Image by Duncan Shaffer.

Protests over the last 6 years

The sheer number of protests in the first six months of 2025 resulting from unpopular actions taken by the federal government (and state and local governments) is getting difficult to track:

Legislation to cancel the non-profit status of organizations opposing U.S. foreign policy – The funding and supplying of weapons for ongoing escalation of the genocide in Palestine – The denial of racism through canceling DEI programs, humanities, and teaching critical race theory – The heavy-handed actions to impose global tariffs – The unleashing of federal immigration authorities (ICE) to perform snatch and grabs of people that lack documentation or appear to fit the profile – The expansion of privatization of public land- The unilateral action of the executive branch to carry out airstrikes against Iran in the so-called name of peace. And so on.

What’s next: The complete cancellation of Medicaid? The insistence of accelerating the burning of fossil fuels? Mandatory relinquishing of public utilities in your community for private profit? In fact, all of these are already underway. The overwhelming number and speed of these deplorable actions is part of the strategy. Shock and awe. Distraction and illusion. Induce a state of helplessness in the victims.

The to-do list for those in power is all about full steam ahead people and planet be damned. Maybe that’s the point from those in charge. Create as much chaos, threat, and destabilization as possible to keep people from uniting to not just call out the current injustices but organizing to change the rules of the game itself. Deep enough change that would stop these cruel actions from happening in the first place.

The net that the federal administration and supportive state and city governments are casting is not only snaring those who have opposed the current administration but even those who voted for it.

Protests have been on the rise since the mid 2010’s with the last six years recording some of the largest in recent times. Regardless of which party is in seats of power, the people are not happy and have a lot to say against the decisions and actions supposedly being done in our name. June’s “No Kings” protests were said to have drawn 5 million people. In 2017 the Women’s March brought 500,000 people to D.C. with another 3 million gathered elsewhere across the country. The numbers are even more impressive when you look back to the 2020 George Floyd protests, with an estimated 20 million people taking to the streets to decry police violence. Americans are coming out in greater and greater numbers to show their dissent. But to what effect?

Critiquing Our Protests

Getting people on the streets is necessary. It is something to be applauded wholeheartedly. It is a necessary piece of the needed transformation. Nonetheless, there are some critiques that must be made of our protest actions.

The mobilizations over the last six months have been overwhelmingly peaceful. They’ve consisted of parades, sign waving, speeches, sit-ins, and demonstrations. On occasion, they’ve

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