There are many kinds of protests.
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There are many kinds of protests. No Kings is what some people might call a "parade" but I still think at this moment it's a great idea.
This has been planned as a big, safe, family friendly, mass event casting the widest possible net for those who are fed up with the president and direction of the country.
If it doesn't turn out that way it's a very bad sign. Since people like Jimmy Kimmel have been targeted that can't be ruled out.
But I don't think being scared is needed.
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There are many kinds of protests. No Kings is what some people might call a "parade" but I still think at this moment it's a great idea.
This has been planned as a big, safe, family friendly, mass event casting the widest possible net for those who are fed up with the president and direction of the country.
If it doesn't turn out that way it's a very bad sign. Since people like Jimmy Kimmel have been targeted that can't be ruled out.
But I don't think being scared is needed.
If this is your first protest ever, that's great and this is a good one to pick for a first time going to such an event.
Look out for others. I worry most about people getting in a panic if the police in your area decide to be aggressive (which they can do at times without provocation) think about the people around you, look out for those who may need help walking, don't let anyone get knocked down or left behind.
Stay calm.
And get ready to feel great and less alone!
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If this is your first protest ever, that's great and this is a good one to pick for a first time going to such an event.
Look out for others. I worry most about people getting in a panic if the police in your area decide to be aggressive (which they can do at times without provocation) think about the people around you, look out for those who may need help walking, don't let anyone get knocked down or left behind.
Stay calm.
And get ready to feel great and less alone!
I'm not really expecting people to get knocked down or kettled or rushed by the cops without warning. At big events like this normally (in NYC) the PD will do crowd control until the middle aged people with strollers leave only then will they go after the kids.
If this has changed and they try to force the event to end early it's a bad sign. It's also one of the reasons we keep doing these events: to check that you still can.
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I'm not really expecting people to get knocked down or kettled or rushed by the cops without warning. At big events like this normally (in NYC) the PD will do crowd control until the middle aged people with strollers leave only then will they go after the kids.
If this has changed and they try to force the event to end early it's a bad sign. It's also one of the reasons we keep doing these events: to check that you still can.
Don't let any scruffy kid make you feel like you aren't doing something important if you are part of the big group who is just showing up to verify that this is still a country where the most mild of protests are tolerated.
"rights" are often "use it or loose it" things. The right to "petition the government for redress of grievances" may or may not still exist. If you decide it's too scary to check then it is already gone.
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Don't let any scruffy kid make you feel like you aren't doing something important if you are part of the big group who is just showing up to verify that this is still a country where the most mild of protests are tolerated.
"rights" are often "use it or loose it" things. The right to "petition the government for redress of grievances" may or may not still exist. If you decide it's too scary to check then it is already gone.
It can be disappointing to go to a protest then look at the news coverage after. The coverage often fails to capture the joy, anger and enthusiasm of those who show up. It often fails to capture the size of the events and will focus on any "violence" that manages to happen, a broken window, or footage of the police attacking the people who are last to leave two hours after the main protest is over.
Don't let this bother you.
A very big protest WILL be noticed in ways that count. -
It can be disappointing to go to a protest then look at the news coverage after. The coverage often fails to capture the joy, anger and enthusiasm of those who show up. It often fails to capture the size of the events and will focus on any "violence" that manages to happen, a broken window, or footage of the police attacking the people who are last to leave two hours after the main protest is over.
Don't let this bother you.
A very big protest WILL be noticed in ways that count.One of the nice things about the modern media landscape is you can simply make your own "news coverage" of your local protest. It's polite to not feature people's faces in the photos and videos you use.
If you are in an area where you can safely operate a quad-copeter, or if you can get up on a roof getting big crowd shots to show the size is helpful.
I always enjoy short interviews where people talk about why they decided to show up or explain their homemade signs.
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One of the nice things about the modern media landscape is you can simply make your own "news coverage" of your local protest. It's polite to not feature people's faces in the photos and videos you use.
If you are in an area where you can safely operate a quad-copeter, or if you can get up on a roof getting big crowd shots to show the size is helpful.
I always enjoy short interviews where people talk about why they decided to show up or explain their homemade signs.
There are already people working to generate fake AI clips of the protests to circulate on right wing social media.
That's also very frustrating, but a flood of real images and experiences coming from all participants will make this kind of nonsense more obvious.
When taking photos go for shots of the back of people, or just their signs. I've often struggled to find photos I could use and regret not thinking about privacy more when taking my photos.
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There are already people working to generate fake AI clips of the protests to circulate on right wing social media.
That's also very frustrating, but a flood of real images and experiences coming from all participants will make this kind of nonsense more obvious.
When taking photos go for shots of the back of people, or just their signs. I've often struggled to find photos I could use and regret not thinking about privacy more when taking my photos.
I do think you get some extra impact from a protest when people talk about how they went on social media. It makes it feel like "everyone is going" and normalizes the whole event even more.
That's the kind of event this is trying to be. Simply massive and "what everyone is doing."
That's part of the message. This isn't a tiny group of radicals. It's everyone, your brother, your aunt, her little dog too.
(dog photos are great and do well, people sometimes put a sign on the dog: very amusing)
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I do think you get some extra impact from a protest when people talk about how they went on social media. It makes it feel like "everyone is going" and normalizes the whole event even more.
That's the kind of event this is trying to be. Simply massive and "what everyone is doing."
That's part of the message. This isn't a tiny group of radicals. It's everyone, your brother, your aunt, her little dog too.
(dog photos are great and do well, people sometimes put a sign on the dog: very amusing)
Find a way to let your more right-leaning relatives know that you went.
It will change the way they see the news coverage since they will need to try to place you... who they might not totally like, but who they do at least understand to some degree as a part of that story.
"how extreme could it be if Ralph was there?"
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J jwcph@helvede.net shared this topic
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Find a way to let your more right-leaning relatives know that you went.
It will change the way they see the news coverage since they will need to try to place you... who they might not totally like, but who they do at least understand to some degree as a part of that story.
"how extreme could it be if Ralph was there?"
Also if you aren't in a big city and going to a smaller event I have less advice from experience. But I think the "smaller" protests in less expected places are very important. Try to find a way to let everyone know about your massive event with two dozen people in a small town. That's part of "everyone is doing it" too.
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Also if you aren't in a big city and going to a smaller event I have less advice from experience. But I think the "smaller" protests in less expected places are very important. Try to find a way to let everyone know about your massive event with two dozen people in a small town. That's part of "everyone is doing it" too.
Two dozen people with 8 signs and a dog is TERRIFYING if we are talking about a small town with a population of 10 or 20K people.
It's basically the Bastille being stormed in terms of political implications.
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S suneauken@mastodon.world shared this topic
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Two dozen people with 8 signs and a dog is TERRIFYING if we are talking about a small town with a population of 10 or 20K people.
It's basically the Bastille being stormed in terms of political implications.
The beauty of this idea! Thank you.
