With increased ICE and National Guard sightings and tensions mounting, I wanted to take a moment to say how much I have loved seeing images from No Kings flood my feeds and infiltrate my conversations. I saw and heard from so many people: from big cities and small towns, from relatives and friends, from those I knew would be there, from OG activists, and from so many for whom this was their first public protest ever.
I loved seeing it: the signs, the joy, the community, and the mass public resistance.
I also saw people crapping all over the excitement of others, judging people for what they weren't doing or had not done before this weekend, and/or dismissing the march altogether for its purpose or what it did or did not stand for. And on the flip side, I saw folks whose hubris about this action was over the top, believing that their sign-holding with a thousand others was on the same risk-level as someone engaging in an act of civil disobedience standing before a fully armored up, militarized officer of the state, who was about to be beaten, cuffed, and arrested.
For those who feel like folks are crapping on your joy, you have to keep in mind that for many of us, No Kings is pretty a mainstream protest, especially for those of us who live in progressive places and have been participating in direct actions and/or civil disobedience as our primary method of resistance for years. And for those for whom No Kings was a basic, milk-toast action, at some point when you first entered a new space of resistance, I hope you were welcomed. We do not have to center or celebrate when a privileged person finally hits the streets, but I believe it is important to have empathy and understanding when new folks break through whatever barrier was holding them back. When we lose empathy for people who are engaging for the first time in public protest, we let evil win. That may sound dramatic, but when we forget that we all have human emotions and reactions, that is precisely what we have done.
I love the way my friend and colleague, Molly Baskette put it in her post, The 3.5% Rule when she challenged her white kinfolk to show up. It's a good reminder for the rest of us of where some people start.
If you worry you’ll get pepper sprayed or thrown to the ground or arrested or worse: I can’t promise you that’s not going to happen. But I *can* tell you that the more people show up, the safer every individual protestor there will be.
Especially if you’re white.
Especially if you present as female.
Especially if you’re a middle aged nice white lady like me, or an older white person of any gender.
Whiteness and respectability have done and are doing so much harm in our country right now, keeping us complacent or shielding bad actors and going along with the status quo, no matter how destructive to individuals and society.
Visibly showing up is a chance to use our white respectability as a shield to protect others who don’t have our agency and relative freedom to speak out.
Honestly, I rejoice that folks turned out and were public, especially in the small towns and spaces where doing so was a genuine risk. I was unable to attend, and I'm not sure I would have even if I could have, but I knew that others would hold those signs with and for me, so thank you for being there! Ultimately, we need multiple strategies, multiple voices, and multiple fronts to maintain consistency, increase momentum, and deepen involvement in any movement for change.
If this was your first or second public action, you now have a taste of the community, the energy, and the joy that comes from engaging in public action. I now hope that the No Kings March will serve as a gateway to increased involvement in the resistance. If you are able, I hope that you will now take another step and become more involved. Find the coalitions that have been organizing in your area and offer your gifts, skills, and resources: accompany someone to their court hearings, join a rapid response network, take a civil disobedience training and be ready to engage, get trained for protest de-escalation or safety support, and show up at other public actions where there may be more risk to you because other cannot. Join in resisting the authoritarianism that is encroaching upon us so much so that those who know you will notice the change and may join you along the way!
Peace,
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