by Jay Bookman, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

June 20, 2025

It’s easy to get discouraged or cynical about the state of American political life. Our reservoirs of civic trust have been drained dry. We’ve lost faith in each other, respect for each other, and too often those seeking popularity and power do so by appealing to the worst in us rather than the best. Too often, they have succeeded. 

We’ve allowed compromise – the essential bedrock of any democracy – to become discredited as a bad thing, as a sign of weakness in an era when, for many, dominance is the preferred outcome.  Our system of government was designed to frustrate such dominance, but at the moment its ability to perform that mission seems questionable. 

As a result, the possibility of violence lays like a shroud upon the land.

But last weekend, for the first time in a while, I felt faith refreshed. In Atlanta, Savannah, Marietta, Athens, Macon, Columbus and other Georgia cities, large and small, tens of thousands of people turned out in protest against the excesses of their government, joining millions of their fellow Americans in protest all around the country, in big cities, country towns and suburbs.

Anger and fear will find expression, if not in one outlet then in another. The organizers of the massive “No Kings” protests provided an outlet that was peaceful and purposeful. They gave a voice, a stage, for citizens who are appalled by the cruelty, illegality and corruption of our political institutions, but who until now felt helpless to take action. What they achieved over the weekend called upon the best of America, in the nonviolent tradition championed by the best of Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis.

Good trouble, and I loved to see it.

The “No Kings” organizers and those millions who heeded their call did not trample the Constitution or pay it hypocritical lip service. To the contrary, they deployed it. Freedom of speech, the freedom to assemble, the freedom to petition government for redress of grievances, all are rights guaranteed us by the Constitution. The exercise of those rights, in turn, are essential to ensuring that the Constitution survives, that these rights are retained for those who come after us.

From what I can tell, none of the thousands of “No Kings” protests last weekend resulted in violence by protesters, which was critical to their success. The sporadic violence that did occur came from those who were intent on trying to disrupt the mass protest, probably because they feared what it might accomplish.

Of course, neither the protests nor the protesters have actual power to enact or force change. Those who marched hold no office; they have no vote in Congress. They control no divisions of troops and cannot make or enforce laws. But what they can do, what they have begun to do, is to demonstrate to those who do hold power that the people are watching them, that the people have the courage to act when supposed leaders quake and quail.

In his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963, Dr. King warned his followers that however valid their demands might be, their struggle must be conducted “on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.”

“We cannot walk alone,” he said. “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.