to register to vote, so that wouldn’t be a thing to do at a protest, but it’s good to hear that they are doing that over there.
From what I’ve seen this is already happening, along with other engagement drives like circulating petitions and recruiting for mutual aid or collecting aid donations. Those efforts can vary by location but it’s certainly not “just standing around with signs” like critics say.
Yeah, and all of that was hugely a thing at the no kings protest I was at
Some dude at the protest I attended had a petition signature sheet for ranked choice voting. He took time to calmly explain how RCV functioned to protestors who weren’t familiar with it. Wound up getting a lot of signatures once he brought up the costs of runoff elections on the taxpayer’s dime. Gotta know how to speak to your audience
Didn’t even know this was happening… I would have gone if I knew. How does one even get information on protests? They seem to be heavily suppressed.
It’s not too late to join - No Kings has more events coming up.
In the meantime, your wallet is your strongest voice in the eyes of this administration. Think carefully about where you spend your hard earned money. A single day of avoiding Walmart and Amazon is not meaningful if you give them your money tomorrow.
Find local businesses that deserve your money and spend your money with them instead. Buy less and buy better quality items that last longer. Reduce consumerism and give homemade gifts or experiences instead of more junk nobody needs. Use lending libraries, swap groups, and other methods to reduce your contribution to the economy, which is frankly the only thing your government cares about.
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I’m actually starting to have hope for the future of the Untied States
From a quick google search, USA population is ~341,784,857 as of July 1, 2025. 8M ±15% margin of error gives like ~2% of the population.
makes you wonder why french used guillotines when they couldve done just no kings protest
The French Revolution did not have a good ending. It ended with the first Nationalist Emperor in modern history: Napoleon.
I’m begging y’all to actually read some books.
It had long lasting effects tho
No kings does nothing, its funny how they organize it on sunday so their work week doesnt get disturbed lmao
It was on a Saturday.
Apparently the creation of the First French Republic, which abolished feudalism and monarchy, created a declaration of human and civil rights that was foundational for a century of liberal democratic revolutions all across Europe and is still celebrated today as a national holiday, wasn’t a good ending because the forces of reaction managed to get back in power for a few years. Unbelievable…
Maybe the first republic would have lasted longer if they dressed up in frog costumes?
Lol it didn’t abolish shit. Best check when it was formed and when France had it’s last monarch.
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Last year many articles were saying that if the protests hit 3% of the population Trump was done. Welp it’s happened, so what does his exit look like?
Otherwise this is performative bullshit while we need hard action.
First thing everyone in America can do is buy and learn how to safely use, and store a firearm. It won’t be the first line of action that should be taken, but it’s important for when they refuse to cede power and use violence against everyone.
More people need to be trained to defend themselves, and their freedoms.
Everyone forgot that there is a hidden big good function for protests more than just a good way to show unity
The hidden function is to enable people to be together so they can socialize, get to know each other, and brainstorm on what they can do together to make things better in some way. Brainstorming, doing, and collaborating united
Everybody in a protest getting things done is more effective than a protest where everyone is only just walking with signs
The mythical 3.5% rule is to keep protests peaceful, which only helps the oppresser
and your alternative to confronting the US police, military, and the several 10s of millions who voted for Trump in 2016, 2020, and 2024—and I suppose at least half of those who voted for Dubya—is …,?
“B-but it takes so much time and effort!! Don’t worry we’ll be able to do something after 5 more years of doing this once every 6-12 months on the weekends when businesses are closed. We can let him keep murdering people like every other president does in the meantime.”
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Are their demands concrete?
Have they escalated their tactics?deleted by creator
Let’s go for deathcamps next.
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Oh really? SimpleX me active ones.
3% of 320 million is like 9.6 million. I guess they needed another 1.6 million people before the world changes for them.
I’ve been using 3.5% of 335,000,000 million, which is 11,725,000. Figure 12,000,000.
This No Kings was about 8 million, which was bigger than last time. There are also millions of people at home that are committed to the end of MAGA, but won’t go to a protest.
We hit that 3.5% of committed resistance long ago.
Was anything achieved?
A guy drove by my local protest with a thumbs down and I got to call him a pedophile protector, which was very cathartic for me. I probably don’t need to do any more political action until the election now. /s
To be more optimistic, and entirely anecdotal, it was the largest protest in my town by far and there were many more young people present. The resistance is growing, and becoming more diverse.
Americans, even the ones who engage with the election cycle, have been politically sedentary since the civil rights movement in the 60s/70s. It takes some time and effort to wake people up to the fact that human rights are bought and continually paid for with blood, sweat, and tears. These protests are doing that. Single protests don’t solve problems on their own, but they are a necessary step to finding the solution. Take comfort that they continue to grow.
Furthermore it normalizes the people doing more direct action. Protests like these help bring the people forcibly resisting ice into the overton window. The current right wing strategy uses flooding the zone to control the narrative and create a feeling of helplessness. This is getting more and more people out and active and encouraging increasing involvement.
Single protests don’t solve problems on their own, but they are a necessary step to finding the solution.
I’m afraid these “protests” are holding back the next step by keeping people busy. Do the protests on a monday.
An edgy teenager got upset about it, apparently.
It takes 3.5% of the population to affect regime change. On Saturday 2.3% (8 million Americans) poured out into the streets, furious. How many more feel the same as them, but didn’t go for whatever reason? My guess is easily another couple million. That’s… That’s just about, to even more than 3.5% of the population of the United States.
In order to look at that mass mobilization, and come away with this level of dumbass comment… I mean. Wow. What kind of lead paint tastes best? I figure you’re the person to ask
So, who’s gonna vote both dems and reps out of power in favor for real regime change?
That’s right! Nobody.
Again, was anything achieved?
What have you achieved?
I asked the question first
So nothing, then. Got it.
Big whoop. 70Million voted for orange Shittler. 8million is nothing. Meaningless. Weekend protests are useless. The US needs to shut everything down.
Looking at your comment history I see you work tirelessly to destroy morale of activists and discourage Americans from taking any action. The maga regime thanks you for your support.
Americans are not doing enough. 70 million voted for this fash.
Protests have a lot of very concrete benefits besides just the signal. You meet people who are on your side and can form large and small networks. People internalize the political opinion and you have a shared experience to talk about later. You get pictures to use in campaigning. You maintain the practice of protesting. Etc.
It’s not just about counting the number.
Good luck then.
“Shutting everything down” would do untold harm to many low income people.
Riiight cause the for profit healthcare and for profit prison is so good for poor people.
/s
It isn’t! But “everything” is a wide net, and destroying it all would be indiscriminate in who it hurts.
