Don’t waste your time with these “No Kings” protests.
If your plan is to go out on Saturday, wave signs, march in a big crowd, and show how angry you are—you’re wasting your time. You’re wasting your energy.
That doesn’t mean the protests don’t matter. It means most people are using them wrong.
We’ve seen this pattern over and over again. Massive turnout. Media coverage. A temporary sense of solidarity. And then… nothing. No sustained pressure. No infrastructure. No growth in actual organizing power.
That’s not because people don’t care. It’s because too many people are treating protest like the goal.
It’s not.
Protest is a tool. Not the strategy.
There’s a version of this argument that says these protests “build hope.” That they show people they’re not alone, and that’s enough to carry us through to the next election.
Hope matters. But hope without structure doesn’t win anything.
Resistance is not something you do once every few months on a Saturday. And it’s not something you do alone in a crowd of strangers.
If that’s all it is, it’s a release valve—not a force.
Historian Tad Stoermer makes a similar point in his recent piece, where he asks whether movements like “No Kings” are thinking like patriots—or like loyalists. His argument is simple: protest and elections can be part of a strategy, but they are not sufficient on their own if the system producing the problem is the problem itself.
That’s the real question most people are avoiding.
And it’s the one that should shape how you show up.
The most powerful tool we have is local community
Fascism doesn’t just come from the White House or Congress.
It grows locally. In communities. In social networks. In the absence of organized resistance where people actually live.
Which means the most effective place to fight it is also local.
Not abstract. Not national. Not once every few months.
Local. Consistent. Relational.
That’s where movements are built.
If you go, go with a plan
If you’re going to a “No Kings” protest, treat it like what it actually is: a concentration of people who are already primed to care.
That’s an opportunity.
So use it.
Set one goal: connect with three people you don’t already know.
Not a conversation that ends when the march ends. A real connection. Names. Numbers. A concrete plan to meet again within the next week.
Because the protest ends. But what you build afterward doesn’t have to.
Turn momentum into structure
I’ve spent years working on how to make this easier for people who don’t have organizing experience.
That’s why we built the Antifascist Book Club model at Veterans Fighting Fascism.
It’s not just a reading list. It’s a framework for building local community. There are guides, tools, and instruction manuals designed for people starting from zero.
Print them. Share them. Use them as a starting point.
Meet at a coffee shop, a bar, a library—wherever you can get people in a room together.
Make a commitment to keep showing up.
Think of it as a social lubricant that becomes social glue.
Because by the time the next protest rolls around, you’re not showing up alone anymore.
You’re showing up with a network.
And that network is growing.
This is how movements actually scale
Start with one connection.
Turn it into a group.
Turn that group into a community.
And then repeat.
That’s how you build something that lasts longer than a news cycle.
That’s how you turn energy into power.
And that’s how you stop wasting your time—and start becoming a force for good.
If you’re new here, welcome. I’ve been writing about how to build real antifascist organizing power at the local level. If this resonates, start here:
Organize Locally: How Antifascist Book Clubs Can Build Power
Today, Donald Trump was sworn in as president. And while it might be tempting to focus on things like his buddy Musk performing a Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration rally, I’m practicing discipline to focus on actionable plans for resistance (more on this below).
And if you’re ready to get started, head to Veterans Fighting Fascism and download the FREE guides.
Then go meet your three people.
