Why march?

Houstonians embrace a tradition of protest protected under the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The First Amendment provides sufficient justification for the thousands of protesters who will take to Houston’s streets, parks and sidewalks over Super Bowl weekend.

They have the right to peacefully assemble — and that should be enough, at least under the law of the land. However, it might not be enough for onlookers left scratching their heads and wondering what, exactly, people are trying to do.

Plenty of Houstonians will likely join in with raised eyebrows. The geographic sprawl of our swampy city doesn’t lend itself to mass protests, as Leah Binkovitz, staff writer for the Rice University’s Kinder Institute, wrote in Gray Matters.

Nor does Houston have an extensive history of protest action. That might be changing. Organizers of the nationally coordinated Women’s March expected about 3,000 at the downtown protest after the presidential inauguration. The actual number was closer to 22,000. Who knows how many will show up in the Galleria area on Friday? Or City Hall on Saturday? Or Hermann Park, Discovery Green and even outside NRG Stadium on game day?

But what are people protesting? And what are they hoping to accomplish?

The groups organizing for this weekend represent heterogeneous interests, but the unifying theme is opposition to President Donald J. Trump. There’s plenty of ways protests help further that goal.

Collective action can have an actual legal or physical effect. Volunteer lawyers continue to hold vigil at George Bush Intercontinental Airport to provide representation and advocacy for permanent residents being detained in the wake of an executive order that targeted many Muslim travelers. And who can forget when shouting protesters essentially shut down the Texas Senate in the final moments of state Sen. Wendy Davis’ 2013 filibuster against an anti-abortion bill?

Protests also help draw a national spotlight to ignored issues. Lawyers weren’t the only ones assembling at airports. Americans flocked by the thousands to bring attention to the plight of legal immigrants being held under an executive order that has now been blocked by four federal courts. Under massive pressure and media attention, the White House even said that it rolled back the order’s application to permanent residents.

We celebrate this sort of protest on every Martin Luther King Jr. Day, commemorating how his Selma to Montgomery marches focused news cameras on the disenfranchisement and violence faced by African-Americans.

Organized protests also serve as a show of force to elected officials and lay the foundation for further political organization. Tea party protests in 2009 successfully galvanized opposition to President Barack Obama’s agenda. Here in Houston, Congress members John Culberson and Kevin Brady had to confront people at town hall meetings last month worried about losing health insurance. You can see the effect as the Republican Party changes its tune on Obamacare from “repeal and replace” to “repair.”

Solidarity is another goal of mass protests. The Women’s March united millions of people across the nation and shifted the tone of Trump opposition from despondence toward hope. And in New York City on Thursday, thousands of Yemeni bodega owners shut down their businesses in an act of support with their friends, families and loved ones stranded in airports or overseas. Fighting for a cause can be an exhausting endeavor, and protests help people feel like they’re not alone.

Finally, protests can help shatter an image of a placid society. Even as the city ramps up to celebrate the Super Bowl, crowds outside Discovery Green last weekend showed visitors that plenty of Houstonians have something on their minds besides pigskin and wings.

From the Boston Tea Party onward, protest has long been part of the American tradition. So when the flags wave and the jets fly over NRG Stadium, just remember that the crowds holding signs across the city are celebrating patriotism, too.