How mass protest can turn liberal dissent into struggles for liberation

Across the country, millions of people hit the streets for the No Kings Day national day of protest—a bold, coordinated rejection of the rising tide of fascism in the United States. From Alaska to Florida, from rural towns to major cities, thousands mobilized to say: we will not be ruled by billionaires, bigots, or bullies.

This movement is growing because more and more people are seeing the signs of raising fascism:

• Masked ICE abducting people and tearing families apart
• Books being banned
• Queer and trans kids targeted
• Educators banned from teaching about systemic racism
• Police emboldened to attack protesters
• Climate collapse accelerated
• The U.S. supplying the bombs and political support for the genocide of Palestinians

Here in Seattle, the movement showed up strong. Thousands marched through Capitol Hill to defend our rights, our lives, and our future—chanting, singing, and linking arms.

Some people carried American flags and gave speeches about defending the Constitution. I know how that lands for many on the left. The Constitution originally legalized slavery and has never guaranteed freedom for Black, Brown, poor, disabled, or immigrant communities. It doesn’t guarantee education, housing, or health care. It doesn’t protect us from police violence or corporate greed.

But here’s the thing: I don’t want fewer liberals in the streets—I want more.

So while we must be forthright in challenging liberal politicians and billionaires who uphold this system, we must be patient and gentle with liberal working people—our coworkers, neighbors, and fellow protesters. Because when people take action and run up against the limits of this system, they begin to see it for what it is. That’s how the civil rights movement grew into Black Power. That’s how moderate reformers became revolutionaries.

So yes, let’s challenge liberalism.

Let’s name capitalism. Tell the truth about this system. But don’t dismiss people. Engage them. Organize with them. Grow with them.

Challenge the comfortable myths your liberal co-workers still cling to—remind them that the United States has always wrapped genocide, slavery, segregation, displacement, and exploitation in flowery declarations of “liberty and justice for all.” But remember, many of today’s incrementalists will become tomorrow’s revolutionaries—unwilling to let fossil-fuel barons sacrifice our planet for profit or spend taxpayer money to bomb schools in Gaza instead of building them at home. Our task as radicals, socialists, and freedom dreamers is not to scoff and scold them, but to lock arms, walk the road together, while continuing to argue that our true enemy isn’t one man in power; it’s the machinery of racial capitalism itself.

Even as radicals have a lot to teach their liberal co-workers, neighbors, and friends about how this system truly works, they also have a lot to learn from them. Many liberals have been on the front lines of school board meetings, climate actions, union drives, and fights against book bans, and radicals would do well to listen to their experiences to better understand the contradictions they’ve navigated and the organizing terrain they’ve already helped shape. And the truth is, many radicals were liberals first, even if they don’t care to remember that part. Their journeys through disappointment, compromise, and confrontation with power often contain hard-won insights about organizing under pressure, navigating institutions, and building coalitions. If we want a movement rooted in real solidarity, we must not only challenge their assumptions—but listen to their experiences, too.

What happened on No Kings Day is just the beginning of a new round of organizing that must work to turn marches into movements.

We must reject the fear and lies of the fascist and struggle for a new world we’ve never seen before. One without monarchs. One without billionaires. One without cages. One without genocide. One where truth is taught, love is free, and justice is real.

Let’s start building this movement. In the streets. In our classrooms. In our unions. In our communities.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”