More than 3,100 anti-authoritarian protests are scheduled across the US and at least 15 other countries on Saturday. All these events will take place under a single banner: No Kings.
Formally launched in June to fight back against Trump administration policies, the No Kings movement has grown with astonishing speed – its second and most recent mass protest in October drew an estimated 7 million participants. Organizers expect Saturday’s events to be the biggest protest in American history.
But the movement is also leaderless, broad in cause and hasn’t advanced any policy demands. Some social movements experts recognize No Kings’ momentum but question if it needs clearer goals.
“There’s not any one way to get people into a movement. You want to have as many doors open as possible because you have to reach people wherever they are,” said Hahrie Han, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University and the co-author of Prisms of the People: Power & Organizing in Twenty-First-Century America. “The bigger challenge is, once they’re there, how do you keep them there, and then how do you channel that engagement in collective ways?”
But organizers say they are aware of such critiques and that these choices are all by design.
“The name No Kings is, in and of itself, a demand. It is a direct repudiation of this administration, of this regime, of its unconstitutional, illegal, immoral and frankly profane actions,” said Hunter Dunn, an organizer with the 50501 movement, one of the groups behind No Kings. “It’s a declaration of intent that we are going to return power back to the people.”
Probably the best thing about these events, for me, is that I’ve learned that there are hundreds of like-minded people in my rural area and that I’m not alone in this. Living in this area, it feels like I’m surrounded by nothing by MAGA conservatives and there’s no room for dissenting opinions. But it’s simply not true. They’re just the ones who’ve been loudest all these years, but that’s changing.
Sitting in front of a screen and complaining about what’s going on while also disparaging those trying to do something about it – 100% ineffective, 100% counter productive.
When hundreds of people are showing up in public across thousands of small towns around the country, that’s people learning they aren’t alone. That’s people making new friends. That’s people actually getting involved and organizing. And that’s not to mention, this is happening in all the major cities as well.
In a way, the demands of the movement are on ourselves, the people attending these events. It comes down to making ourselves responsible for learning how to organize, engaging in political speech, and to normalize exercising our constitutional rights. This is all new to large numbers of people attending these events, so it’s a learning experience for a lot of us.
And besides, I think of it this way…
Let’s say November rolls around and the president decides to interfere with the elections or he tries to invalidate the elections. What’s got a better chance of successfully resisting? A scared and disorganized population that’s never organized and/or attended a protest and isn’t prepared for what that entails? Or a populace that’s done this a few times already in recent history, that’s built up support, knows how to organize, knows who to contact, and one who is actively engaged? In this life, there are no guarantees, but if I had to put my money on one of those two, I’m choosing the the latter.
💯 and a couple tips:
-
You can talk to other people at protests. It’s okay to ask political questions, but also just simple stuff like what brought you out here? What are you most upset about? Not everyone is there for the same reason and it is fascinating to listen to answers and you might make connections that will be valuable when shit goes down.
-
Say you’re in a liberal city. Are your local leaders going to the protest? Ask them! What could be more beneficial than having people with actual political power on your side in attendance?
Some of the best parts is meeting new people and talking. Im sorta ambivalent about political figures. Would prefer if they would just show up in the crowd and march without announcing their prescence.
Yeah I don’t expect or often want a leader to give a stump speech or the like. Just take the time and show face like everyone else there.
yeah the pomp and circumstance in general annoys me. I will say the last one did have some good speakers from grassroots groups. Its like lets skip all the “celebraties” and hear from folk actually doing things on the ground. Our govenor is a good speaker though so sorta like his speech. I remember something being said at the last one and I said “phrasing” and someone close by laughed.
Yeah, these are my supposedly the most political people around and yet few feel a compilation to join a flagship gathering of people from their party. There were a couple electeds at the last one that I only found out about after the fact. But only a couple in a very blue area.
-
Exactly. Doomers need to take a back seat while the grown ups are demonstrating.
People saying saying things like “we need tangible action” are just veiled attempts to damage the movement.
Large-scale nationwide protests are tangible action, for reasons other commenters have already mentioned. Sure, maybe they won’t solve all our problems overnight. Nothing will. But they build and sustain the momentum that we need if we’re ever going to overcome this. Without that, we have nothing.
Living in this area, it feels like I’m surrounded by nothing by MAGA conservatives and there’s no room for dissenting opinions.
They aren’t afraid of showing who they are, because they believe (incorrectly) that they are in the majority.
They aren’t afraid of showing who they are, because they believe (incorrectly) that they are in the majority.
Just had a conversation with someone at the airport who was talking to the people around him about the state of things and how we need to be better as a society, have to push back and overcome the worst of us screaming their way to the top.
I thanked him for saying things that needed saying in public and out loud for all to hear. I old him if we all can keep it up we’ll drive these chuds back to the rocks they were hiding under.
We need tangible action.
I mean these are good places to meet people who agree on taking tangible action.
Speaking for the protests in my area, organizers used them as a way to get people to sign up for local community action groups.
When ICE was deployed in our town a few weeks later, those email and phone lists triggered trainings, neighborhood watch signups, and a bunch of other shit.
My guess is that the good no kings events will be used in a similar way this week. Once people are gathered, organizers will use the opportunity to sign people up for more tactical stuff. ICE watching, election watching, door knocking, etc.
Oh look. The same attack they used against Occupy Wall Street. Expect it to be repeated until its accepted wisdom.
Exactly. They’re just frustrated because it’s too loose for them to make a good target out of.
Can you be more precise please. What attack is the same?
The “what are they even protesting?” attack that is repeated no matter how many times you’re told.
These protests are a place for organizing and networking.
But what’s really being danced around is “Why are there not politicians converting this movement into effective policy?”
And we all know that the power brokers and leaders of the political parties are being paid to ignore them and keep it a leaderless and rudderless movement. We saw the exsct same thing with Occupy Wall Street and thst resulted in lobbyists codifying their bribery into law.
Also a great place for AI drones to harvest endless information
Where do you see this happening? Or are you just fear mongering?
Stingrays have been around for ages, I have to imagine there are more sophisticated versions. We know ICE is using apps developed by Palantir. Usually “fear mongering” only applies to unreasonable fears.
If I were going to one of these, I’d leave my phone at home, or keep it in a Faraday bag.
Stingrays are way more real than “ai drones collecting information”. I don’t like the fear mongering when there are actual issues at protests. The only way to keep yourself safe is to know the real issues at play.
Also, leaving your phone at home is a tangible defense to the problem, I agree with you completely. Burner phones are also an option.
Uh oh, Citizen, prepare for our pleasant Thought Reprocessing Ray™ at some random point during the day!
I don’t see ICE arresting anyone around me. Stop fear mongering.
I asked you to show me an example? I’ve seen examples of ICE being pieces of shit.
do they need clearer goals?
They need more persistence and more frequency.
1day protests every 4 or 5 months isn’t putting pressure on anyone.
Peaceful protests do not put pressure on anyone. They don’t achieve anything except showing public support for a cause.
Unless protests turn into more direct forms of action such as blockades or riots, nothing will happen.
Have half the country not work for the next 3 months.
You’ll see change.
Tbh I think they really only slowed down because it was the absolute dead of winter.
If the weather is enough to stop protests, the country is more cooked than I thought.
These protests are an important part of the process. At least one commenter in this thread mentioned that seeing people out there encouraged them to participate more.
And discussions online are also an important part of the process. The discussions online are what led to the protests being organized.
These protests need to lead to discussions of concrete goals - what they should actively accomplish, otherwise they will fizzle out like the Wall Street protests in years past.
And people should see the groundswell of support and run for local office, run for regional office, for state, for national office. Get the experience and take over the government at all levels. Take our country back from fascism.
So all of it is important. Do what you can at every level. Fight against misinformation and fascist propaganda. Get out on the street if you’re able. Run for office if you’re able. Support those running for office. Participate in discussions about concrete goals.
All of it matters.
The similarity to the wall street protests is exactly what comes to mind for me. At a certain point you need actionable goals and them to be clearly known.
Yes, just like after raising awareness in people (by talking about it online, for example), you need to at some point have concrete action like getting protests going. And yes, very much, we need to work towards the next steps with the protests.
A hugely important aspect is to put your money where your mouth is. Vote with your wallet - this administration cares about you more as a consumer than as a citizen.
Be mindful of where you spend your dollars. Shop with local businesses that deserve your money. Single day boycotts of giants like Amazon and Walmart aren’t helpful if you’re just going to show up tomorrow and buy from them anyway. Find alternatives and really consider who will be benefitting from every dollar you have to spend.
Pay in cash. Use local swap or buy nothing groups. Try lending libraries and second hand stores. Give homemade gifts and baked goods instead of store bought presents. Go without. We have been conditioned to live our lives laden down with so much stuff, and truly so many occasional use items don’t need to be owned by every individual household.
“No Kings” - Sounds like a clear goal to me. Excuse me now while I get ready 🇺🇸
The only thing that’s going to get their attention is a general strike. As long as Frank Freeway is more worried about getting fired than he is about what kind of society we’re going to live in, that’s not going to happen.
Large protest gatherings are a demonstration that there are enough people out there who are also pissed off that a general strike could be feasible. They don’t make it happen, there’s still further steps, but you don’t get to the general strike in a country with so few politically inclined unions without the protests paving the way.
This pretty much sums up my thoughts, protesting is nice however what people really care about is money so if you disrupt the flow of income then maybe something will happen
No Kings
Seems like a pretty clear goal to me.
No billionaires or AIPAC is better
Go to the protests: you’ll see them all.
There’s room for everyone.
That’s a problem, no? OWS failed because it had no clear goal and was just a catch-all for general dissatisfaction. And OWS was a sustained protest, not a four-hour long jaunt before everyone goes home.
No. It is a deliberate choice; the article itself is about why. The sub-headline of the above article, emphasis mine:
Anti-authoritarian rallies standing up to Trump have broad objectives and no leaders. Organizers say that is by design
What you are looking at is the dead center of propagandist’s difficulty to categorize and discredit/smear/twist a tightly defined goal, while issuing a broad enough invitation to all: No Kings.
That’s specific enough for me, and it was specific enough for millions more the last time, and I expect it to be specific enough for even millions more than that tomorrow. Personally, I think it’s genius and I would not have it any other way.
But if the anti-authoritarian thought “No Kings” is not enough for you in itself, or you believe that is somehow non-specific in the face of encroaching authoritarianism and a rapidly coalescing fascist government, maybe you should rethink your own strategy.
And Occupy Wall Street did not fail, seeing as how we’re still talking about Occupy fifteen years later not in terms of failure, but of its current relevance. Maybe you didn’t want people to realize you were talking about Occupy?
I think NK is definitely valuable as a way to inspire people who otherwise wouldn’t even know where to begin with protesting, and I think it’s a great way to organize people or at least build awareness of local activist/mutual aid groups. Outside of that I would argue that a protest planned for a specific time on a specific date with a specific end point is little more than cathartic. There’s personal value in catharsis but not societal value; it feels good but doesn’t create change.
And no, assuming that the goal of OWS was to create actual change, it definitely and unfortunately failed. It’s relevant to the extent that it shows people what doesn’t work.
Outside of that I would argue that a protest planned for a specific time on a specific date with a specific end point is little more than cathartic. There’s personal value in catharsis but not societal value; it feels good but doesn’t create change.
But it does avoid all manner of exclusionary purity tests by making them almost impossible – something that is usually fatal for the left – while robbing the opposition of an easily attackable goal. Imagine if No Kings were riven with all the infighting and clashing of sub-goals other protests have been. That’s why I think it’s genius: it’s an unashamedly large tent, so much so that no one group or ideology retains a right to define, and therefore enforce, any given direction.
But that’s just me, and I think we look at this differently, but I appreciate you taking the time to explain what you meant. I will think about what you said, because you’re coming with nuance I had not considered and it’s a complex issue. Thank you for the reasoned response.
This has been the guiding principle for protest movements around the world for well over a decade and most have completely failed. That includes Occupy! Wall Street faced no consequences for the recession they caused and inequality has continued to rise unchecked. You can argue that Trumps first win was a direct consequence of American’s feeling abandoned by their government after 8 years of Obama failed to address the fallout of the 2008 recession. Occupy did nothing to stop that.
Without any direction, a goal is nothing but a fantasy. How do you think this goal is supposed to be accomplished?
How about “try this entire administration for treason?”
Some 50501 chapters are speaking out about demands https://50501demands.com/
Fuck yes
I’ve said this before nokings 1, and nokings 2
If it’s just going to be protest parades, then don’t even bother, you’re wasting your time.
Let me be very clear: nokings 1 & 2 changed. nothing.
If you want to change things, protest for weeks, protest in from of the Whitehouse and don’t leave until the Cheeto is gone
“Letting the perfect get in the way of the good.”
Most people can’t stop working and/or travel to DC for endless protests, but they can go out on a Saturday afternoon.
If that’s the least someone can do, don’t tell them not to.
Thank you. Getting ourselves evicted and losing our ability to feed our children isn’t going to accomplish our goals.
Thats exactly why these protests are not effective. The pedophiles in charge of the US have leverage over most Americans and No Kings doesn’t address that problem.
I won’t tell people what not to do, I just fucking wish they would do something useful and so far no single american has done anything remotely useful to stop trump. There are small nudges, zingers, a little cute protest here and there and that’s it. You have a fucking pedophile for president that makes people disappear from the streets and you do nothing.
I don’t tell people what they can’t do, I’m telling them to DO SOMETHING USEFUL
I live in a fairly rural area and I see about weekly if not maybe every 2 weeks (maybe im not passing through at right times every week) protests against ice / no kings. I’m not trying to say protests are useless, but it hasn’t made a difference YET. I do think the more people see how unhappy Americans are with the administration that helps reflect on how our country is perceived by others, as most Americans are unhappy with what’s going on. I do think it’s very important if your going to protest to go vote. No 8 don’t mean presidential and mid term, I mean all your local elections too. Most people don’t realize how much local changes actually can effect you more than federal ones, and if u get all the right people in local office I think that will “trickle up” and spread through higher offices. Vote at the booth, vote with your wallet, and don’t stop making noise when things need to be heard! Even if no policy change comes from a protest at least awareness was raised, and it’s better than sitting down and taking it. (This is being typed from my porcelain throne while I skip out on protests because I have a huge backlog of chores around the house so don’t listen to this hypocrite)
Protests are also useful to network and build organizations and skills.
Most people don’t realize how much local changes actually can effect you more than federal ones, and if u get all the right people in local office I think that will “trickle up” and spread through higher
Plus, a lot of the demands that Trump is making are on lower levels to do his bidding.
They can either go along with it, or they can ignore Trump (and his puppeteers) and do what is acrually in the best interest of their local community.
Voteing for better local politicians matters.
Don’t listen to naysayers like this idiot
Awesome, you first. Show us how it’s done!
Leave it up to Americans to tell others to fix the problems they created
So you don’t have anything of value to add?
That would still be more than you have added
Smug motherfucker. A lot of people in the USA are one absence from losing their job. Most of us cannot handle an unexpected $500 expense.
How do you propose we just up and protest for weeks? The nokings protests are alleoing people to build support networks so a general strike is actuslly feasible. So they are accomplishing something.
You, on the other hand, continue to be useless.
A lot of people in the USA are one absence from losing their job. Most of us cannot handle an unexpected $500 expense.
Shouldn’t either of these things be enough for people to PROTEST EVERY FUCKING DAY!??! Add to that that your current “big strong leader” is a pants shitting murdering pedophile who is speed running your country off a cliff and I would feel that if I were American, I would be protesting every fucking day, after work if need be. Americans have been fucked over left and right for countless decades and so far they’ve been a champ and took the fucking like the sheep they are.
How to I propose you do that? By going out every day to protest? If you can’t do without your job, then do it before and or after your job. Do your job while wearing a protest sign if you can. There are hundreds of ways, and yes, they will inconvenience you, and I’m sorry about that, I’m sure jews back in Poland 1939 surely also were very inconvenienced by all that was happening.
The nokings protests, until today, have done nothing of visible value. If it built support networks, then wow, awesome, could have used those years and years ago, but better something than nothing. Now that you have those networks, what are you going to do with them, besides more “nothing”?
You call me smug, I call you an American who needs to get off his ass and do something and stop looking at the rest of the world for a saviour
And how will that help? The Cheeto is going to look outside his window and see people constantly protesting and then step down from office?
Clearer goals? Its pretty straightforward
It’s pretty fucking clear to me: Trump acts like a king and ignores the Constitution. That must be stopped at all costs.
I think what this article is failing to state clearly is that none of the government is working therefore No Kings can’t achieve its goal of reining in Trump. That doesn’t mean we stop protesting. That means we start thinking about the next step: “Stop. Or else”.
He’s more a dickless-tator.
Dickless 'tater…tot 😂
