LISTEN: Protest movements are often full of young people. But in Georgia, GPB's Sarah Kallis explains why some older women are taking to the streets. 

Protesters at the Macon No Kings rally earlier this year.

Protesters are seen at the Macon No Kings rally earlier this year. Many protesters are older than the usual young crowd.

Credit: Grant Blankenship/ GPB News

Imagine a political protest. You might envision throngs of passionate young people. But in crowds protesting the policies of President Donald Trump in Georgia, you’ll find something else: large numbers of women over 50.

Protests like the 50501 protest, "Hands off" march, and "No Kings" rally brought tens of thousands of Georgians to the street, a lot of them older women.

In the late afternoon heat, on July 17 in downtown Atlanta, hundreds of protestors marched along Auburn Avenue from the John Lewis mural to Ebenezer Baptist Church for "Good Trouble" Day, named in honor of the late civil rights icon U.S. Rep. John Lewis. 

Though many of the marchers held signs protesting the Trump administration, protester Kathleen Hamill, wearing exercise clothes, carried no sign, just a bottle of water. This wasn’t her first march, nor is it the first for her this year — she also attended the ‘Hands off’ protests in March in Atlanta. 

Hamill said, as a lawyer, she tries to be nonpolitical and nonpartisan, but felt like she needed to speak out about current policies. 

“At a certain point, you know, it's like, 'How do we stand up for the rule of law if, you know, the Constitution and the basic principles are being chopped up?'" she said. 

Hamill is in her 50s. She’s a part of a new movement of protesters who say they have hit their breaking point since Trump took office in January. Many are middle-aged and older white women.

Christine Conrado Staskiewicz of Tucker is the founder of the Pocketbook Brigade. She told GPB she hears from a lot of women who have very basic concerns, like "Will tariffs mean I can’t fix my car? Or be able to buy my kids’ school supplies?"

Many of those women have never protested before, she said. They have to be convinced.

"If you've never tried sushi and you're afraid, and all your life you don't try it and then finally one of your friends talks you into it and you love it, then all of a sudden sushi's not that scary anymore," she said. 

Staskiewicz said the ages of the Pocketbook Brigade protestors ranged from 40 to 80. The organization, which states online that its goal is to "organize people to march and show their resistance to the billionaire class exerting undue influence on our government," does not mention affiliation with a political party, but says attendees are "expected to behave in a peaceful, respectful and lawful way."

The Pocketbook Brigade has seen hundreds of people show up to events, Staskiewicz said, and many of the women participating said they felt less hopeless after marching. 

"What we're doing is helping people kind of go through a cathartic experience by marching and talking to other people," she said. 

But in 2025, protests need to produce more than numbers and feel-good moments, said Dr. Tammy Greer, professor of policy and social movements at Clark Atlanta University.

"I have seen, again, an outlet for individuals to voice their frustration," she said.

While giving people an outlet like marching can be good, Greer said, she also noted that she would like to see the energy from the street turn into a concrete strategy for political action. 

"If there's no one doing that, then we're running from chaos to chaos rather than taking a moment to develop something that is long- term, that is goal-oriented, that people can get on board with," she said. 

That, Greer emphasized, could be the difference between marching to feel good today versus working toward lasting change. 

Tags: Georgia  protests  John Lewis  Voting Rights Act