No matter how outraged you feel, or how erudite your arguments against Social Security cuts, NIH cuts, Veteran’s care cuts, National Parks pillaging, yanking legal immigrants off the streets and deporting the innocent, USAID cuts, book bans, governmental theft of health care for women and LGBTQ folks, and the dismantling of program after program…
No matter how strong your social media posts WHY the unholy alliance in office right now harms our democracy and sets over a hundred years of progress backward…
Nothing is more powerful than your showing up.
If you are like most Americans, you likely don’t have the kind of money to move the needle like the 1% does, but you do have YOU. And you can show up and practice democracy and speak for the programs and departments and jobs we the people so carefully constructed for ourselves – over generations. These departments and programs and services are ours, not our government’s, and we made every one of them to address our collective needs.
Showing up matters. It is putting your greatest asset on the line.1 Showing up also bolsters courage in onlookers and sends an undeniable message to your community, your government officials, and your fellow citizens that we are willing to wield our power.
Democracy is a practice. Much like yoga, meditation, working out, learning a new language, or prayer. If you do it often, you’ll receive results commensurate with your consistency.
How to show up
It is also important to remember, you may not know exactly what your showing up will do. Instant gratification or even a clear outcome is not (yet) the point. The goal is to get our expectations & messages across loud and clear, build momentum so the number of active citizens will grow each subsequent political action, and stay safe.
Below is advice I wrote to a teenager who was headed out to protest on the April 5 mass day of action. It may be perfectly good advice for anyone showing up. (BTW, next day of mass action is April 192)
The Practical Matters:
If bringing a phone, have it fully charged, lock screen password on (no face id), stash a battery pack if needed and wear comfortable shoes. Bio-metrics can open your phone if you were detained, but a password would require more paperwork, and you can refuse to give it.
Be an embodiment of
POWER
COURAGE
DEMOCRACY
KINDNESS & CELEBRATION
INCLUSION (we need to grow the numbers of ordinary citizens, including disenchanted maga-ites)
If trouble comes, move away quietly, drop signs and hide/go home a different way.
Rally is from ___ to___, and officially ends at ___ time. Best to stay until the end. The press doesn’t always get there early and we want this recorded.
Make sure location is shared with family in case you go off on your own.
Best to avoid in signage: swearing, attack, name calling (unless witty), and violent language, and avoid violence in all situations. Civil disobedience works best when peaceful.
Because this is a marathon not a sprint, and we need others to join us every single time in increasing numbers until democratic rule is restored and checks and balances kick back in as intended in our Constitution. It’s going to take some doing, because the pendulum has been swinging waaayyy right, and the GOP is eagerly working on consolidating power and money in the hands of a few.
Here’s some old printable Rally Art, much of it still meaningful today, but honestly, you are better off writing your authentic message in your own handwriting on your sign or flag. There are loads of things this republican administration is destroying, so pick one that means something to you.
Oh yes, and tall signs, flags and visible items make a difference. So do long banners carried by several people. These tend to show up on camera better, and getting press is what helps gets more folks involved next time. People love a party3. And there is no reason not to celebrate your right to free speech, your right to assemble peacefully, and your general kick-ass ability to run your own country, because we are a democracy after all, and we do not kowtow to wannabee kings who would have us all stay at home watching him on TV.
See you soon.
FOOTNOTES
- My favorite signs of April 5 said “Does this ass make my country look small?” and “What Cory Said.” ↩︎
- On April 19, 1775 at dawn, the American Revolutionary War began with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. It was this day the colonists defended their ideals of liberty and self-determination. The events of that day have been popularized as the “shot heard round the world.” ↩︎
- Learn more about large scale event promotion here. ↩︎
