The "No Kings" protests of October 18, 2025 were wildly successful, with an estimated seven million people participating in around 2700 cities and towns across the nation, in both red states and blue states. We gathered together to demonstrate peacefully against the Trump administration's aspirations of authoritarian rule. In an effort to diminish and malign the rallies, House Speaker Mike Johnson had characterized the upcoming events as "Hate America" rallies, which is, of course, ridiculous. We love our country and the freedom it grants us to assemble and speak out when we need to. And whew, we need to.
Let's have a look inside the rally in Greensboro, which was attended by several thousand people. There were two locations for this one - downtown, at the Guilford County courthouse, and on Wendover Avenue, a main artery of Greensboro. We were on Wendover, where the attendees lined up for miles on both sides of the road, holding signs and American flags, some dressed in costumes. I saw Uncle Sam, a banana, a pink unicorn, a big chicken, the obligatory frog, and a---wombat, maybe?--with a sign that said "Marsupials for Democracy". And of course, we demonstrated peacefully. There was purpose, but there was also joy! You can wear a goofy costume and have fun and still be serious about your message. Nobody was spewing hatred. Nobody was fighting. We were sharing snacks, water, and sunscreen. We were dancing to music and doing The Wave. We had spirit!
Seven million people. Wow. That's a lot, right? About 2% of our entire population here in the U.S. In fact, that's so many people that the No Kings protest was the largest single-day protest in American history. But you know what? That's only part of the story. That's really only a fraction of the people who participated. Because in addition to all of us standing proudly by Wendover Avenue with our signs, there were hundreds, maybe thousands of cars who drove by and honked, waved, and cheered us on. Some people even had their own signs and some waved flags. In those cars, I saw people with little kids, elderly folks, disabled people, and many people of color who may have felt nervous about attending the rally themselves but wanted to show how much it meant to them that we did. There were people who couldn't come because they couldn't stand for two hours in the sun, or because they had to work (we got honks from big rigs, delivery vans, and even a city bus!), but they drove by and gave us support. The amount of love and energy we got from that was surprisingly powerful.
A few passersby did negative things, but so few. A couple of people gave us a thumbs-down, but were overwhelmed by the number of thumbs-ups. Maybe three or four people flipped us the bird, but hundreds of people waved. There were two people who drove by with Trump flags, but dozens of people had American flags and No Kings signs in their cars. One, count him, one, guy shouted something rude out of a window. He was almost drowned out by a dozen or so cars honking in support at the same time.
So the next time there's a protest, if you don't have time to make a sign, just come stand with us and show our numbers. If you can't stand with us, drive by and honk! We want to wave at your cute kids or your elderly auntie. Thank you for your support!
