Submitted to Earth Charter International
by Rosalyn McKeown, Ph.D.
I don’t like the direction that my national government is moving. I think it is amoral. I protest every Monday—Moral Mondays. I walk to the state capital building singing and carrying a protest sign along with one or two dozen other senior citizens. Our protest is repeated across the country by other small and large groups.
Public protest is now my most visible strategy for public education and systemic change. My group protests on streets that are busy with car traffic, in front of the state capitol building, and at organized rallies.
Why I protest
“Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.”[1]
I want to be part of the 3.5%.
In my country, 8,575,000 people need to protest peacefully to bring about change.[2]
I want to bring about change in the Federal government. Particularly, I want money to be spent to address justice: environmental, social, and economic justice.
The Poor People’s Campaign uses the theme of a moral budget. How is money spent in your personal budget? your church’s/synagogue’s/mosque’s budget? your institutional budget? your state/provincial budget? your national budget? Budgets are moral documents.
Protesting Peaceably
Our posters convey justice: “No child should starve for a tax cut.” “Cutting Medicaid is policy murder.” “Everyone has a right to live.” One poster maker got creative: “Housing for the homeless before ballrooms for billionaires.”
We sing as we walk. The lyrics express our values: “We are revealing the truth and healing the pain.” “Somebody’s hurting my neighbor and it’s gone on far too long.” “Neighbor neighbor can’t you see why healthcare is what we need?” Singing signals our peaceful intent to those around us, including the police. Singing is uplifting. When people sing together it reduces stress, lowers blood pressure, reduces heart rate, and activates a spiritual center of the brain. Usually at the end of a Monday protest, I feel more optimistic than when I started.
On these weekly walks, passersby smile, wave, and thank us for protesting.
I attended a rally near the capitol building with three thousand protestors, who lined a busy street leading out of downtown. The Moral-Mondays group sang at an entrance to the rally. Some protestors stopped to join the singing; other smiled as they went by. The signs were clever: “All of my outrage will not fit on this sign.” “I am not a paid protester – I am angry for free.” They brought chuckles born of similar feelings from other protestors. The mood of the crowd was upbeat.
Infrequently, a passing driver gave a long, angry honk from a car horn that signaled dislike. Like us, these divers were expressing their opinions. The drivers’ anger went one way, no anger was returned from the protestors. No violence occurred; it was a peaceful protest.
My voiceÂľjoined with the voices of othersÂľbecomes powerful, more powerful than if we were standing on individual corners protesting alone.
Skillset and Messages
Peaceful protest is one more strategy added to my Earth Charter skillset.
By protesting, I let my community know my values, who I stand with, and what I will not stand for.
In these times of fear, immigrants seek refuge, their voices are silenced, and their movements curtailed. My citizenship status and my First Amendment rights give me privilege to protest peacefully on public property. I can be a voice for those whose voices have been silenced.
If you doubt the efficacy of peaceful protest, remember the People Power protest the Philippians in 1986. “After just four days of protests, President Marcos stepped down.” “There is little doubt that People Power protesters 25 years ago profoundly changed the course of history.”[3]
For the common citizen, staying at home or in your office, posting on your social media platform to influence your sphere of listeners/readers, is no longer as effective as it was a decade ago. Social media is saturated with opinions—some informed and others not.
Peaceful protesting, carrying signs, and singing in the streets is another strategy to move our communities and countries toward the common good.
[1] David Robson. 5/13/2019. “The ‘3.5% rule’: How a small minority can change the world.” BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world
[2] Unite and Rise: An Initiative to Defend Democracy. https://www.lwv.org/uniteandrise
[3] BBC New February 25,2011. People Power at 25: Long road to Philippine democracy. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-12567320
