Gallery • 3 Photos

Donated by: Adia Smith

No Kings protest in New York City, New York, had posters featuring colors and messages for people to read.

America was founded on a few core tenets, with the most famous being the American right to protest and speak freely. It’s the First Amendment. The most basic and prized right held in the nation. Recently, it’s been needed more than ever amid the widespread “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump and his administration. 

The first protest was on June 14th, with over 5 million participants across 2,000 rallies in all 50 states. More recently, a second protest was held on Oct. 18th, with over 7 million protestors in attendance. However, do these protests have any effect? 

Throughout South Florida, tens of thousands of people gathered in multiple cities, holding signs, banners, and chanting. Hollywood saw around 2,000 people gather from around 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to march through the town and spread their voices, while around 5,000 did the same in Miami. It wasn’t just the large cities that held protests either; protesters gathered just a few miles away from Trump’s private residence at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

The event is widely regarded as a massive success, with unprecedented amounts of support for the No Kings movement shown on the 18th, but many people still doubt that just protesting will bring about change. 

Despite the staggering number of people protesting against the Trump administration, the government isn’t changing anything. In fact, Trump has only doubled down on his inflammatory remarks since posting an AI-generated video of himself flying a fighter jet titled “King Trump” and pouring feces on the faces of protestors, which were taken from actual photos of the rallies. 

However, it isn’t about changing the mind of the Trump administration. They won’t suddenly shift policies or resign from office, but protesting does let others know that there’s support. The Trump administration operates on isolation and alienation, whether it be of immigrants, Latinos, LGBTQ, or any of the other groups targeted by MAGA-led legislation; taking to the streets to protest the gross injustices taking place in the country brings together the oppressed and serves as a reminder that the American people do not take kindly to authoritarianism. 

Even then, precedent shows that protests like these do have a tangible effect. Studies show that when about 3.5% of a population protests nonviolently, they’re statistically likely to succeed in bringing about political change. 

Erica Chenoweth’s 3.5% rule is supported by numerous successful peaceful protests and their outcomes worldwide. The No King’s Day protest in October had around 2% of the entire U.S. population out of their homes and on the streets protesting—that’s one in every 50 people actively at a protest. Should just another 1.5% join the bandwagon in the next one, actual change will be within reach. 

While it’s true that the Trump administration won’t lay down and surrender because of these rallies, protests do plenty for the American people. With the October No Kings protest being the largest nonviolent protest in American history, it’s certainly nothing to scoff at. These protests do have tangible effects on the world, and they would have an even greater impact should you be among them next time around.