I wish I could tag this as discussion.
I'm getting little annoyed at people only say "protest are useless" then proceed to suggest nothing and do nothing just to keep us in a state of complacency with the status quo.
Protest do have a function they do show those in power that people are opposed to policy or politician, but more importantly they show that other people the people that live in their city or local area are willing to show their political stance publicly. It can raise awareness and pull people in the margin to your side. from what I experience, it can show the right that they wont act on their violent words.
I get that the opposition to protest say that it never changed anything or trump continues to act crazy, and I'd say that we need to do more in addition to the protest not that we shouldn't do protest. I'll need someone that advocate not doing protest to speak in the comment.
I want to see protest "upgrade" from a gathering of people to meet-and-greets and concert. If you are at a protest you should actually enjoy it, show off your signs explain it to other protestors, and talk with other people on what to do locally. I would suggest promoting a business at a protest.
protest are good way to get around social media algorithms
Every action has a force, the point is society is full of such forces, some push in some direction, some push opposite to others. Protests are not useless, they push in one direction, but when there's an overwhelming force pushing opposite of them, they get overwhelmed. At that point you either increase the force or find other actions.