I have seen a lot of talk about what protesters should and should not be doing. Some of this talk has, very disturbingly, taken the form of some liberals and Democrats discouraging protest altogether until after the election.
Trump is weaponizing imagery of street violence & therefore, some argue, all protest must cease, to prevent Trump's people from further manipulating the situation. The people making those arguments are handing Trump a huge victory by playing into fascist dynamics around dissent.
People who are arguing that we should pause all protest are contributing to an environment where dissent is discouraged and scorned. Democratic mayors have similarly played into those dynamics when they have unleashed fascistic violence against protesters in the recent uprisings.
To ask people to cower while they suffer and endure violence is unconscionable. Rather than raising questions about whether we should protest, we should be creating tools and messaging for the kind of protests we believe are most needed right now.
We must be constructive and understand that dissent and unrest are inevitable in a moment of social and economic destabilization. Instead of issuing condemnations, we should be offering ideas and assistance.
We cannot vote down the idea of public protest, nor should we want to. We can add our own visions and ideas to the mix and tell compelling stories that we believe will bring people together behind the right ideas and in a positive alignment.
In that spirit, some friends & I created this resource aimed at challenging Trump's fascistic messaging. Pls share its contents, share it with your networks & if you hear someone arguing that we must pause all protest until after the election, intervene. bit.ly/3hULCpK
We are under siege and fascism is ascendant. This is no time to throw the very concept of protest under the bus.
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