Of Peace and Protests (Because the System Isn't Broken)
- nebraskansforpeace
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
"This government was founded on protest." - Thurgood Marshall
Since the election of the current regime our false peace here in the United States has
been disrupted by protests, civil unrest and musical festivals (code for protests), not
only in our state, and across the country but across the world. The media has been
largely quiet on these protests due to censorship and propaganda being at an all-time
high so you may not know that a Music Festival has been running daily in Los Angelos,
ALL DAY, 24 hrs a day birthed from the June 6th Ice raids. Anti-regime and Ice protests
have been held in all 50 states and numerous cities right here in Lincoln, Omaha,
Norfolk, which includes a group of women dressed in red robes and white hoods
emulating the Handmaids Tale, participating in a local parade and following a local
elected official around. A 104 yr. old woman in Florida is protesting every Thursday with
her neighbors and friends. The No Kings Protests throughout the nation attracted over 5
million people. Across the globe countries like Germany, England, Portugal, even
Switzerland are protesting the current federal administration through their presence on
the streets, in the media, even in their entertainment. Because the least we can do as
human beings of course is make our voices heard when things are bad in our
communities, right?
"When Oppression Becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty”- Thomas Jefferson
Of course, there are those on both sides of the aisle that don’t believe that protesting is
effective and that we should shut up and go away or spend our time doing something
else. I would say that history would beg to differ. In just the last 100 years there have
been many protests that were influential and successful, here are a few remainders:
Salt March (1930) - Led by Mahatma Gandhi, a nonviolent protest of the British salt
taxes in colonial India. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956) - Sparked by Rosa
Parks' arrest, this boycott led to the desegregation of public transportation in
Montgomery, Alabama. Stonewall Riots (1969) - A series of spontaneous
demonstrations by the LGBTQ+ community in response to a police raid at the Stonewall
Inn in New York City. Soweto Uprising (1976) - South African students protested the
forced introduction of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, leading to increased
opposition against apartheid. Solidarity Movement (1980s) - A Polish trade union that
organized strikes and protests, ultimately contributing to the fall of communism in
Poland. Velvet Revolution (1989) - A nonviolent transition of power in Czechoslovakia,
leading to the end of 41 years of communist rule. Anti-Apartheid Protests (1980s-
1990s) - A global movement against apartheid in South Africa, contributing to the
eventual dismantling of the system. Zapatista Uprising (1994) - An indigenous
rebellion in Mexico against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the
Mexican government's treatment. Arab Spring (2010-2012) - A series of anti-
government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Arab
world, leading to regime changes in several countries. Black Lives Matter Protests
(2013-present) - A global movement against systemic racism and police violence,
sparked by the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's killer. Umbrella Movement (2014) - Pro-
democracy protests in Hong Kong, in response to proposed electoral reforms by the
Chinese government. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Protests (2016) - Protesting the
construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and
environmental activists. Women's Strike for Equality (1970) - A nationwide protest in
the United States demanding equal rights for women in the workforce, education, and
politics. Climate Strikes (2018-present) - Inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg,
these global protests advocate for urgent action to address climate change and its
impacts on the planet. Yellow Vest Movement (2018-2019) - A grassroots movement in
France that began as a protest on fuel tax increases, later expanding to include broader
demands for economic justice and government reform. Belarusian Protests (2020) - A
series of protests against election fraud and the authoritarian regime of President
Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, calling for new, fair elections and greater political
freedoms.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." – John F. Kennedy
These are examples of mainly peaceful protests that led to impactful change.
Sometimes, however, stronger measures have been taken throughout the centuries to
combat brute authoritarian force and mass gross injustice, which take us from the realm
of peaceful protests to insurrections, uprisings and revolutions. Successful rebellions
against injustice and fascism such as the American Revolutionary War, The Civil War,
The French and Haitian Revolutions easily come to mind.
But truthfully violent uprisings often fail, and so do peaceful protests and there
are many reasons why that need to be analyzed. These reasons can usually be
categorized into three general groups: logistical and tactical issues, communication and
messaging challenges/barriers, and socio-political factors. A myriad of issues can
render protesting ineffective such as a: lack of clear goals, inadequate organization,
insufficient funding, poor communication among protesters, ineffective leadership,
limited public support, inability to sustain momentum. Government repression
including excessive use of force by authorities, legal challenges, and other external
interferences. Absence of media coverage, infighting among protesters, insufficient
planning, plus failure to develop concrete strategies, over-emphasis on symbolic
actions, focusing on the wrong issues, ignoring expert advice, unfocused demands,
lack of measurable outcomes, and disregarding historical context. Also factors such as
low turnout, inadequate training, co-optation by other movements, unwillingness to
compromise, use of exclusionary tactics like lack of diversity in participants, being
unwilling to compromise, disregarding cultural sensitivities and ignoring allies will all kill
a movement dead. Don’t forget poor messaging, the inability to adapt to changing
circumstances, fragmentation of movement, misuse of resources, reliance on a single
leader, failure to establish a united front, neglecting grassroots activism, overlooking
local issues, underestimating the need for persistence, etc, etc. All of these problems
can render a protest non-effective and have many times over.
Of all our studies, history is best qualified to reward our research. And when you
see that you’ve got problems, all you have to do is examine the historic method
used all over the world by others who have problems similar to yours. And once
you see how they got theirs straight, then you know how you can get yours straight.- Malcolm X
Failure to address these challenges, protest after protest has burned a lot of people out
from showing up and to be honest I’m one of them. I’ve been in many protests but when
a group of us went to Minneapolis, Minnesota during the George Floyd uprisings, I
realized 1 st hand how serious and dangerous of an event a protest really is. I was jailed
and had my life threatened by the police for our efforts to bring food and medicine to the
demonstrators at the 5 th precinct. I saw a high-beam laser from a military weapon go
through my chest and I had to examine my life and what I was willing to sacrifice...
including my children, in a split second. I could’ve died there, in a war zone, alone in a
dark dirty alley, far from home with no identifying documents, not even my cell phone to
call for or find help. 5 years later I am still traumatized from that experience and now
look at the world around us. Racism on the rise, reminiscent of the American glory days
of jim crow and the reconstruction era, the rollback of protections for women, and
children, people being kidnapped off the streets all in the name of law and order and the
greatness of the magalomania of the American ego. Would I have died in vain? I want
to say no. But without addressing how to make a protest or revolution successful are we
putting ourselves in harm’s way for no reason? Particularly marginalized groups of
people? Maybe.
I’m not at all saying stop protesting or stop resisting… but what I am saying is to
examine the goals of the protest and use logic along with our emotion. False
peace is no peace at all and a protest in this climate without a plan of action or a clear
goal is symbolic at best, stupid at its worst and a waste of precious energy resources.
It’s almost giving a type of performative weaponized incompetence at this point...
because what is the point? Truly? Is it Revolution? Or is it putting band aids on the
infected wounds this country has inflicted on generations of people until this very day…
without the healing antibiotics? Are we just wanting to just go back to our convenience
and comfortability? Are we just screaming into the void?? Because not only do we need
to make our voices heard, and our presence felt but we need to manifest REAL
(R)EVOLUTION through doing REAL WORK by getting organized, strategic, thoughtful,
prepared and serious about dismantling this system. Nothing less. So, are we
protesting to change the system or start something fresh from its ashes? This system
will never change because the system is doing exactly what the system does. THE
SYSTEM IS NOT BROKEN.
This system works exactly the way it was originally designed, and it was designed to
Break People. We don’t want this system. Please do not be out there protesting to
preserve a system that can take away the human rights of people at any moment,
particularly not on behalf of those who have been broken by it. We’ve had enough.
The purpose of life is to obey the hidden command which ensures harmony
among all and creates an ever better world. We are not created only to enjoy the
world, we are created in order to evolve the cosmos.- Maria Montessori
All Power to the People!
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