So You Want to Join a Protest...

A Primer

Folks are in the streets again, standing up to a corrupt and brutal Trump regime. Chances are there are lots of folks who have never hit the streets before, and think they are ready to, but are still unsure. I understand the hesitation. There is plenty of fear and lots of misconceptions and misinformation around protests and direct action. If you’re feeling reticent or confused or need a little encouragement, this one’s for you. Please know that it is not comprehensive, just a starting point. Let’s do it in a Q and A style.

How do I know where to go, and when, and what to do?

Start this Saturday. It’s No Kings Day, and there are demonstrations all around. Find one near you on their website. Your local Indivisible or Tesla Takedown websites will have other opportunities. So might your social media feeds and the local news.

Your town is full of small, local organizations that regularly offer chances to get involved with local organizing. You should especially seek those out in the near future.

One thing you should pay close attention to is how to get involved after the big march on Saturday. The No Kings Day is a terrific use of mass mobilization as a tactic, but there are many other tactics. Big marches are important, but they are not the only thing. Talk to folks or organizations you trust about other organized resistance work in your city. Leave contact information with organizers so you’ll know about other events upcoming.

Should I take others with me?

You bet. Most protests are parties, sometimes roving ones with speeches and/or walking. Going with friends is best. Plan to stick together, including walking back to the car or the transit station, as you would with any other outing. Have a spot appointed to meet up in case you get separated. Plan to connect again soon after to debrief and talk your experience. At every step, recruit some other friends in.

What should I wear? What should I bring along?

Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Costumes, sparkles, glitter, something outrageous? All welcome. This is a party celebrating a different way of living together than the wretchedness Stephen Miller has dreamed up. Make it fun and interesting–but comfortable.

Consider some water or a snack for yourself, plus a little to share.

Signs are great. Humorous signs are even better. Be warned that if you bring a sign, you have to carry the sign

Cool sign from a recent event. Also a good example of the challenge of bringing an unwieldy that you have to hold.

Be aware that some cities, including my city of Charlotte, have “extraordinary event” ordinances that give cops the right to search your bag if they want, without cause. If you carry anything larger than a small purse (e.g., a bookbag) you could wind up subjected to a search.

Should I pee before I get there?

Always.

Should I take pictures and share them?

Of yourself and your party? Absolutely. Post to the group chat and your Instagram story and your Facebook friends that you are out fighting for our future. Tell them about the highlights. Make the Movement irresistible.

But photos of people you don’t know? Only with their consent. Large group shots should get the backs of heads or blur out any distinctive markers.

Also, know that you live in a surveillance state and you are participating in a public action in a public space, with press around. You can’t expect anonymity.

Is protest for white people, too?

Hell yeah. Our people built this monstrosity. The only way we can reclaim our souls is by tearing it down.

Everybody has a place in the Movement. Come ready to listen, to sing the chants until you’re hoarse, and to be part of the beautiful chorus of bodies taking to the streets.

Consider, too, how you might use your body. At past protests, I’ve been asked to distract an unruly disruptor, to stand at the back of the line between the marchers and a tailing cop car, to take a turn on the bullhorn, and to pull a wagon full of water bottles. I’ve mostly just been one of thousands screaming for justice. Every job is important.

Are protests safe?

Protest events and demonstrations are overwhelmingly safe, especially mass mobilizations like the ones this Saturday.

BUT: There are no guarantees in this life. Things go wrong somewhere every single day. Here’s what I know: when folks are joined in collective action, part of the commitment we make is to care for one another. In the streets, you’ll probably hear the refrain “we keep us safe.” Keeping one another safe is part of the work that protestors do. The safety of the group comes from working together to protect your neighbor. You’ll need to pay attention to how your actions stay in accord with the need to keep everyone safe. Act a donkey and you could endanger everyone.

AND: We live in a very dangerous moment. The authoritarians currently running the federal government do not intend for any of us to be safe. They have incited state-sponsored agencies and independent terror groups to hurt people. We are not all equally at risk, but all of our lives are expendable to them. You have to make a calculation—risk action now or risk the costs of inaction later. That’s an important decision.

What if I don’t agree with everything?

You’ll be fine. Agreement is overrated; collective action is underrated.

Are protests peaceful?

The best thing that could happen to protest discourse is the elimination of the violent/nonviolent discussion.”Is this protest peaceful or is it violent?” is not a helpful question. It is built on all kinds of false assumptions that aim to undermine a demonstration from its very beginning. When people ask if a demonstration is peaceful, they mostly want to know “will this action be easy to ignore?”

The primary criterion for whether police and media characterize a protest is whether it is threatening to the normal order of things. In their book Let This Radicalize You, Mariame Kaba and Kelly Hayes say, “If your tactics disrupt the order of things under capitalism, you may well be accused of violence, because ‘violence’ is an elastic term often deployed to vilify people who threaten the status quo….When state actors refer to ‘peace,’ they are really talking about order. And when they refer to ‘peaceful protest,’ they are talking about cooperative protest that obediently stays within the lines drawn by the state.”

A protest is supposed to be disruptive.

When violence takes place at an action, by far the largest portion of it comes from police and is directed at protestors. Police departments use tear gas to try and disperse crowds of their own neighbors, despite tear gas being banned in theaters of war. They fire rubber bullets and other supposedly “less lethal” weapons into crowds, though these weapons maim, severely injure, and even kill. They do so with near-total immunity. The state has a monopoly on violence, and yet some unruly teen lights something on fire amid communities defending themselves, and suddenly protestors are the violent ones.

Are protests tense, or rowdy, or spirited? Often they are. Are there occasionally some overzealous people? Sure, but so are there at NFL games or a competitive bowling league.

Are protests violent? Only one side comes dressed for a riot, and it’s not the demonstrators.

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If you can’t get out in the streets, the movement still needs you. Here is a helpful document called “Actions You Can Take That Are Not Protesting or Voting.” I’m not entirely sure where I got this from (I think it was by way of the brilliant organizer Kelly Hayes and has been adapted from a publication by Frontline Medics).

For Further Reading: The Otpor movement helped bring down Serbian autocrat Slobodan Milosevic in the early 2000s. Activist Srdja Popovich was at the center of organizing against him. His book Blueprint for Revolution is full of interesting lessons and ideas for bringing tyrannical governments to a halt.

One More Note: My favorite Movement music.