Protesting is something of a tradition in my family. My parents went to the University of Michigan in the 1970s and were active campus protestors. They’ve shared stories about protesting the Kent State shooting, which left four students dead on May 4, 1970. I grew up just outside of Madison, Wisconsin, and I started attending protests in 2000 when I joined the sit-in protesting University of Wisconsin Madison’s signing of a sponsorship deal with Nike, which was known to use sweatshop labor for much of its clothing.
The No Kings protests are another series of protests I have either researched (I researched protest movements in grad school), attended, or done both. The first No Kings protest was on June 14, 2025, which happened to be Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, and four million people around the US attended. The second protest was on October 28, 2025, and drew about seven million attendees. March 28, 2026, marked the third installment of the No Kings protests, with around eight million people participating.
For a protest movement that is technically under a year old, these are outstanding numbers. From the news and social media coverage, it appears that many people attending these events are participating in their first protests. Going to a protest for the first time can cause a lot of anxiety for people, so getting out of one’s comfort zone is something that should be acknowledged and applauded…