How to Protest When You're Scared to Protest

As you may already know, the No Kings protest is coming up on October 18th, 2025 all over America (click here to see where a protest is near you). While this will be a peaceful mobilization of people, we’ve seen with other peaceful protests in this country that, while the protesters may be peaceful, the authorities may not be. Peaceful protesters in recent history have been tear gassed, shot at with rubber bullets, arrested, etc., and then the protesters will be called “violent” and “terrorists” and “rioters” when all they were doing was marching. We see this happening today in places like Los Angeles and Portland. Portland especially has been described as a “war zone” by the president, meanwhile footage from Portland shows peaceful protestors, a few of which are dressed in silly costumes.

This retaliation against protesters can feel discouraging to people who want to resist the current regime. Seeing people with your ideals being arrested or detained or shot can be very scary, but we can’t let fear take over and stop us from resisting and fighting for what we know is right. That’s the point of what they’re doing; they want us to be too afraid to act, to speak up. They want us to be overwhelmed and anxious and unable to resist. So let’s talk about how we can counteract that anxiety.

Use Your Fear

The most important thing to do to counteract your fear is to realize and accept that this fear is valid. You are not weak for experiencing fear. We cannot change the feelings we have, so, instead, we have to accept our feelings and either push through them or use them to our advantage.

Fear is a useful emotion. It’s our brain’s way of telling our body that we are not safe. Our hearts beat faster to prepare us to fight or flee, we become more aware of our surroundings to detect any oncoming danger, and our adrenaline starts pumping to help distract us from any pain we may experience. Fear is necessary to our survival, and thus, should not be ignored.

Despite this, fear can be very frustrating and distracting. Instead of fighting against it, we need to use it. If you’re scared of protesting, but want to protest anyway, let your fear influence you by encouraging you to be more careful. Here are some precautions you can take:

•Wear masks, helmets, goggles, thick gloves, and gas masks to protect you from any tear gas, covid, and to hide your identity (the gloves help you to pick up the tear gas canisters and throw them away from fellow protesters)

•Wear plain clothes to make yourself less identifiable to police

•Wear knee and elbow pads in case you get knocked down

•Bring a backpack with water, first aid, food, meds, cash, a phone charger/battery bank, and your ID in case of emergencies

•Bring an umbrella or some item that can be used as a shield against tear gas or rubber bullets

•Don’t go alone! Go with trusted friends or family, and be sure to protect each other. Inform others about where you’re going, who you’re with, when you should be back, how you’ll get to and from the protest, and where you plan to go in case of an emergency.

It’s also important to know your rights when it comes to protesting or being arrested/detained. You can see more about your rights here.

If You Can’t Attend

In many cases, especially for people actively being targeted (i.e. immigrants, legal or not), it may be safer not to go to a protest. You may also be unable to go due to a disability or health condition. Or maybe you’re simply too afraid to go out. Whatever the reason, you don’t need to physically attend a protest to help the cause. There are many ways you can help without being where the action is.

Creatives Rise Up!

If you’re a creative person, there are a lot of ways you can contribute to protesting without physically having to be there! Here are a few examples to help inspire you!

• Create signs, banners, or posters for people who are protesting to carry with them as they march. If you don’t know anyone in your area who’s going, you can post your designs online to spread the word or for people to print out and use themselves.

• Create murals with a political message somewhere in your city or town

• Write poetry, speeches, stories, or music with a political message. Share them online or in person at open mics or town hall events

• Create flyers or zines with helpful infographics, tips, and/or chants that can be handed out during or before the protest

• Create political art (sculptures, paintings, crochet/knit projects, doll repaints, etc.) and sell/auction them online, giving away the proceeds to charities that support the same causes as you

Those are just a few ideas, but I hope they inspire you to act using your gift of creativity!

Educate!

Another way to help without protesting is to help others learn what the protest is about, where they can find local protests, and what they can do during the protest to help. Spreading the word is a vital method of activism because there are more of us than there are of them. The more people that realize they have the power and the right to resist fascism and authoritarianism, the stronger we are. We need to teach people that they shouldn’t panic; they should organize.

It’s also important to educate the younger generation. Teach them about their rights, teach them good morals, teach them to stand up for their peers, to question authority, teach them the true history of this country. Don’t raise another generation of individualistic, apathetic, unempathetic people. Raise children to have compassion and to fight for what’s right.

Boycott!

One of the best ways to resist besides attending protests is to be deliberate with where you spend you’re money. This isn’t always easy as there often aren’t many options in our current level of capitalism, but you can still be picky about what corporations you buy from based on where those corporations put their money.

Our current society is essentially run my corporations, and corporations only care about one thing: money. If we stop giving them money en masse, they’ll start reconsidering who and what they support. This only works if many of us are boycotting and if we are consistent in our efforts. But it does work.

You can find a list of companies people are boycotting and why they are boycotting them here.

Social Media!

There are several ways to resist while staying home and doomscrolling online. Here are just a few!

• Sign and share petitions

• Share/repost pictures, posts, and information about current events and what’s going on during protests

• Share and/or donate to mutual aid campaigns to help individuals fight against deportation, move to safer areas, buy food or water or other supplies, receive medical help they need, etc.

• Follow other activists and trusted sources to stay informed about what’s going on and what you can do to help

Help Your Community!

Some people are not meant to be on the front lines and are more built for being in the background and helping from the sidelines. Here are some things you can do to help from behind the scenes:

• Volunteer at soup kitchens, hospitals, charities, homeless shelters, churches, etc.

• Call or email your representatives, your senators, your governor, your mayor; let them know what’s important to you and your community

• Film whenever you see someone being arrested or detained by the police or ICE. Ask them their name and their A-Number. (In Spanish, say, “¿Cómo te llamas? ¿Cuál es tu número?” This is pronounced phonetically sort of like “Koh moh tay yamas? Qual ess two new marrow?”). If you can, locate the family of the individual, and tell them everything you know about what happened.

• Be emotional support for your community. Cook for them, provide them a place to rest and recover, be a trusted safe haven.

• Donate supplies to protesters and charities (things like first aid kits, water, food, gear, etc.)

• Help politicians that support your values and the cause by campaigning for them and spreading their message

• VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

I hope you found this article helpful! The main thing I want you to take away from this post is that, while protesting is important and valuable work, it’s not the only way you can support a cause. Don’t feel pressured to do something that can put you in harms way, and, most importantly, protect yourself and your peace! As my therapist always says, “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” If you’re too burnt out or physically and mentally exhausted to even help yourself, then there’s no way you can help the cause you care about. Put yourself first. Take steps to keep yourself safe before you take steps to keep your fellow man safe. That’s what’s most important.