Black people may be largely absent from anti-Trump protests, but they aren’t sitting on their hands, leaders say

As the second presidency of Donald Trump approaches its 100th day, nationwide protests have cropped up, attracting tens of thousands in many cities, including Chicago. Yet many have come away from the events, which they describe as attended by overwhelmingly middle-aged white people, wondering why more Black protesters haven't shown up.

“I felt like I was at a Rolling Stones concert. The crowd was virtually all white and mostly older people like myself,” said Cliff Questel, 62, a white resident of the Irving Park neighborhood, after attending the April 5 Hands Off! protest rally and march at downtown's Daley Plaza.

On April 19, another large protest rally and march took place in Chicago and other cities, this time as part of the 50501 movement, which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.” While protesters came out for a variety of reasons, the crowd again was overwhelmingly white and middle-aged.

In Chicago, a city of 2.6 million that is 29% Black and 12% interracial, and which 77% voted for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, some pundits have questioned what they see as a lack of a Black presence at the protests.

Black activists, however, caution against assuming that the Black community isn’t taking action.

“I think there’s a false narrative that because they don’t see us in the street means we aren’t working. That’s not the case,” said Atlanta-based activist LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Votes Matter and board member at the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Channyn Lynne Parker, CEO of the Brave Space Alliance, a Hyde Park-based Black and trans-led LGBTQ center, has attended three anti-Trump events in the last couple of months and agreed that the crowds were mostly white.

But like Brown, Parker said that just because Black people haven’t been marching en masse does not mean they aren’t taking action to fight the Trump administration.

“I think it’s a part of strategy,” Parker said. “Our resistance doesn’t always look like marching downtown. Right now you’ll find us leading mutual aid drives, building community defense hubs or running voter outreach. I think that’s where our strategies have gone, more so than doing the very virtuous work of the actual protests and marches.”

While anecdotal evidence suggests lower Black participation at the rallies against Trump, there has been protest action by Black people.

Activist Ja'Mal Green, who has waged unsuccessful bids for Chicago mayor, says the focus of many in the Black community has shifted to addressing economic issues.

“For many years Black people have focused on social justice and not enough on economics. Right now is the time where folks are talking about how to build sustainable businesses and communities so that when things like a Trump era happens, where things can be pulled away from us — we are able to sustain ourselves,” Green said.

Several Black-led groups launched a boycott of Target after the Minneapolis-based retailer announced on Jan. 24 that it was ending a program it started after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 aimed at helping Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers, and promote Black-owned businesses.

Target stock has plummeted since earlier this year, before the first boycott against the retailer. On Jan. 31, shares closed at $137.91. On April 16, they were at $90.46, down 34.4%, which suggests that Black people have not been sitting on the sidelines in the fight against Trump and his policies, according to Tamar Manasseh, the founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK), an organization she founded in 2016 in response to a murder in Englewood.

“Spend in the Black,” an event billed as a collective protest against the corporate retreats from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), took place at 75th and King Drive on April 19. Organized by the Rev. Charlie Dates, pastor of Progressive Baptist and Salem Baptist Churches and Ald. William Hall, (6th), the event featured more than 100 Black-owned businesses and was attended by Mayor Brandon Johnson and several hundred residents.

“African Americans are focused on solutions and not the distractions of Donald Trump," Hall said. "When we are ready to organize a mass march in collaboration with others, you will see that, but right now our focus is sustained on our communities and bettering the lives of Black people.”

One Black Chicagoan who was at the 50501 protest April 19, John Lofton, 38, said while he was not surprised at the low turnout from the Black community, some may be staying away because of fear of being targeted by police if the protests get rowdy.

“I can’t speak for everyone but they also know if they show up, there will be people who try to incite arrests,” Lofton said while at the protest. “You’ll notice there’s not an increased police presence here. That’s a direct correlation.”

The fear of being targeted is one of the reasons some Black influencers on TikTok have also advised Black people not to take part in the mass events, according to Black media outlet, The Root.

It was a call on TikTok for Black people to stay away from the protests that kept members of Chicago Activist Coalition for Justice away, according to group founder Rabbi Michael Ben Yosef.

"There was a push on TikTok for Blacks not to participate because we did our part to get (Trump) out. Now, we’re like this is your fight, we don’t want to do anything," Yosef said.

Mike Miccioli, a University of Chicago graduate student and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine, said many of the younger protesters who took part in the protests for Palestinian causes on campuses aren't participating in the larger events against Trump because of ideological differences.

"The Hands Off event on April 5 was more aligned with the Democratic Party. For example, one of their demands on their website said hands off NATO. NATO of course is a U.S.-backed military alliance that projects U.S. imperial power across the globe and SPJ would never support a demand of maintaining the NATO alliance," Miccioli said.

He added that there was a small contingent protesting for Palestinian rights at the 50501 event on April 19 because there was no mention of NATO at that event.

James Johnson, 73, a Black retired attorney at the 50501 protest, said he thinks younger people may be staying away from recent protests because they have yet to feel any impact from Trump’s policies on their lives.

“Once they feel a negative impact, they will probably come out,” Johnson said.

Brown says the fact that white people are protesting against Trump is a positive development.

“I think it’s a good thing that we’re seeing older, white people take a stand," Brown said. "We’ve been leading on that front, but America is not our problem to solve.”

While Black people may be choosing alternate methods of protests against Trump for now, Johnson said he expects traditional protests against Trump to grow in frequency and size, and expects more people of all races on both sides of the aisle to grow frustrated with the president’s policies.

“When these events start to be nonpartisan," Johnson said, "that’s when they will be interesting.”