The Ides of March

Thousands rallied  on the National Mall and at capitals
around the country to protest obscene cuts by
Trump/Musk to veterans’ jobs, services and benefits.

Today is the Ides of March. It’s a day that oughta make even the least self aware heads of state a little twitchy.

I only mention it…

One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let’s talk about civil disobedience.

What is it?
Civil disobedience is a public, non-violent and conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies.

Civil disobedience can raise awareness and bring in more supporters to a cause. Violence is scary, risky, and can be wicked off-putting. Me? I’m more apt to take part in a revolution if I can be more or less sure of not getting my head bashed in.

Of course, all bets are off if the current rat fuckers eliminate Social Security and Medicare. If my death date is gonna be wickedly premature anyway, what have I got to lose? May as well go out in a blaze of glory.

From the Boston Tea Party to Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt March, and from suffragists’ illegally casting their ballots to whites-only lunch counter sit-ins, civil disobedience has often played a crucial role in bending the proverbial arc of the moral universe toward justice. (source)

Examples of civil disobedience?

Leaking sensitive documents: people who have access to sensitive information, like human rights violations and the scoop on politicians and corporations committing crimes, may *oopsie* decide to leak it to the press. Such as:

The Pentagon Papers

In June 1971, The New York Times published a series of excerpts from a top-secret Department of Defense report about U.S. involvement in Vietnam between 1945 and 1967. Part of a study commissioned by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the so-called “Pentagon Papers” revealed that four successive presidential administrations had deliberately misled Congress and the American public about the scope, objectives and progress of the Vietnam War. Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who opposed the war and had surreptitiously photocopied and leaked the documents, was prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act, but the judge later dismissed the charges. (source)

Iraq War Logs

In October 2010, WikiLeaks posted nearly 400,000 classified military documents concerning the Iraq War, a massive info dump that dwarfed its release of some 77,000 documents on the war in Afghanistan several months earlier.
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Among the revelations in the so-called Iraq War Logs was evidence that the U.S. military deliberately ignored abuse of detainees by its Iraqi allies, and that there were actually 15,000 more civilian casualties than previously acknowledged (source)

Unauthorized demonstrations:

Demonstration, peaceful protest, and freedom of expression of one's beliefs, is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The First Amendment also applies to international visitors who are welcome to participate in lawful public demonstrations and protests. (source)

What makes a protest illegal? If or when it becomes violent, becomes unsafe, involves trespassing or violates other laws such as health or noise ordinances. Do it anyway.

Sit-ins and roadblocks: this tactic is used to create chaos and raise awareness for a specific cause.

This week’s example? The Trump Tower sit-in by Jewish Voice for Peace to denounce the ICE arrest of Mahmoud Khalil.

Other sit-ins?

The Greensboro Four

On February 1, 1960, the four students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats.

Police arrived on the scene but were unable to take action due to the lack of provocation. By that time, Johns (a helpful local, white businessman) had already alerted the local media, who had arrived in full force to cover the events on television. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. (source)

The 2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in

The House Democratic Caucus, led by Georgia Rep John Lewis, Massachusetts Rep Katherine Clark, and Illinois Representative Robin Kelly (along with 60 other House  Reps) declared their intention to remain on the floor until skank-ass Republican Speaker, Paul Ryan, allowed votes on gun control legislation in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub shooting.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., ended the daylong protest surrounded by his Democratic colleagues. The civil rights leader proclaimed that this "is a struggle, but we're going to win this struggle.” (source)

Occupations: another way to create chaos and raise awareness.

The Occupation of Alcatraz

In 1969, six years after the infamous prison closed, 80 young protesters, led by Native American activists, Richard Oakes and LaNada War Jack, occupied the island for 19 months.

Thousands of Native people from across the country joined the original group of 80 occupiers. The Indians of All Tribes demanded that the federal government recognize treaties with Indian tribes, they demanded a Native American cultural center, and they demanded that land be returned. (source)

Occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota

On Feb. 27, 1973, some 200 members of the Oglala Lakota tribe, led by members of American Indian Movement (AIM), occupied the Pine Ridge Reservation village — which was also the site of the 1890 massacre in which federal troops killed as many as 300 Lakota men, women and children.

The activists set out to protest corruption in tribal leadership (BIA puppets) and highlight the U.S. government's failure to honor Native treaties. They went on to hold the town for 71 days, in what the U.S. Marshals Service calls the "longest civil disorder" in its history. (source)

Other options?

Boycotts, which I’ve talked about here and here. Marches, non-cooperation, fasting and strikes. Us creative types have to be able to come up with other attention-catching, dramatic ways to grab the spotlight and increase our numbers and voice. There must be more.

Be inventive and audacious!