Make your message clear, make your message heard

Protests are often something people do to challenge something they don’t like or agree with. Peaceful protests can often lead to change within policy, or something can get overturned.  

Often, these protests can lead to major change. As we look at history, the Montgomery Bus Boycott led the Black community to be treated better in the South. However, what does it look like when a protest fails miserably? 

To me, the answer would be to look no further than the “No Kings Protest” held to protest President Trump. According to bbc.com, over 7 million people across the United States gathered to protest Donald Trump in Oct. 18th, 2025. People gathered all across the United States to protest our president, and yet, it was still seemingly ineffective,. because since the formation of the United States, we have never once had a king.  

The United States is a constitutional republic. People were protesting America’s “king” or “dictator” when we have never had one in the first place. The simple definition of a dictator is “someone who holds absolute and unlimited power over the people.” If Trump was a king or dictator, he wouldn’t have allowed people to protest in the first place.  In my opinion, a more effective way of dealing with someone you disagree with is to try to have civil discourse and talk about the things you disagree on with. Instead of calling the president of a constitutional republic a king, you should talk to members of your political party close to you and try to come up with solutions. A protest that calls a president a king is taking all the attention off more important subjects like the government shutdown that has been going on for the last month. 

According to the constitution.congress.gov, the Constitution strictly prohibits the US from having a king through the prohibition of titles of nobility and by establishing a republican form of government that rejects hierarchy rule. So, there were millions of people protesting all across the United States against something that doesn’t even exist. Even though the message of the protest didn’t have a lot of clarity, people still showed up to make their voices heard. Living in the United States under a constitutional republic gives us the right to do so. Even though I don’t consider “No Kings” very effective, they still did a great job of peacefully protesting. If you don’t agree with something the government is doing, make your voice heard.