Expert Advice: Protests

From Jaron Benjamin, VP of Community Mobilization at Housing Works.

LEARN:

“You’re never gonna do everything right….learn from your mistakes.”

ANALYZE:

“Have a good solid power analysis. Understand who’s got the power to make the change that you want. You understand what you are doing out there in the street, or doing your sit in or whatever it is that you’re doing it to speak truth to that power. And understand what the next step is—what you’re going to need to do to push that person or that group of people into a position where they can no longer ignore the injustice that’s happening and they have to make change.”

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE:

“If you’re into social change because you’re angry, that can be a good gateway, but it can burn you up.”

VOTE:

“I think the trick with any direct action, whether it’s asking an elected official a public question, and making sure that the public knows about it, or a protest, or even meeting with your representatives, is that it’s just part of civic engagement, just like voting. It all works hand in hand. Because if there are a bunch of protests and nobody votes or nobody does anything, if there are a bunch of phone calls coming into an elected official’s office but the votes don’t happen, that elected official is going to take you less seriously.”

TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS:

“I think the number one rule of attending any protest is trust your gut. Really trust your gut, trust your instincts. If a situation really feels unsafe, you should trust your gut.”

PLAN:

“I always encourage people to plan for the worst and try to have a good time.”

IGNORE:

“My advice for counter protestors is to ignore them. That counterprotestor  doesn’t really have a ton of power. That person doesn’t have the ability to write a law, create a law, or make systemic change. That person might be a tool of inequality or some systemic racism, and might embody that a bit, but that person is not who you are out there protesting against.  You’re out there protesting to ensure that the person in power changes.”

GO WITH FRIENDS:

“It’s a good idea to go with some friends. And it’s also a good idea to have a contact that isn’t at the protest that you can let them know what you’re doing. Send them pictures. Facebook is good for that because if there’s not one person standing by the phone making sure that you’re safe people on Facebook will know that.”

REMEMBER:

“The saying that’s motivated me is a quote that I’ll paraphrase by MLK: ‘The moral arc of history is long but bends towards justice.’”