Whistles, chants and hundreds of signs proclaimed the message “No Kings” as more than 3,500 people took to the streets of downtown Wichita for another No Kings protest to showcase their distaste for the presidential administration.

The No Kings movement’s website describes the motivations of the protests: “(T)his country does not belong to kings, dictators, or tyrants. It belongs to We the People — the people who care, who show up, and who fight for dignity, a life we can afford, and real opportunity. No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.”

“It’s really important that we take control of our future,” Wichita State sophomore Jamel West said at Saturday’s No Kings protest. “It’s looking like young people really won’t have a say in our government or how we live our lives. It’s important to call out corruption and bigotry in general.”

West and his companion, Catalina Palacios, are politically active and protest frequently. Two weeks ago, they organized a smaller protest near City Hall.

“We’ve been doing scattered protests throughout,” Palacios said. 

Democracy was a common word at the rally, with frequent calls of “show me what democracy looks like” being answered with cries of “this is what democracy looks like.”

“We’re here for democracy. That’s the principles of America that we’re standing on,” Palacios said.

The No Kings protest started at the Sedgwick County Courthouse, though several other origin points were scattered around downtown Wichita. The groups congregated at Douglas and Broadway before filtering into Chester I Lewis Reflection Square Park to listen to Katy Tyndell, Joseph Shepard and others speak.

The crowd was cheerful and in good spirits. People were smiling, laughing and introducing themselves to strangers. Several people brought their kids and their dogs.

“What brought me out today was the camaraderie,” Ciara Mould, a therapist and WSU alum, said. “I think it gives me a lot of hope seeing so many people turn up here. I think it’s a good time for change.”

The signs at the protest were angry. Several were from veterans disappointed with the current administration, with one from a former Marine reading, “I have to uphold my oath. Why don’t you?” 

“I think we’re all just really upset with what’s going on, and this feels like a way to express in a way that’s also helpful,” Katelyn Keough, a protestor at the No Kings march, said. “I’m tired of being embarrassed about our government. I want our democracy back.”

Democratic Congressional candidate Katy Tyndell was also in attendance and said she thinks the protest is a “testament to how fed up people are right now with overreach of this administration.” 

District One City Councilman Joseph Shepard and State Representative Abi Boatman spoke as well.

“I’m inspired by the turnout of young people today,” Shepard said. 

According to data from the 2022 election, Americans under 30 are the most underrepresented age group in public office and the polls. Some young people claim they feel their vote doesn’t matter and that democracy isn’t working, according to an article by PBS News. But many young people attended the March 28 No Kings protest.

“I think young people should be encouraged to use their voices,” Palacios said. “After all, we are the future of this country. I think we have a chance to decide what ideals we hold to be true and self-evident.”

West said movements like these are some of the best chances young people have to “take back our future.”

“They [Gen Z] want change, and we better be paying attention to not just their wants, but giving them a seat at the table,” Shepard said.

Change was another prevalent topic at the march. Signs demanded the release of the Epstein files, demanded the taxation of billionaires and the removal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from the city of Wichita.

“If change is going to happen, it’s going to happen in the heart of America first, right here, in Wichita, Kansas,” Shepard said. “Wichita State has roughly 15,000 students, that can change the entire trajectory of an election at the local level. So they have more power than they might even realize.”

The idea that Wichita will be a battleground site for civil rights is no new claim. Wichita was the origin of the diner sit-ins in 1950’s Civil Rights-era America. The Dockum Drug Store sit-in inspired protests like it across the country and helped on the long, arduous and incomplete journey towards equality for Black Americans. 

“If you say, you know what, I’m not voting, I’m not seeing the change. I need you to wake up and shake yourself because if you don’t do politics, politics will do you,” Shepard said. “I need you to get on the phone and call your family member and your friend, who is voting for people who are harming you, harming your rights, harming our democracy, harming the sanctity of who we are as a country. I need you to tell them to change their mind.”

Shepard stressed the importance of voting and how what citizens do outside of protests “sets the pace of where we can go.” 

“Every time our country has seen significant social change in the last 250 years, it was activists standing on the front line, pushing for that change,” Tyndell said.