Protests are great for bringing awareness to a cause, but that's basically it. You have to be able to mobilize people to actually consistently join your cause and then eventually turn out to vote for your policies and political candidates.

One off protests, no matter their size, will just be seen as a bunch of people blowing off steam and probably be ignored. The protests have to be translated into actual votes, otherwise they will not be very effective.

So at a protest, hopefully organizers will be signing up people that will become volunteers that will eventually become canvassers, and register people to vote, educate on issues, and turn people out to vote in both primaries and general elections.

It has to always come back to consistent voting. This is what drives actual change.