During the Civil Rights Movement, Black fans turned their fandom into a powerful nonviolent weapon. They marched and boycotted games to protest segregated seating and discrimination at their local stadiums. They plastered their communities with banners and shouted out slogans to demand equality. They were supported by Black sportswriters like Jim Hall, who kept fans up to date on the latest boycotts and encouraged them to use their passion for football to fight for their rights.

Today, soccer fans are still using their love for the game as a way to fight for their rights, and their stories remind us that this is more than just a fad. Whether they helped bring down Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, led a march against their club’s owner at Chelsea or pushed back against plans to commercialize the sport, they prove that fan activism is not only alive but an important part of the game’s history.

For example, a group of Los Angeles Galaxy fans—including the Angel City Brigade, Galaxians and LA Riot Squad—walked out of the stadium during Saturday’s home match against the Minnesota Timberwolves in protest of the team’s silence on ICE raids in the club’s Latino community. The group’s leader, Leslie Jimenez, says there isn’t a day that goes by when she doesn’t cry about the raids. She thinks the Galaxy walked out of the conversation over fear that the team would be accused of escalating things too far. But a Galaxy spokesperson tells Rolling Stone that the team won’t speak out on the issue directly, per league policy, even though it has been asked to do so by several fan groups.