My name is Cate Blevins-Harris, a relatively new member of the DSA. I began my protesting journey in 2025 with the Hands Off and No Kings protests. No Kings 3 was the first protest where I had the privilege of witnessing the organizing that local activists do behind the scenes to pull off an event of this scale. I learned so much from that experience and the many conversations, and I look forward to applying that knowledge soon.
No Kings 3 was very successful in the same way that the previous No Kings events have been successful:
These things are all great, but if our social media feeds have shown us anything, people quickly grow discontent and unmoved by movements they feel aren’t expanding and aren’t doing MORE in a tangible way. And that is why No Kings 3 stepped up to bat a little more.
There were many new and increased efforts at this protest that helped mobilize the crowds towards more tangible actions. These things included:
In the three weeks leading up to the protest, I had written a brief description of how I was watching No Kings organizers set up the outcomes of the event to be effective, meaningful, and tangible. I would put this description underneath articles with names like “No, I am not going to No Kings this time.” Quickly the positive responses began rolling in, and my inbox was full of comments along the lines of “This is what would convince me to go/go back to No Kings.” It became obvious to me that these efforts were what people wanted, and needed, to see out of local protests.
Overall, the day was a very positive experience. New hobbyists documented their first protests with their favorite cameras. Multiple religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, career paths, nations of origin, and more were represented. Children and students I spoke to saw the adults in their community championing their rights to a brighter future. Senior community members challenged stereotypes about the interests of white, elderly voters in Alabama.
This success is even more profound when it is considered how rapidly it has grown for a new protest movement into the largest mass protest in U.S. history.
Because of this, the problems that arose at this protest were in fact the problems of a successful protest. A handful of counter protestors standing awkwardly in the crowd, and a Turning Point USA president that no one spoke to. There were crowds of people, still a small-ish percent, who awkwardly got turned around during the march and became somewhat confused or told to turn around. But what a fantastic problem to have, that so many in our community would turn out that we overwhelm the streets surrounding the courthouse to our State’s largest city.
But one thing overall stood out to me, as well as to individuals I interacted with who were new to progressive political action, direct activism, and protesting. And that is mainly the huge permeating feeling that the protests can do MORE. Not in the sense that they were useless failures, but in the sense that the great potential there is felt.
I’ve talked to folks who were tired of simple chants, simple signs, and walking. The people want to have the raw historical and emotional significance of these times on full display. And this is what I’ve found…
That We the People think we should tap into the great symbolic potential that large protests should have. Large speakers should start to play significant songs people can sing that symbolize the moment. Fiction allegory should be leaned into to communicate the messages that the everyday person feels effectively. Tap people into the collective feelings of living during a classist and unjust dictatorship. In short, planning and collaboration in terms of rhetoric is greatly wanted. We the People want spectacle that will be remembered by all, which is what we have seen in the coordinated demonstrations across the country. And after a few goes around, we have seen we have the numbers to do it.
We the People want to learn. We want others to learn. We want true and important messages to be impossible to ignore and emblazoned on the minds of everyone else in our communities. The truth of the war in Iran, the Epstein files, and Christo-fascist takeover should be on full display. This could take the form of large banners carried and hung around our city, or a video projected onto the courthouse or major buildings. We want knowledge and education circulated to every last person. Knowledge of the criminal actions of the billionaire class should be passed around like candy. No one can afford to not be armed with the appropriate knowledge.
We the people also want more actionable opportunities. Take the sign-ups, the tabling, the volunteering, the action calendars and turn it up to 100%. What we truly need and what the people want is to strengthen the pipeline from the protests as a starting action to a massive workforce for political change.
And that is why I feel if we truly want to make an impact, we are just getting started.
Even still, small actions are often the ones that make a difference. Just today, simply because he saw me at the protest, a young child that I teach came by my science classroom to ask me questions and tell me he enjoyed his time with family at No Kings. This wasn’t even in Huntsville, but a small after school club in Ardmore. He seemed much more interested in science lessons today. I think there was a mutual understanding with this young person that it is always great to see someone else who cares.