Approximately 5,000 protestors lined Tyrone Boulevard in St. Petersburg on June 14.
Photo courtesy of Kaycee Carter
By Alisha Durosier
For the first time in her life, Tampa Bay resident Kaycee Carter finally knows what patriotism feels like.
Carter was born and raised in the United States. For 12 years, like many American students, she practiced and recited the Pledge of Allegiance daily. But she didn’t know what patriotism felt like nor what it meant to her until June 14, when she participated in a “No Kings” protest in St. Petersburg, joining millions of Americans nationwide in protests against the Trump administration’s policies.
“That was the first time in my lifetime that I’ve actually felt patriotic and proud to see the American flag, because it stood for what I believe the flag should stand for, which is democracy and justice and liberty for all,” Carter said.
In St. Petersburg, approximately 5,000 protestors gathered along Tyrone Boulevard, a location that the organizers, members of the Pinellas National Organization for Women (NOW), believed would reach a different audience and allow for more visibility.
“There’s really just a tremendous amount of power in being with other people that feel the same way,” said Helen Amburgey of Pinellas NOW. “Especially in a huge group like we had… people were moved to tears. I was personally very moved to tears.”
According to Amburgey, a great amount of planning went into the protest. When 50501, the national movement behind “No Kings,” determined the date, organizers had around six weeks to prepare.
“We don’t want to have an event if we’re not confident we can keep everybody safe and keep it under control. So, we start looking for volunteers right away. We have greeters, we have chant leaders and most importantly, we have the safety marshals,” Amburgey said.
To thwart any possibility of escalation, organizers instructed Tampa Bay protesters to remain on sidewalks. Pinellas NOW even advised protestors on navigating interactions with opposing demonstrators.
“I feel like moments like what I experienced in St. Pete is what we need to be screaming to the masses, because it was a completely safe protest,” Carter said. “I felt welcomed and invited… I felt so safe.”
Another resident, Sharon Smith, attended the “No Kings” protests in St. Petersburg and Tampa. Her biggest observation was the diversity among protestors.
“There were young people there, older people there. There were vets there wearing their military caps or shirts, families there with their kids. I think it was just really great to see the community show up as a whole,” Smith said.
Smith also noticed diversity in the causes protestors were advocating for.
“We were standing next to Mexican Americans… we had somebody next to us who had a pro-Palestine flag. And of course, lots of LGBTQIA signs as well,” Smith said. “But for me, it kind of goes across all the political things that are going on in the world right now.”
Similar to Smith, Carter’s decision to protest was a culmination of her long-standing frustrations.
She cites her worries of history repeating itself “in some of the most atrocious ways,” with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Trump administration’s current immigration crackdown and actions she feels are “dehumanizing so many people on so many different levels.”
To that end, Carter said she has not felt proud to live in the United Stated for a long time.
“I think this whole protest was just a culmination of so many voices speaking up… we want a country that we’re proud of, that we feel safe [in] and that we feel like we have our rights,” she said.
Pinellas NOW is set to host a demonstration in St. Petersburg on July 17 as part of another nationwide protest called “Good Trouble Lives On.”
Amburgey affirms that consistent demonstrations are critical.
“I think we’re at the point where silence can be taken as agreement with what’s going on,” Amburgey said. “I think that speaking up about what we’re seeing that we feel is wrong enables others to speak up… courage is contagious.”
