Editor’s Note: Personal views expressed.
I usually write about machines that think; today I'm writing about people who decided to do something thoughtful—about a nation that's waking up, stepping outside, and making its voice heard.
DIY Democracy
Earlier this week, I stenciled DEMOCRACY across an old t-shirt my son left behind—barely fitting all those letters. Using paints from my Star Wars armor projects, I carefully filled in the lettering. (I'd later discover this paint transfers to skin in the heat, leaving me literally blue by day's end.) With ChatGPT's help, I brainstormed protest slogans and settled on my favorite: "Off With His Crown." A bit of cardboard and glue, and I had my sign.
Ready or Not
Saturday's forecast promised the 70s, but it felt much hotter. Minutes before my ride arrived, I quickly painted a crown on an old cap with a red cancel symbol through it—cancel culture at its finest. The paint was still tacky as I gingerly got in the car, immediately feeling the nervous energy among our carload of protesters. We compared signs like kids at a science fair: "What'd you make?"
Arriving Early—But Part of Something Much Bigger
We got to the planned street corner ahead of schedule, but parking was already nonexistent. What I didn't fully grasp until later was the scope of what we were participating in.
I’d seen the “dots on the map” grow all week long until it was 2,000 towns and cities that had planned protests, but I had no idea this would amount to between five and six million people. While the numbers are still being counted- and may never be fully known- this amounts to between 1.6 and 1.8 percent of the population of the United States. It’s staggering.
You can't fully capture protest energy—it's electric. Every stranger feels like a friend. Most of the crowd skewed older (proof that wisdom comes with age?), but as the hours passed, more young faces filled the streets. When I spotted a mariachi-blasting flatbed truck and signs in Spanish ("Leave my parents alone"), I knew this was something special.
What heartened me most was seeing how many others had taken the time to make their own t-shirts and hand-crafted signs. It was part Maker Faire, all protest—small town America in a small city, repeated all across the country.
The DIY spirit was everywhere: stenciled messages, painted banners, creative slogans born from kitchen tables and garage workshops. This wasn't astroturf or manufactured dissent—this was authentic, grassroots democracy in action.
A March That Grew and Grew
Heat exhaustion struck one of the elders—"Clear a path!" yelled someone, and medics moved in. I walked away, saddened that someone had fallen. Clearly they weren’t in good health and had come out to the protest anyway. This event was so important to them they felt they had to be there. It is a statement of what this country means to people and why they feel democracy is still worth fighting for.
As I walked out, a “march” formed- several hundred people strong- walking down our main street (called First Street.) The street winds for a mile down to the church, lined with businesses on both sides.
That was our cue to start marching down Main Street. Imagine hundreds of people flowing together with horns honking in solidarity. Somehow 200 people swelled into 800 people. The supporters kept coming and the cars kept coming. Some cars circled around the block multiple times so they could cheer us on again and again- including a Cybertruck that just wanted to be a part of the action. Everybody wanted to be a part of this movement. You could feel this was something.
Peace, Joy, and First Amendment Pride—While D.C. Saw Tanks
Our local police cruised through every few blocks. We waved, we shouted "Thank you!"—a scene I never imagined would feel so natural. No tear gas, no police on horseback, no misplaced Marines or National Guard—just a peaceful, joyous celebration of civic engagement.
The contrast was deliberate and stark. As organizers put it: "They’ve defied our courts, deported Americans, disappeared people off the streets, attacked our civil rights, and slashed our services. The corruption has gone too. far. No thrones. No crowns. No kings.”
While Trump's parade featured 6,700 soldiers, 150 vehicles including dozens of tanks, and 50 aircraft flying overhead, our movement was about something fundamentally different—ordinary Americans exercising their constitutional rights.
What the World Needs to Know
It may seem to people outside the United States that this country is asleep, or that we’ve lost our collective minds. I want to reassure you that this is not the case and America is still here.
A slim majority fell prey to the lies of a snake oil salesman and his car salesman buddy. Now, in communities across America, people of all backgrounds are rediscovering what democracy looks like in action.
The protests occurred as part of what organizers called a "nationwide day of defiance", with the timing on Flag Day being intentional: the flag doesn't belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us.
The timing wasn't coincidental. As we marched peacefully down Main Street, ICE agents were executing Stephen Miller's explicit orders to abandon criminal enforcement and target day laborers instead. Home Depot parking lots—where immigrant workers gather each morning hoping for honest work—became ground zero for a quota-driven deportation machine that prioritized optics over justice. It was this injustice that became the flashpoint for what happened in Los Angeles. (Well, that and sending in the Marines to distract the narrative from the Epstein files.)
The Networks That Matter
Protests will continue. This was bigger than any single demonstration—it was a nationwide network of citizens activating simultaneously, coordinating organically, and demonstrating that democracy's immune system is still functioning.
Most of my writing focuses on deep learning and neural networks. But this moment reminded me that the most important networks aren't artificial—they're human. Both kinds require constant attention, active participation, and collective intelligence to function properly. Saturday showed me that when those human networks activate, they're capable of extraordinary things.
Tomorrow we'll get back to talking about artificial intelligence. But don't completely give up on the state of human intelligence in the United States. There's hope for us yet.
Fast Facts: A Historic Day
By the Numbers:
An estimated 4-6 million Americans protested across the country on Saturday, June 14, 2025
Source: Telegram "CIG_telegram" Over 2,000 cities and towns participated nationwide. Source: The Daily Beast.
This represents 1.2-1.8% of the entire U.S. population taking to the streets in a single day.
Translation: “We are the voices of the people they want to silence.” “Chinga La Migra” is a strong Spanish expletive against ICE/Border Patrol. “No tengas miedo” (partially visible in the background) is “do not be afraid.” Independent data analysts suggest this was the largest single-day protest in American history.
Historical Context:
The previous record holder was the 2017 Women's March with an estimated 3.3-4.6 million participants
The Trump era has seen "dramatically more protest activity" than his first presidency, with over 15,000 protests since January 2025—a threefold increase
Organizers intentionally avoided downtown D.C., choosing to "organize literally everywhere else" while ceding the capital to Trump's military parade.
The Peaceful Contrast:
Trump's parade featured 6,000+ troops, dozens of tanks, and cost an estimated $850,000+ per deportation flight (What to know about 'No Kings' protests against Trump's policies. Source: PBS.)
The "No Kings" protests were committed to nonviolent action. Organizers offered trainings for participants on how to de-escalate confrontations.
No major incidents of violence reported at the democracy protests, while Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles in response to immigration protests
What It Means: Saturday proved that when human networks activate, they're capable of extraordinary things. As organizers put it: "The flag doesn't belong to President Trump. It belongs to us."
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