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We know this is a stressful time, we hope that our resources are able to bring some comfort in this unstable time. We are experiencing this together!
What is Peaceful Protest?
What is Peaceful Protest?
Protest: A form of actions& behaviors that suggest/tell a group of individuals how they could be doing things differently-typically for the betterment of access, equity, equality, autonomy rights and/or treatment in facilities of work.
When this is done in peaceful, non-violent forms of action, we consider it to be a peaceful protest. Many philosophers have aruged back and forth as to the necessity of peacefulness in protest. For our involvement in activism -and our influence on you to do so- we are strictly discussing or influencing for peaceful, legal, protest.
Keys to a safe protest:
Keys to a safe protest:
Respecting Each Other
Respecting Each Other
Understanding Your Place
Understanding Your Place
Understanding Group's Message
Understanding Group's Message
How to Take up Space Respectfully
How to Take up Space Respectfully
What to and not to Bring to Protests:
What to and not to Bring to Protests:
Not to bring:
Credit/Debit cards
Flammable anything
FACE ID or TOUCH ID accessible devices (you can typically deactivate these features in the settings, or purchase a flip phone)
To Bring:
BackPack/Bag (Durable/ light/ fits close to body)
Water Bottle
Bandana/ Face Mask/ Face covering
Reasonable Walking Shoes
Cash
Ibuprofen/ 3 days worth of Medications/Inhaler LABEL THEM (if neccessary)
Goggles/ Glasses (eye covering)
Cooling Cloth (hot temps)
Headlamp (if planning to be dark)
Hairties (long hair/ other people may need)
Menstrual Products (you/others in need)
Clean washcloth
Sharpie
Small containers of milk (incase of Tear-gas)
Bottle of saline solution
First Aid supplies
Duct Tape
Ear Plugs
Extra Face masks (for others)
Whatever else you believe the people around you will benefit from. (Think less weight.)
Signs
What to Ask Before Joining a Protest?
What to Ask Before Joining a Protest?
What can I say and do that can be the most helpful to this protest?
Do I understand why and how we plan to protest?
Do I support this action or set of beliefs?
If I were at the center of this issue would I want someone to protest for me?
If I get detained will I lose the ability to provide my myself (& family)?
Are the people/actions/topics that may be present going to harm you mentally or emotionally by being present?
Are there trained skills that I have that could help the people I will potentially be joining?
Am I doing this for the sanctity of others or myself? How should this change my presence?
Have I ever been apart of the problem protesting? How can I show love and support for change due to this knowlegde?
What will be the emotions of the crowd going into the protest?
Does the need for Social Responsibility, cause me to rethink my decision to not protest?
Mental/ Physical Preparation for a Protest:
Mental/ Physical Preparation for a Protest:
Write a lawyer and person of safety's phone number on your arm/leg
Write my name and phone number on everything I own that could be taken by police, and needs to be identified to be returned.
Did I deactivate any biometric accessibility to my devices, (AKA did i turn off Face ID and Touch ID)
What will I say to a police officer in the case of being arrested? (Nothing)
Am I strong enough mentaly to handle being arrested in this protest?
Is this event something that qualifies as a protest that could result in people being arrested? (some events like Pride or regulated events, are not going to be any where near as stressful.)
Have I prepared to meet people who dont agree with everything I believe?
Do I know the history of this protest or what it's purpose is?
Do I have a strong emergency contact who either knows I will be there, or who will be quranteed to help in the case I need it? Does SOMEONE ANYONE know I am going to this protest, and expects to hear from me at a certain time after? Did I write one or both of these phone numbers on my body?
Do I take medications more than once a day?
Do I have any trusted people attending this protest with me? Can I make trusted friends or aquitances with people at this protest to protect me, and I protect them?
Do I know what to do in the event a firearm is discharged? (THIS CAN BE TRIGGERING TO MOST, UNLIKELY BUT POSSIBLE)
Do I live in an area where I am more likely to be unsupported by my community for protesting? (This depends on both location and local legislation.)
If I have a trusted mental health professional, did I run this by them to see if they agree with me that I can handle this type of (sometimes) stressful situation?
During the Protests I should:
During the Protests I should:
Talk with your group and establish friends and contacts for organizing after the protest
Act calm
Do not attack or be violent in a way, do not overtly impact the people around you
Use your privilegdes, to protect others without them. (Learn more in the Social Discrimination Section, all identities (seen and not seen) are important to take into account when protecting one another.)
Listen closely to key community members guiding the protest, they will know the ways to lead.
If you are left in the case without any leader, you gather a strong group to protect eachother. Remeber key importance of peacefulness and hope for future growth together. Remember your goals of the protest, find safe ways to continue achieving them.
Remember when to be humble, when to listen, and when to be heard, when to take your space.
We all deserve to feel connected in these community acts of protest, but often they can feel angering or painful, but we discuss the pain of the fight to remember the hope of peaceful and fruitful growth. It's important to not let the anger of the past wrongdoings, make you cross a boundary of peaceful action.
Keep a look out, be extremely aware of your surrondings, monitor your exist passages, your safety areas, if you need a map for where you are - get one-.
If I am detained I will:
If I am detained I will:
Say nothing, until you are required to give name and identification.
Depending on physical ablilty, you can go limp, or make the people detaining you physically move you to the place of desired detainment.
Remain Calm, everything cops do and say is a fear tactic to get you to comply. Many tactics have even been psychologically studied to be accurate and changing behavioral outcomes. (Standford Prison Experiment)
Remember your Rights, start reminding yourself of the research you did prior to the Protest, what are your rights, options, and people to contact for help.
If you are hurt in the process, ask for documentation(, or document yourself) the process for which you received the injuries. Make sure you are in contact with people who were wittnesses to this altercation or mishandling.
Contact Legal Aid, find a local lawyers phone number prior to your protest, to wear on you in permannt marker for you to refer to later if needed.
Keep yourself Safe. We know that police are inherently violent, and it's important that we remind ourselves that our personal safety is important. Knowing you are at higher risk for injuries, you may want to avoid actions that could get you detained to begin with. You can also find people in your crowd that you can ask to protect you in the possible occurence that you are to need people to do so. Always talk to your community, they will know what is needed when things take place, make sure your needs are on their radar.
After a Protest I will:
After a Protest I will:
Wash Clothes
Shower (remove marker from earlier)
Disinfect your belongings, return them to their respective places if necessary.
Take care of yourself mentally/emotionally
Ice any over-extended muscles, (use a heating pad if it helps more).
(document all injuries extensively) If you are hurt in the process, and you believe you can reasonably take care of it, do so and fully disinfect the area.
(document all injuries extensively) If you are hurt in the process, and you believe you need secondary medical opinions, go to a trusted General Practitioner , or a hospital depending on the severity of your injuries.
(document all injuries extensively) If you are leaving the protest due to significant wounds, please seek emergency medical attention! (CALL 911)
Monitor yourself for symptoms of common diseases such as: COVID-19, Influenza, Common Cold, etc.
Don't share any media or recordings you have from the protest, especially if it includes pictures of other people at the protest. (if you are really worried about the loss of information, transfer media to a USB drive and keep somewhere safe or share with a trusted person.)
There are several - typically by area- laywer firms that are willing to take on cases, often times based on income. So its important to do some research on your own area. Clicking above will take you to our Legal Aid Page that will go on to explain how to find these resources, and where you can find your rights. Always make sure to know someone to call in the event the police engage you.
Laws in Your State
Laws in Your State
As we all know, the state by state laws are different than the federal laws we have in place. This means that on a plane, in your home town, and in your neighboring states, you have different laws and rights. So making sure you know what is and isn't legal in the area you are protesting, will allow you to avoid as much police presence in your activities as possible.
As we all know, the state by state laws are different than the federal laws we have in place. This means that on a plane, in your home town, and in your neighboring states, you have different laws and rights. So making sure you know what is and isn't legal in the area you are protesting, will allow you to avoid as much police presence in your activities as possible.
Consent in All Spaces is a mechanism we can use to focus on how we would want to be treated in any given situation. We know that being forced to do anything is uncomfortable, and when it comes to sexual encounters there is a high tendency for people to abuse their position in the exchange of pleasure. This is not only a crime, but a tendency high enough that 1 in 4 people Assigned Female At Birth, or represent femininity, are sexually abused before the age of 18. This is not to take away from the ways that males are alos victims of sexual asssault.
Talking about consent is important and there are plently of ways to make is a sexy experience. We should always discuss our sexual preferences in terms of sexual acts, before we engage in sexual acts with someone new. It's important to discuss STD/STI status and make sure that this is a person you are comfortable with. Continuous consent is also important, and if you aren't feeling a situaiton don't feel compelled to continue. Make sure to have good communication with the people you are engaging with, this can be even in non-sexual spaces. Consent can revolve around many different areas in life such as, medical procedures, touching (hugging/kissing), discussion of personal information or triggering information, etc.
What is Precariousness?
What is Precariousness?
Precarious:
“Precarity (also precariousness) is a precarious existence, lacking in predictability, job security, material or psychological welfare. The social class defined by this condition has been termed the precariat.”
Precarity is a good gauge to use when looking at visible and non-visible identities, because we are gauging the level of danger for a given identity based on different situations. While some people may carry identity privileges, it does not take away from their precarious identities, or the impact they may have in someone’s day-to-day life. When discussing identities and power struggles, utilizing the lens of precarity can help us to navigate complex intersectional scenarios.
What is Equity?
What is Equity?
Equity as a concept differentiates from equality in that it is a way for us to view the necessity of not having equal support for each person, but rather finding the way for everyone to have equal access to the support they may need to meet their basic human needs and have access to the spaces and resources necessary for human spiritual health. A goal of equity is to acknowledge how the trades that we make of our energy for a common goal, may not always look equal, but have similar weight to each person and their ability to contribute. Equity is a large piece to understanding the best ways we can create more accessible spaces, as well as essential to addressing various kinds of power imbalances relating to hierarchies of race, class, citizenship, sexuality, assigned gender status, ability, and more.
Private Companies Track Phones During Protests (and give that data to the government):
Private Companies Track Phones During Protests (and give that data to the government):
Are ways in which we have structured our society to cater to a specific kind of format for us to run on; even-though, it may be an unspoken and interpretable format per se.
Are ways in which we have structured our society to cater to a specific kind of format for us to run on; even-though, it may be an unspoken and interpretable format per se.
First we must understand what kind of systems we are looking at?
Patriarchy has been founded on the preconceived notion to sex differences at birth and assumed placement in breeding or procreation for future generations, and the assumed placement of a labor source or provider. While this notion has been getting very old by this time, we have let it up hold several households and leave many spending years in emotional aguish over their true wants and the systems' need to stay alive. If men are home bodies who take care of the young, as their female partner have a larger corporate jobs that provide for the family you are actively breaking this norm. However, don't misguide your sense of praise for breaking away from the norm. The praise goes to those who also teach their children not to rely on a specific sex or gender to provide for emotional needs etc. There is a lot in this world that caters to the male ideology, but in many ways it dis-serves the male population the most by inappropriate expectations and emotional strangulation. This does not negate that the tole the Patriarchy has put on AFAB people and/or women is unattainable by most, and has caused death, abuse, and manipulation in the name of gender superiority. Sexual domination has always been apart of this historical fantasy, but the patriarchy uses this assumed domination to abuse and silence women all the time. Rape and abuse culture is an egregious act and it's important that we take the energy to deal with our biggest predators in the community.
However our systems journey does not lead us just to Patriarchal Systems, but also Racist Systems that further upheld the white male agenda for power and profits. We saw this throughout the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Fugitive Slave Laws, Emancipation Proclamation, and Jim Crow Laws that have only evolved in their ability to access black communities and gerrymander their counties. Racism has many different ways of manifesting itself in the psychology of white individuals. Racism is something every white person faces, because our environment inherently works for us. It makes sure that we are safe; instead of fearing us and therefore endangering us. Racism and Slavery gave white men with power the ability to control and manipulate the ways in which voting and many other forms of freedom were withheld. Black Communities have faced the most extreme of attacks in our nation's history. It's our job as people today to combat our learned racism and other social systems, so that people can be in this place of freedom with the feeling of actually feeling safe, protected, and free to do so as they please (with reason).
There is more research being done to finish this page, please be patient with us.
There is more research being done to finish this page, please be patient with us.
If you would like to help us write about commonly silenced areas or personal experiences you may have with these topics, contact us at thisisactivism2023@gmail.com or fill out our Comments page. We want our website to be a continuous growth of knowledge to share with each other in a positive way. There are so many things we don't talk about and we should!
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