As an autumn breeze filled the air, Arkansans joined together to fill the bustling streets of downtown Little Rock. Oct. 18, the second “No Kings” protest occurred not only in Arkansas, but throughout the nation, a protest of nearly two million. After the popularity of the first protest on June 14, “No Kings 2.0” came to life. Adults and kids alike gathered to protest the Trump administration and to advocate for improved inclusivity in the United States; spanning two blocks starting at the Federal Building, people created signs to carry, marching down to the Arkansas State Capitol.
Senior Isabelle Elkins attended “No Kings” in addition to many other local protests throughout her life.
“I’ve always been very politically engaged. I remember going to my first protest in sixth grade with my mom,” Elkins said. “It really opened my eyes to the change that people have the ability to make by protesting. Whether that’s students, teachers, or just everyday people, we are able to make change in the world.”
Elkins believes that the statement “No Kings” encapsulates the reason for protesting as a whole, based on the principle of America being a country free of an absolute ruler. Her self-made sign read “The only monarch we want,” above a painting of a monarch butterfly.
“America was founded back in the 1700s on the fact that we didn’t want a monarchy, we wanted a government by the citizens,” Elkins said, “And our country has become not even a monarchy anymore, but a dictatorship.”
As a high school student, protesting can be a foreign and challenging experience. However, Elkins hopes that more students will become involved.
“It can be strange, but it definitely gets you a lot of real- world experience, and I think we do need more people politically engaged on a high school level,” Elkins said.
Junior Lola Rogers has a history of protesting as well, alongside her friends and family who are active in their community. Rogers went to the October protest in addition to the original.
“I wanted to attend because my mom is really into protesting for our community,” Rogers said, “I’ve been going to protests in different events since I was in early elementary school, so I’m pretty used to it by now, but I wanted to go to support her and our friends.” After attending both protests, Rogers observed a much larger number of people at the fall protest than at the first.
“There were a crazy amount of people which made me pretty happy,” Rogers said. “It kind of gave me some hope and feelings of humanity, and I hope that it’ll achieve something bigger and actually get out there to like more people.”
Sophomore Amanda Weidauer also hopes that students will attend more protests and stand up for what they believe in. Weidauer was interested in “No Kings” after hearing about the first protest.
“I saw it on the news, and it was something I wanted to do,” Weidauer said. “I couldn’t go over the summer, but I knew I wanted to stand up for our rights and our democracy.”
Weidauer attended the fall protest, hoping to inspire change within her community and country.
“It was very empowering,” Weidauer said. “There were a lot of people there, and I hope that we made a change by speaking up and having people notice us.”
