Beyond the March: Sustaining Momentum After Historic No Kings Protests
Millions of Americans participated in the unprecedented No Kings protests on Saturday, with over 8 million people gathering across 3,300 locations nationwide. The demonstrations voiced opposition to the war in Iran, immigration enforcement practices, and perceived authoritarian tendencies within the Trump administration. Organizers have hailed it as the largest single-day protest event in United States history.
However, movement scholars and veteran activists emphasize that genuine social transformation requires more than a single day of mass mobilization. Lasting change, they argue, depends on sustained, multi-faceted activism operating at both local and national levels.
The Tapestry of Defiance
"No Kings was conceived to unite a cross-movement push against authoritarianism. And there is not one way to fight it," explained Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the Indivisible Project, the organization that founded the No Kings movement. "We see No Kings as part of a tapestry of defiance that is going on."
In recent years, Americans have employed a wide array of tactics to demand change. These include street rallies against federal immigration agents, consumer boycotts targeting corporations with perceived ties to the administration, and student walkouts protesting the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in schools.
Hahrie Han, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of Prisms of the People: Power and Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America, notes the critical role of diverse actions. "Protests build power by garnering attention and pulling people off the sidelines into action," Han stated. "Change is often a combination of people taking action through a variety of means and then leaders negotiating for power given the actions that people have taken."
Historical Precedents and Modern Applications
The history of American protest is rich and varied, offering a blueprint for contemporary movements.
- Occupation: Indigenous American activists have historically used occupations, such as the 19-month takeover of Alcatraz Island, to protest treaty violations and demand land sovereignty.
- Marches and Rallies: The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s immortalized street protests, including marches, freedom rides, and sit-ins. More recently, the Women's March in 2017 is credited with energizing the #MeToo movement and increasing women's political participation.
- General Strikes: Labor actions, like the first North American general strike in Philadelphia in 1835, demonstrate the power of coordinated work stoppages to win concessions on wages and working conditions. In January 2025, a national general strike in Minnesota protested federal immigration enforcement actions.
- Boycotts and Divestment: Economic pressure has long been a tool for change. "Don't Buy Where You Can't Work" campaigns in the 1930s created jobs for Black workers. In 2025, consumer boycotts impacted major corporations like Target, influencing corporate policy.
- Mutual Aid: Networks providing food, housing assistance, and childcare embody solidarity. These were vital during the HIV/AIDS crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and recent immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.
- Walkouts: Mass walkouts, such as the 1968 East Los Angeles student protests, amplify grievances. Students continue to use this tactic to voice opposition to issues like ICE presence in communities.
- Teach-ins: Popularized during the Vietnam War, teach-ins educate and mobilize. They re-emerged on college campuses in 2024 regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fostering awareness and debate.
Building on the Momentum
The true measure of the No Kings protests' success, according to organizers, will be whether participants transition into ongoing local organizing. This includes activities like know-your-rights trainings, legislative advocacy, and mutual aid projects.
"What we think is actually important are the ways in which these large-scale gatherings fuel ongoing organizing that might look like economic non-cooperation, local mutual aid organizing or legislative advocacy at the state or local level," Greenberg elaborated. "It's all connected if we do it right."
Hunter Dunn, an organizer with the grassroots group 50501, which co-founded No Kings, highlighted the current enthusiasm. "There's also enthusiasm for using protests as a launchpad to get people involved in local organizing—whether it's election defense with the midterms coming up, or immigrants' rights organizing or organizing against AI data centers."
Data from the Crowd Counting Consortium indicates that protest participation in 2025, the first year of Trump's second term, surpassed levels seen in 2017. This suggests a sustained and growing culture of public dissent.
The path forward, as illustrated by historical and contemporary examples, is not singular. It requires a persistent, adaptable, and multi-pronged approach to activism that extends far beyond the initial rallying cry heard in the streets.
