Protests are near constant. Do they work?

By B.A. Parker,

Xavier Lopez, Leah Donnella, Courtney Stein, Gene Demby, Jess Kung, Dalia Mortada, Christina Cala, Veralyn Williams

Published July 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM EDT

A side-by-side of protests from the civil rights movement, versus protests of the 21st century.

To the casual observer, it might seem like the U.S. has been spent years and years in a constant state of protest, from the Women's March in 2017 to the racial uprisings in 2020 to the No Kings protests earlier in the summer. But some are starting to wonder: How effective are any of those protests? When it comes to achieving lasting social change, do any of them work?

So on this week's show, we're talking to Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, the author of a new book called, A Protest History of the United States. In it, she goes through several hundred years of resistance in the United States to help readers understand what forms of protest have worked in the past, and what lessons people can take from those protesters.

We also talk to Lex McMenamin, the news and politics editor at Teen Vogue, about what they've observed while covering recent protests — and what a "win" might look like today.

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B.A. Parker

Xavier Lopez

Xavier Lopez is a producer for Code Switch. He came to NPR from CNN Audio, where he helped produce shows such as Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta and the inaugural season of Tug of War. Prior to that, Lopez worked at NPR member station WHYY in Philadelphia, where he worked on shows such as The Pulse, Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane and the daily news podcast, The Why.

Leah Donnella

Leah Donnella is an editor on NPR's Code Switch team, where she helps produce and edit for the Code Switch podcast, blog, and newsletter. She created the "Ask Code Switch" series, where members of the team respond to listener questions about how race, identity, and culture come up in everyday life.

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Courtney Stein

Courtney Stein comes to NPR from the New York Times, where she helped to create the weekly podcast First Person. Prior to that, she spent over a decade at WNYC's Peabody Award-winning Radio Rookies, teaching young people to report radio documentaries about issues important to them. While at WNYC, Courtney also helped to pilot the podcast Nancy and was on the team that created the dupont-Columbia award-winning podcast Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice, which began as a radio workshop she started in a juvenile detention center in Queens.

Gene Demby

Gene Demby is the co-host and correspondent for NPR's Code Switch team.

See stories by Gene Demby

Jess Kung

Jess Kung (they/them) is a production assistant on Code Switch. Previously, they interned with Code Switch and the podcast The Document from KCRW in Santa Monica. They are a graduate of Long Beach State University.

Dalia Mortada

See stories by Dalia Mortada

Christina Cala

Christina Cala is a producer for Code Switch. Before that, she was at the TED Radio Hour where she piloted two new episode formats — the curator chat and the long interview. She's also reported on a movement to preserve African American cultural sites in Birmingham and followed youth climate activists in New York City.

See stories by Christina Cala

Veralyn Williams

Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. Now she brings her skills (and ears) to her role as executive producer of programming at NPR.