Protest Comes in All Forms. Iowa Knows That Better Than Anyone.

This Saturday, March 28, Iowans across the state will step outside — in Des Moines, in Iowa City, in Mason City, in small towns from Onawa to Keokuk — and do something that feels both simple and profound. They will show up.

More than 55 Iowa communities are hosting No Kings protests this Saturday, part of a nationwide day of action with over 3,000 demonstrations planned across the country. In Des Moines, there will be a noon rally at the Iowa State Capitol and a separate demonstration at the Pappajohn Sculpture Park from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Before you decide whether showing up matters, I want to tell you about some kids from Des Moines who once thought the same thing.

Black Armbands in Des Moines

In December 1965, a group of students from Des Moines decided to protest the Vietnam War. They didn't march. They didn't shout. They wore black armbands to school.

Mary Beth Tinker was 13 years old. Her brother John was 15. Their friend Christopher Eckhardt was 16. They showed up to their Des Moines schools quietly, wearing strips of black cloth on their sleeves, and were promptly suspended.

Their parents sued. The case worked its way through the courts for years — district court, appeals court — losing at every level. Then in 1969 the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in their favor. The Court's words became one of the most important statements about free expression in American history: students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.

Tinker v. Des Moines didn't just protect those kids. It established the legal foundation for student free speech rights across the entire country — a foundation that has been cited in cases for more than fifty years since.

Here's what I want you to notice: those students wore armbands in 1965. The Supreme Court ruled in 1969. The change they fought for took four years, two lost court battles, death threats, and hate mail sent to their family before it became the law of the land.

They had no idea, standing in a Des Moines school hallway, that they were making history.

What No Kings Is — And Why It Matters

The No Kings movement was developed by the 50501 Movement — 50 states, 50 protests, one movement. Its core message is direct: this is America, and power belongs to the people, not to wannabe kings or their billionaire allies.

This Saturday marks the third major No Kings day of action. The first, in June 2025, drew an estimated 5 million Americans into the streets. The second, in October 2025, drew between 5 and 7 million — possibly the largest single day of nonviolent protest in American history. Here in Iowa, an estimated 12,000 people attended the October rally at the Iowa State Capitol alone.

No Kings is explicitly nonviolent. Organizers ask participants to de-escalate any potential confrontations and to leave weapons at home. This is a movement built on the same principle Mary Beth Tinker understood at age 13: that quiet, persistent, moral presence is its own kind of power.

The movement stands against the expansion of executive power under President Trump — mass deportations, attacks on civil rights and free speech, an illegal war, and costs pushing Iowa families to the brink. But if you talk to the Iowans who have shown up at these rallies, you hear something broader than any single issue. You hear people who love this country and are not willing to watch it change without saying so.

Protest Comes in All Kinds of Forms

I think some Iowans hesitate because they picture protest as something loud and confrontational — something that doesn't feel like them. I want to push back on that.

Mary Beth Tinker wore a black armband. That was her protest.

A fifth-generation Iowa farmer showed up at the October No Kings rally in Des Moines to talk about what trade policy is doing to Iowa agriculture. That was his protest.

A public school teacher stood on the Capitol steps and talked about what education cuts mean for Iowa kids. That was her protest.

Writing a letter to the editor is protest. Showing up to a school board meeting is protest. Calling your state legislator is protest. Subscribing to independent Iowa journalism so it can keep existing is protest. Voting — especially in 2026 when Iowa legislative seats are genuinely in play — is protest.

Showing up on Saturday in whatever Iowa town is nearest to you, standing with your neighbors under a shared belief that democracy is worth defending — that is protest too.

None of it is wasted. None of it is nothing.

Change Is Slow. It Still Comes.

The hardest thing about this moment is that nothing feels fast enough. The Iowa legislature is passing healthcare bills that hurt families. Maternity wards are closing. HIV treatment programs are being shut down overnight. And it is easy to stand outside the Iowa Capitol on a Saturday and wonder whether any of it matters.

I think about those Des Moines kids in 1965. Suspended. Mocked. Receiving hate mail. Losing in court twice. And then winning — not just for themselves, but for every student in America for the next half century.

Change doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes it is quiet. Sometimes it takes years. Sometimes it looks like a 13-year-old girl in a black armband who had no idea she was laying the legal foundation for a generation of American students she would never meet.

Iowa has always had those people. People who show up anyway. People who love this place enough to tell the truth about it and fight for what it could be.

This Saturday, 55 Iowa communities will be full of them.

I hope you'll be one of them.

Iowa No Kings Protests — Saturday, March 28

Des Moines: Iowa State Capitol, noon | Pappajohn Sculpture Park, 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. Iowa City: Iowa Ave near the Pentacrest, 10 a.m.–noon Mason City: Central Park, 12:30–2:30 p.m. Newton: Jasper County Courthouse, 1–2 p.m. Ottumwa: Sidewalk across from Quincy Ave Hy-Vee, 10 a.m.–noon Oskaloosa: Studio Osky, 212 N Market St, noon–1 p.m. Maquoketa: 201 W Platt St, 10–11:30 a.m. Mount Vernon: First Street Community Center, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Perry: 1st Ave and Willis Ave, noon–1 p.m. Keokuk: Lee County Courthouse, 2–3:30 p.m. Onawa: 610 Iowa Ave, 10–11:30 a.m. Osage: S 8th St and Main St, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Red Oak: Legion Park, noon–1 p.m. Shenandoah: Hwy 59 and W Sheridan Ave, noon–2 p.m. North Liberty: 515 Community Dr, 10–11 a.m.

For the full list of all 55+ Iowa locations, visit nokings.org to find the protest nearest you and RSVP.

Rebecca Schweitzer is a Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa writer. Read more at iowaraisedrebeccaschweitzerunfiltered.com.