Protests Throughout History
Sip sip, this famous protest in 1773 happened to counter the issues of British tax policies, which led to colonists dumping an afternoon beverage in the Boston Harbor. Did it work? No, England ended up closing the harbor.
What is the Boston Tea Party?
On Dec. 16, a group of colonists put on paint, feathers and blankets to look like Indigenous people. They went to the harbor and dumped tea from a British ship into the water.
The First Amendment did not exist yet. If it had, destroying someone else’s tea would not have been a protected way to protest.
Later, the nation’s founders put the right to petition into the First Amendment. They wanted to be sure people had an outlet to share their views.
A Swedish activist known for pressuring governments to address climate change and social issues. She gained global attention in 2018, at age 15, after starting a solo school strike outside the Swedish parliament, which inspired the worldwide Fridays for Future movement.
In 2025, she twice joined a humanitarian flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip, which drew international attention and political controversy.
Who is Greta Thunberg?
This artist, known for her pixie cut and songs such as "Raise Your Glass" and "So What", is under fire for reposting an Instagram Story from the advocacy group StopAntisemitism that blasted the Macklemore's performance and demanded refunds for concertgoers.
Who is Pink?
Macklemore ignited the controversy on Friday and Saturday, when he opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and used part of his set to call for a “Free Palestine” before performing his 2024 protest song “Hind’s Hall” as Gaza-related imagery played on the stadium’s screens. He wore a keffiyeh onstage both nights, telling the crowd he wanted to use the platform to say “two words that are very near and dear to my heart: Free Palestine.”
Founded in 2006 by American activist Tarana Burke, this is a global social campaign and awareness effort against sexual abuse, harassment, and rape culture
What is the #MeToo Movement?
The 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C., which was a direct response to Trump's 2016 inauguration, had protestors donning these special head coverings in a traditionally feminine color
What is the Pussyhat?
The pink color represents traditional femininity, while the name and cat-ear design reclaim a derogatory remark about women's bodies as a statement of empowerment and solidarity.
The March on Washington, where we famously heard Dr. King's "I have a Dream" speech, centered around economic and civil freedom for African Americans, was organized by this prominent gay man
Who is Bayard Rustin?
Rustin worked with A. Philip Randolph on the March on Washington Movement to press for an end to racial discrimination in the military and defense industry. Rustin later organized Freedom Rides and helped organize the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to mentor Martin Luther King Jr. on nonviolent resistance.
An alternative to hotels, this "living style" rental app has 321 Airbnbs on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as of August 2024, a third of all Airbnbs in the West Bank
What is AirBNB?
Letting a trans person know that you are comfortable accompanying them to the bathroom is made known by wearing this on your clothing
What is a safety pin?
In January 1972, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a Texas law banning most abortion violated a constitutional right to privacy. The landmark ruling made abortion legal nationwide.
Catholic lawyer Nellie Gray was among the religious leaders who protested the decision.
This famous protest has been an annual event for more than 50 years, and still occurs to this day. It includes people who oppose abortion from a broad range of faith traditions and none
What is the March For Life?
Even today, smaller protest groups gather outside of organizations like Planned Parenthood to protest this healthcare
She advocated for girls' education in Pakistan, and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She won the Peace Prize in 2014 at age 17, and is the second Pakistani and the only Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize.
Who is Malala Yousafzai?
This US fast food chain, with a red-haired logo, which has some branches in the UK, faces a long-standing boycott because it refuses to join the Fair Food Program.
What is Wendy's?
The Fair Food Program was set up by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to address the rampant exploitation of workers in the Florida tomato industry. Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Taco Bell all joined the program over a decade ago but Wendy’s has refused to do so. CIW tried to pressure Wendy’s into joining since 2005, and escalated its campaign to a boycott when Wendy’s moved its tomato sourcing from Florida to Mexico instead.
Several cases of modern day slavery have emerged on farms in the US and Mexico, which has seen the campaign calling on Wendy’s to join the program return to the spotlight.
In 2020, music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang created #TheShowMustBePaused to protest racism and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd, in an event called Blackout Tuesday. Millions of users posted ______________ on Instagram as a virtual moment of silence.
What is a black square?
Many participants mistakenly used the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. This flooded the searchable tag with blank images and accidentally blocked critical, real-time safety and protest information.
The event shifted the conversation about digital allyship from performative silence to active sharing of educational and financial resources
In January 2016, the government approved the _____________________. It would carry oil across land sacred to the Standing Rock Sioux. It could also poison their water.
What is the Dakota Access Pipeline?
The Sioux Nation sued. It also began a sit-in by a group of water protectors. People of many faiths gathered to pray and protest the pipeline.
Protestors pointed out that the Sioux Nation’s treaties with the U.S. meant they were on their own land. But the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claimed it was now government land. That made the protests illegal.
Private security guards clashed with protestors near the construction site in September 2016. Law enforcement also responded. Eventually, they used water cannons and tear gas to break up the protest.
A Civil rights leader and Baptist minister who founded Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) in 1971 and the Rainbow Coalition on Chicago's South Side to push for economic justice and equal opportunity.
He founded the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984, however the original Rainbow Coalition was founded in 1969 by Fred Hampton, the leader of the Chicago Black Panther Party
Who is Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.?
This brand has been the subject of boycott calls around the world since the 1970s for its marketing of baby milk formula. It is accused of "contributing to the unnecessary death and suffering of infants" through its aggressive marketing practices, which campaigners allege promote baby milk formula as a superior option to breastfeeding.
You may know it from its water bottles and Crunch bars!
What is Nestle?
Sugar Double Standards (2024-2025): Investigations by Public Eye revealed that Nestlé added high levels of sugar to Cerelac baby cereals sold in African and lower-income nations while keeping identical products sugar-free in Europe.
Global Toxin Recall (January 2026): Nestlé initiated a massive global recall spanning over 60 countries and 800 products after cereulide (a heat-resistant toxin tied to an ARA oil supplier) was detected, prompting safety warnings and investigations into reported infant illnesses.
January 6th, 2021, saw what we call "the insurrection".
As Congress met to confirm the election of Joe Biden as president, protestors gathered in Washington, D.C.
Many supporters of President Donald Trump claimed election fraud had cost him victory. After Trump spoke to the crowd, they began marching to the Capitol.
More than 1,500 participants were charged, and more than 1,000 pleaded guilty. More than 1,100 participants were sentenced.
How many participants were pardoned by Trump?
Over 1,500 were pardoned on January 20th, on his first day back in office following his inauguration.
USA v. Savanna Batten
The actual first person to refuse to give up their seat in Montgomery, Alabama
Who is Claudette Covin?
She refused to give up her seat on March 2nd, 1955. She was 15 years old and a high school student, and sat in the colored section of a crowded bus. The driver told her to move so a white person could sit. Covin refused to move because she felt her rights were violated, and as a result, police officers dragged her off the bus and arrested her.
Colvin was one of four plaintiffs in the first federal court case filed by civil rights attorney Fred Gray on February 1, 1956, as Browder v. Gayle, to challenge bus segregation in the city. In a United States district court, Colvin testified before the three-judge panel that heard the case.
Colvin's case was dropped by civil rights campaigners because she was unmarried and pregnant during the proceedings
This fast-food chain, which is closed on Sundays, donated millions to groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army, which have policies or past statements opposing LGBTQ+ rights.
What is Chic-Fil-A?