Why Modern Protests Matter
The on-ramp to civic engagement starts with showing up.
There are a few posts circulating where authors claim that protests don’t matter.
I disagree.
Here are three reasons modern protests matter:
1.Protests can be an organizing tool that generates resources. Modern protests (in at least the last 10 years) are not only about the faces on the street, sound bytes and photo ops. Demonstrations like the global Women’s Marches and the #NoMuslimBan airport mobilizations came together with the use of newish technology that allowed people to get connected, join on an email list or Facebook group, and locate an event. (I saw newish because honestly these tools have been around, they’re just being redeployed and used in slightly new ways.)
Check out this is a map of Women’s Marches across the globe:
And this is a map of airport demonstrations that were rapidly mobilized:
That means a list — an audience (from a marketing perspective), or a supporter base (from an organizing perspective) — is generated. A list can be cultivated to grow a movement, and I’ll expand on this later in the post. The driver of continued action is something we refer to as a ladder of engagement. It’s like a sales funnel, but the ultimate goal is to reclaim democracy and our government, not sell you more credit cards or sneakers or whatever. The protest party will continue after the demonstration is over.
2.The number and geographic diversity of people showing up is strong evidence that people do not support recent US policy decisions. Sure, a few hundred or even a thousand people showing up may not make a statement. But thousands of people showing up in highly unlikely places tells a different story. Since the Women’s March, thousands of people keep showing up to stand with immigrants and refugees. Social media helps us see that this isn’t just a coastal phenomenon in the United States, but an increasingly global action. Daniel Nichanian, a post-doctoral student at the University of Chicago, has been collecting and tweeting out photos of people gathering across the US to stand in favor of welcoming refugees. It’s important to note in the twitter thread that he created shows that more than 50 cities had actions, many of which are not a part of a major media market. (Click on the tweet to see the entire listing + photos of the demonstrations — including 3,000 people in Birmingham, Alabama.)
And there is global support:
It’s important to note that the website and map listed above were robust tools that helped move these people to show up.
3.The cure for civic apathy is connecting with others, and nothing beats face-to-face interaction. A few authors I’ve read that dismiss protests also dismiss the heart-aspect of protest and demonstrations. Again, I doubt these people have organized a demonstration before. Any successful organizer knows that a Movement marches with it’s heart — emotions play an enormous role in bringing people together. As a nation, we needed these marches. It’s not about changing the President’s mind. We know that’s not going to happen. It’s about being so angry at the state of affairs, we are compelled to go out and physically stand against the decisions being made. These marches are bringing people out of isolation and back to each other. That action alone might be meaningless if that was the only thing that happened. The thing is, these protests are acting as an on-ramp to sustained action for a whole new generation of activists.
So this is where something called Ladder of Engagement comes in to play.
A ladder of engagement is a way for organizers to think through all the steps a person takes to move from being a bystander to being a leader in your cause. It might look something like this:
And if we apply it to the Women’s March, a ladder might look like this:
Running for office might not be the top of every ladder. It might be chairing a local group, or being a dynamo member-recruiter, or any number of roles and activities that involve stepping into your leadership and helping your group grow.
The point is to create a path for people to be their best and most engaged selves, and sustain their community. The demonstration is one of the first rungs on that ladder that helps you connect with other like-minded people, and helps lead you to serving your community in more ways.
So what do we do, going forward?
Here are the 4 things we have to keep doing:
1.Stay encouraged (that’s the friendship part.)
National security expert Juliette Kayyem said on a recent podcast that protecting our spirit is essential to feeling secure and taking action. Yep, there we go with the feels again. It’s not meaningless or fluffy to continue to encourage one another — particularly when we need to look out for one another and validate things like self-care. None of us want to show up in the cold or stand for hours in an airport. What makes it less of a drag? Our friends — one of the most powerful organizing tools on the planet.
2. Stay respectful of our governmental institutions and move with precision. Our government is not yet coming apart at the seams, even if it feels like it (and the anxiety is real. You are not alone. We will get through this together.) To be clear — I’m not saying we need to give any politician “a chance” and not hold them accountable. But we cannot let politicians act disrespectfully towards democratic principles or institutions. We have an obligation to respond in a way that protects the institutions our country was built on. Democracy is a participatory sport and we can change those institutions. One neutralizing counter-move against shock is to engage with the other branches of government — particularly the Legislative branches at the federal and state level. Marci Dale writes more in this concise guide:
Local governments, too, can serve as another check and balance against harmful federal decisions. Kate Shea Baird and Steve Hughes lay out a few scenarios:
And don’t take the outrage bait! The opposition’s power is fed by shock, confusion and continued discrediting of governmental institutions.
We can’t fight this situation by accelerating that dynamic and acting like the opposition. One de-escalation and facilitation tool I learned years ago is to meet the opposition and engage with them. How you engage is important. When I have been faced with chaos and yelling, I respond by be overly polite (not aloof or sarcastic, just earnest and polite) and I try to speak more slowly and quietly. I learned it from my community elders, watching them quite down crowds and dissolve conflict.
So don’t take the bait.
3. Stay engaged with elected officials (particularly moderate Republicans and all Democrats.) That means knowing who your elected officials are, and getting their district office phone numbers handy. It’s important to build credibility, and the most credible thing any of us can do is speak as a constituent to our elected officials (even if we didn’t vote for them.) Pouring in phone calls to people that don’t represent us is less effective.
Let me be clear: it is essential in this activity to STAY RESPECTFUL. Even if you very much disagree with everything they stand for, continue to respectfully state your view and urge them to take action that aligns with your view. When and if they take action in a way that you have suggested, be sure to thank them for doing the right thing. The same applies to interaction on social media. Elected officials at every level of government take interaction on Twitter seriously. So engage, and engage in a pro-active way. Legislative mobilization is a form of diplomacy, not a street fight, so act accordingly.
4. Keep building ladders and stepping up to your leadership.
Keep finding ways to build relationships and work together. You have to keep supporting the local relationships, because that is where all the action really happens (not in D.C.)
Protests matter.
They remind us we are not alone.
It’s how we find each other.
It’s the beginning of something great. But it’s the BEGINNING. You have to keep working and gathering people in to make a sustained difference.
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Tanya lives in Austin, Texas. Her first experience with direct action was protesting the WTO in the late 1990’s, followed by 17 years of working for progressive causes and campaigns. Recently, she spent six years helping public school employees stand up for themselves across Texas. She believes in civic engagement and she believes in you.
