What good is a protest?
Here is why we turn out.
TL;DR: Protest works! Join our next protest, “Good Trouble Lives On,” on July 17 from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. More info coming soon!
The turnout on June 14 was beyond our wildest dreams, and even more important than the size of the crowd was the size of the LOVE. We know you felt it too because we’ve heard from you. We’ve heard from people who attended their first protest ever, from people in their 80s and from children who wrote “No Kings!” in chalk on the sidewalk, from people who are scared, from people who are furious, and from people who are trying to hold on to hope.
But what good does a protest do really? If you’ve wondered or been asked:
A protest shows that we as individuals are not alone in our belief that Trump and his Republican enablers are doing terrible damage to our country and its people. And that even in Alabama, there are THOUSANDS of people (more than 15,000 statewide, in fact) who will show up and stand up to a would-be dictator. Our neighbors see us, our elected representatives see us, the world sees us. Here’s a quote from the nationwide No Kings debrief call on Monday night: “We make VISIBLE that Trump’s agenda is deeply unpopular.”
A protest pushes back against NORMALIZING law-breaking, corruption, contempt for court orders, cruelty, overreach, and incompetence and recklessness. Trump’s behavior is not within the normal bounds of political action (or of human decency), and the actions of those in his cabinet and his orbit are not normal either. It’s important to say so, loudly and often.
A protest invites anyone who has been waffling, maybe someone who didn’t vote, someone who is disappointed with the Democrats, maybe even someone who voted for Trump, to join us. To say they made a mistake, that they didn’t expect it to be like this exactly, that they realize now that they were lied to—and to be welcomed into the fold. This is controversial, we know, and there are some who are not ready to forgive. But we are building the opposition, and we need everyone we can get. Also: there is no one quite so fervent as a convert! Welcome, former MAGA! We have something productive for you to do with your rage.
A protest brings us together! We see people we didn’t expect to see at the protest, we make new friends, we form community and coalition, and we leave the protest with the connections we need to do the work BEYOND the protest.
A protest makes us feel less helpless. Honestly, if this was ALL a protest did, it would still be worthwhile. We are not home alone doom-scrolling, we are not tuning out because it’s just all too awful, we are not GIVING UP ON THIS COUNTRY just because she is currently held hostage by a madman. When history writes this story, we can say we were there! We came out. We PROTESTED the loss of something precious. We refused to let our beloved democracy die.
We can also never forget: protest earned women the vote! It earned civil rights! The Stonewall Uprising launched the gay rights movement. Protest opposed and helped to end the war in Vietnam. People protested and mourned the murder of George Floyd across the whole world, and the murderer went to prison.
Protest and public attention did what the courts could not seem to do, and got Kilmar Abrego Garcia released from a torture prison in El Salvador and returned to the United States. The Tesla Takedown protests have tanked the value of Elon Musk’s company, and helped to drive Musk out of government. Sustained non-violent resistance, of which protest is an integral part, WORKS.
So what’s next? On Thursday, July 17, we will honor the memory of John Lewis, himself a master protester, in a national protest with the theme of “Good Trouble Lives On.” Yes, Thursday is a work day for most of us, so we’ll gather from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m., location and details to come.
Thank you, fellow protesters! We will see you in the streets!
If you prefer to make a one-time contribution, you can do so here:
It's a shame the protest is not on a Saturday. More people would be able to attend.