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THE POWER OF PROTEST - SO MUCH POWER! Recently, the Sonoma Valley SUN Editorial team printed a piece on the significance and power of protest. There was some support of the idea and actual impact of protest - yet if any of you read the comment threads on our local media channels, you will see a lot of cynicism about what protest actually accomplishes (and I am not talking about agitators). Are we standing around preaching to the choir? Even in the article, this is questioned in a way that almost sounds cynical. “In one sense, it was a beautiful example of freedom of expression in action, and yet in another, an example of enfeebled democracy.” Although this is not so much a criticism of protest, but of the condition of our democracy. Here is the article in the SUN:
Editorial: The Power of A Mob - Sonoma Valley Sun. Although we didn’t love the comparison to a mob, they did say some positive things about protest: "Mass marches, protests, boycotts and collective action have profoundly shaped American history. The Suffrage movement, the labor movement, the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the antiwar movement that erupted over the Vietnam War, all changed the course of American history. Protest is, in fact, one of the pillars of American democracy. And we applaud this noble tradition and the (relative) freedom we have to practice it. But protest is also a symbol of the failure of our system of government to reflect the values and the best interests of the people." The point is, in part, that something about American democracy does not work; the influence of money has corrupted our democracy. The need for protest is a symptom of dysfunction.” Wake UP Sonoma, Indivisible, 50501, ACLU, Womens’ March, and many, many more organizations believe strongly in the power of protest as a significant change agent that impacts outcomes. We thought we would share a few resources that demonstrate the power of protest here. Below are excerpts from an article and links published by Harvard Kennedy School and GTFOICE.org which highlights the work of Erica Chenowith, a well known expert on the statistics related to protest impact.
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”Erica Chenoweth, the Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment and HKS academic dean for faculty development, is an expert in nonviolent civil resistance. You can read more about her work here: The 3.5% rule: Understanding what makes protest powerful In “Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict” (2011), Chenoweth and co-author Maria Stephan share the results of their research. They found that successful nonviolent resistance needs a diverse group of participants sustained over time who can create loyalty shifts among regime supporters and a creative range of protest tactics that can withstand direct repression without resorting to violence. Chenoweth developed the “3.5% rule”: the observation that most successful movements tend to have mobilized at least this percentage of a population. Chenoweth explains that if that many people are actively involved in a resistance movement, a high proportion of the population is likely to be sympathetic to, or supportive of, the resistance movement. In a 2020 discussion paper, Chenoweth clarifies that this number is a tendency rather than an ironclad law: “The 3.5% participation metric may be useful as a rule of thumb in most cases; however, other factors—momentum, organization, strategic leadership, and sustainability—are likely as important as large-scale participation in achieving movement success and are often precursors to achieving 3.5% participation.”
For example, The map on the link below, demonstrates that everywhere protests exist against Trump’s proposed ICE prison camps are also expressions of the court fights / lawsuits against these camps. Rachel Maddow had a leading segment on her show about this recently. And in her estimaiton, they’re winning against Trump.
GTFO ICE — Get The Facilities Out “We know that Trumps ICE is currently attempting to build new detention centers across the country. We must stop these modern day concentration camps. These detention centers are inhumane warehouses where families are separated, basic medical care is denied, and human dignity is stripped away in facilities that profit from suffering.” Keep your eyes on this Detention tracker. Organized communities have already stopped detention centers in places like Social Circle, GA, Williamsport, MD, and Ashland, VA, proving that sustained local pressure can defeat even the most well-funded detention profiteers.” GTFICE.org
THIS IS THE POWER OF PROTEST! _____________________________________________
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