Protests and endurance

As war protests continue, there is a growing need to focus mass marches around a specific day in the week to keep numbers up and momentum going while at the same time continuing to focus smaller daily marches on specific targets.

As the Critical Mass/Bike Coalition coup of this past Friday showed, rallying around a specific event every week-- in the Friday AM and PM rush hours (7 and 5) at Justin Herman Plaza-- has much potential and is an effective way to gather and pace energies. It encourages those who haven't been protesting, or don't have the time to protest everyday, to do so and is inclusive of all those who can't afford to take the full day off of work but can be on the street when it counts most. It also prevents protester burn-out, a phenomenon not yet documented by the Medical Association.

Planned daily protests on the other hand must then continue to rally around specific targets, such as companies that are directly profiting from war or government institutions whose responsibility it is to amplify the voice of those they represent. Randomly targeting consumers and commuters, though valuable, over the long run creates impatience and resentment rather than empathy and is seen as opportunistic rather than genuine resistance. Directly targeting institutions or corporations for shut down- as The Fed Building, Carlyle, CNN show- has a direct, tangible consequence and such focus, for smaller rallies, must continue. It is more powerful to hold the guilty accountable than to inconvenience those with bad habits, no?

Of course, protests continue whenever and wherever anyone deems fit, no matter what anybody says or plans, as do spontaneous responses to events relating to specific war developments. Having one day a week though, when it is possible, with numbers, to articulate a point of view with singular overwhelming resistance, week after week, is necessary if we are to maintain endurance.

Ideas, comments, suggestions?


-The Writer's Bloc