Opinion: Yes, protest still matters in America, but what comes after ‘No Kings’ is crucial

Good protests—like the “No Kings” demonstrations in North Carolina—can be silly, loud, rambunctious, and disorganized. They can be disruptive and even dumb. But they are never, ever pointless. 

I’ve covered a lot of protests in my 20 years in journalism. Some have been tense. Others were angry, even menacing. 

Saturday, I went to the “No Kings” protest in uptown Charlotte. Part of a nationwide wave—including dozens in North Carolina—this one struck me with its general affability. 

I watched a few costumed frogs and hippos march down 7th Street, but the vast majority of the people came as they were. As if they’d interrupted their morning routine to show up.

They looked like the people you run into at the coffee shop, grocery store, or the gym. Folks wore the kind of sneakers your mom or dad do to keep their tendinitis from acting up. They were polite, peaceful, and mundane. Black, white, brown, and boring. It was a similar story in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, and in rural NC. 

I’m not mocking them. After all, the “No Kings” protesters’ most effective weapon might be mundanity. 

It was surely disappointing to President Trump and his allies, who last week seemed to be working from the same script when they characterized “No Kings” protesters as violent, debauched hordes. They envisioned all-black and Molotov cocktails and got “The Golden Girls” instead.

Just as the Portland frog made MAGA look ridiculous for calling out that city’s supposed violence, North Carolina provided an army of people who look like they binge watch “The Great British Bake-Off” or “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

That has to be terrifying to the president and his supporters. 

Because there’s nothing scarier to an extremist than opposition from a lot of people who would rather be watching TV or mowing their lawn.    

Saturday was an accomplishment—nearly 7 million people reportedly took to the streets across the country to peacefully protest President Trump’s “authoritarian” agenda—but what comes next is even more important.  

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The “No Kings” rally in Cary on Saturday was so big you won’t be able to watch us walk the length of it. President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans have said the rallies are full of criminals who hate America. Take a look and see for yourself.

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The next steps are crucial

I’m not a seasoned protester or a political strategist. I’m a journalist. But at this pivotal moment—when there are folks on the extreme right and the extreme left who are questioning the value of protest, for completely different reasons—I have a few thoughts following “No Kings.” 

Good protests can be silly, loud, rambunctious, and disorganized. They can be irritating. They can have the wrong tone. They can be disruptive and even dumb. But they are never, ever pointless. 

Showing up to speak out doesn’t mean you’ll get what you want. But not showing up virtually guarantees you won’t. 

Some folks want bolder, more aggressive actions. It makes sense, especially for people in North Carolina who look at a gerrymandered, corrupt government and wonder about the value of participation. 

But while the impact of protest may be notoriously difficult to quantify, American history is one proof of its long-term value. Good protests change people. Changed people make changes in government. 

The truth about America may be frightening. We have never been closer to an autocracy. Some say we’re already there. Despite that, most Americans aren’t obsessed with their political news feed. 

They want the government to run like their dishwasher—on schedule, with a minimum of nuisance. The less said about it, the better. These are the people who still need to be talked to, the people who protests like this might reach. 

However maddening, backwards, and erratic this country is, people who banded together to speak out have brought about most of the good things we have—including women’s suffrage, basic civil rights, labor protections, and the right to vote.

You might call that pollyannish or corny. But disregarding that truth of American history isn’t just cynical, it’s delusional.

The achievements of America’s most effective political movements, especially those of the Civil Rights Movement, should be inspiring and eye-opening. 

Video: The actually very simple solution to ending gerrymandering in NC

They worked because they used protest as one piece of a big, organized plan. They used it to inspire, to get attention, and to connect with the locals who will take the next steps, the ones who will organize within their communities. 

One without the other doesn’t work. 

“The goal of protest is not more protest, but the goal of protest is change,” DeRay Mckesson, the influential “Black Lives Matter” activist, said in 2016.  

And making change is exhausting, the best political advocates will tell you. You wake up tired and go to sleep tired. It’s a clock-in and clock-out job. More work happens behind the scenes—organizing and talking to people—than it does in front of a camera.

We don’t know if “No Kings” will lead to lasting political change. But there’s reason for optimism, however guarded it may be, in the hippos and the frogs and the “normies” who stuffed city streets and country lanes Saturday. 

The best protester is one who sees the American story as a living document, as a story that’s still being written. And it’s the people who show up that write it.