Building your campaign or movement does not happen in a vacuum but is tied to wider structures of oppression and discrimination such as classism, sexism and racism. Theory 101 provides you with the definitions, examples, and resources needed to understand how all these systems of marginalization and oppression are connected to each other.
There are probably hundreds of things you’d like to achieve through activism. Although we all want to end global inequality and discrimination, we sometimes have to set our sights on more reasonable, achievable goals. Even the most successful campaigns will struggle to promote meaningful change if their aims are poorly-defined.
When creating your campaign make sure you have an achievable and easy-to-define goal that you’d like to reach. This might be repealing a law, increasing funding to a certain area, a simple political change, or any number of other goals.
Most importantly of all, make sure your goal is achievable by the group or individual you are targeting. It might be worth researching the power and influence they hold first of all, which leads us to…
You’ve found the issue in your community you’d like to change, but you need also to find out who can change it. If you’re calling for a government official to take action then you should first research the best way to get in touch. Most officials have websites and phone lines that can help you find this information.
For a department, or organization, it’s worth find a direct contact for the person with the power! In a similar way, if you’re contacting a private business then it’s important to make sure you address the person that actually makes the changes.
Overall, writing to a specific individual or group that directly works with your issue is always more important. It’s also important to remember that someone high up the chain might have the power, but will be much harder to contact and
Invite your friends! Family! Loved ones! Community group! Church group! Whoever!
If you already have a campaign group or network established then spread the word to as many people as possible. Modern technology makes this even easier, with Facebook events, Twitter and email.
Set a date (or dates) and a time for everyone to meet, and let as many people know as you can. It might seem obvious, but even the best organized events will fail if not enough people manage to take part.
The more people willing to take part, the better – but it can sometimes be hard for everyone who might support your aims to take part. If you’re holding the campaign as part of an event at a public venue then make sure it’s easy to find, and accessible for everyone.
If possible try to avoid bars and nightclubs, or any other kind of space that might make people uncomfortable. Community centres or conference spaces are usually the best option.
If your campaign isn’t part of a single public event then make sure the information needed to take part is easily available, either online or in an accessible format. One important aspect of this would be creating the basic resources everyone needs, such as a draft letter or email, an address, and the goals of your campaign.
And adults aren’t the only ones that matter! The input of children and young people can be especially powerful and important. Whenever possible, make sure you try to involve young people in your campaign, especially if the issue is something youth-oriented. Getting the opinions and thoughts of a broad range of society is incredibly important when advocating for change!
Let’s be honest: Sometimes campaigning isn’t everyone’s cup of tea! Activism can be a lot of fun, but letter-writing isn’t exactly a thrill-a-minute activity!
If you’d like as many people as possible to get involved then it’s good to have some other form of incentive to attract them.
If you have the funds or the time, food is always a great option. Other activities could include a film screening, tea and coffee morning, or even something as simple of a meet-and-great with other members of the community.
An important part of letter-writing campaigns is raising awareness of your issue. Inviting local media and journalists can be a great way to get your issue into the headlines.
Not only does it raise awareness, but the added attention can help add pressure to those you’re trying to target.
Contact your local newspaper, radio or television stations and speak to them about the issue you’re trying to address. If you’re holding an event then invite journalists along to discuss your aims.
If you know how, writing a press release with important information about your campaign might also be a good way of working with the press.
If you’re expecting a lot of media attention then it might be worth arranging a member of your team to act as the press liaison. This is the person that deals directly with any questions and enquiries and therefore should be someone who is well-informed and articulate when it comes to your issue.
Most importantly don’t forget to keep up the pressure until your goals are met!
A single letter-writing campaign is likely not to bring about all the change you want along. Instead, make sure that multiple campaigns, of different scales and styles, are taken out.
Making your campaign one part of an ongoing campaign for change is the best way to make sure that public opinion remains high, and that those who are capable of making change, do so.
I tweeted for the #NoSizeFitsAll campaign as soon as I read about it.
Why do I think it’s important? I will be the first to confess I don’t know a lot about fashion and I am more of a jeans and t-shirt girl myself but maybe that’s because I have never really seen myself reflected in fashion.
I am sure other gender non-conforming LGBT women probably feel the same. There are amazingly cool androgynous and gender fluid models out there (Ruby Rose who created the Break Free video for example) but the problem is that they are all size ‘impossible’ to achieve for most women.
What effect does being constantly bombarded with unachievable ideals that foster negative body images have upon women (and men who are increasingly falling foul to the pressures of conforming to a certain body image)?
The Women’s Equality Party have some alarming statistics:
‘Eating disorders affect 1.6 million people in the UK, 89% of whom are female. 14-25 year olds are the demographic most affected by an eating disorder, with 5% of girls and women suffering from anorexia—the most deadly psychiatric disease (10-20% of cases are fatal).’
There is also a financial cost as a result of women having a negative body image:
‘Health care costs for eating disorders in England have been estimated as £80-100m with overall economic cost likely to be more than £1.26bn per year.’
Looking back at pictures of my younger self I was alarmed at my perception of myself at the time. In some photographs I was very slim, skinny in some and yet I covered my body with very baggy clothing as I felt my thighs and rear were huge and that my stomach wasn’t flat enough.
The #NoSizeFitsAll campaign wants the fashion world to do more to showcase diverse body images
As a result, like most women, I went on one yo-yo or fad diet after another throughout my twenties.
Then I came out as a lesbian and had an epiphany. I realized I no longer had to conform to the gender stereotypes that are supposedly in place in order to attract heterosexual men (though most of the men I know prefer women with curves).
Whilst I still didn’t really know where I would fit into the lesbian community, I suddenly felt somewhat liberated.
Women are all shapes and sizes and we should celebrate our differences rather than beat ourselves up about it.
Whatever gender you identify as, if you feel as strongly as I do about this issue then visit the Women’s Equality page, go to the act section and support this campaign.
Jenny Fallover (@jfallover) is Delivery Program Manager, Enterprise Business Systems at Thomson Reuters, and is part of the Global Leadership Team and EMEA Co-Lead with the company’s Pride at Work network group. She is also London City Director for Lesbians Who Tech and on the committee of the Gay Women’s Network.
Catwalk image: Art Comments licensed via CreativeCommons2.0
Striking examples of powerful campaigns to get inspiration from !
While we at The Pixel Project always seek to emphasise the positive, the fact remains that, in many places in the world, activists working to end Violence Against Women (VAW) face considerable obstacles: denial of the problem; cultural taboos that prevent open and honest discussion; viewing VAW as a “women’s issue instead of a human issue; and hostility from men’s rights activists and extremists who seek to keep women “in their place.” The latter was tragically and recently seen in the early October shooting of Pakistani girls’ rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
Given the hostility they often face, many VAW activists recognise that they have to be more creative than activists working in more popular causes (e.g. cancer, children’s issues, animal rights and the green movement). A sense of humour and a penchant for effecting change from within also does not go amiss.
So today, in honour of all VAW activists, nonprofits and grassroots group to toil in such thankless situations to bring about positive change to the lives of women and girls facing violence, we present 16 of the most striking campaigns/programmes we have come across in the last year of our work, in no particular order. That many of them include men is an encouraging sign that the issue of VAW is starting to gain traction as a human rights issue, not just a women’s issue.
What these campaigns have in common are:
We hope that these campaigns and initiatives inspire you to take action and get on board the cause to end VAW.
It’s time to stop violence against women. Together.
Creative VAW Campaign 1: Using Technology to Show Where and When VAW Occurs – India
When a survey noted that India is the fourth most dangerous place in the world to be a woman, P. Sheemer was shocked and decided to take action. He set up “Maps4Aid”, which allows anyone to submit reports of violence against women through a variety of means, including SMS and email. The report is then recorded and posted to social networking sites. The project hopes to reinforce the idea that violence against women is a terrifying and everyday occurrence in the country, and lists reports according to date and location. The eventual aim is to take the project beyond documentation into intervention, by mapping the most dangerous streets and areas across India, and pressing authorities to provide extra security measures in these areas.
Creative VAW Campaign 2: NGOs Unite to Encourage Men to Challenge VAW – Kenya
A new branch of the international organisation MenEngage launched in Kenya, a country where a 2009 survey found that 47% of married women had experienced domestic violence, an increase of 21% since the 2003 survey. MenEngage Kenya Network calls on men in Kenya, particularly those in positions of authority, to make increased efforts in challenging violence against women and championing non-violent conflict resolution. The campaign will function alongside and strengthen existing work to address more specific forms of violence against women present in Kenya, including female genital mutilation (FGM).
A number of organisations, including the Museum of Women of Costa Rica, have launched a national photography contest with the goals of raising awareness of the consequences of aggression against women and inspiring people to work towards a more equal society. It is the first contest of its kind in the country. Photographs must be related to “any of the manifestations of violence (physical, psychological, sexual, economic, symbolic, etc), myths and misconceptions that contribute to maintaining the cycle of violence against women, and resources to overcome it.” Winners will be announced on November 21, 2012 as part of the celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Creative Campaign 4: Butterflies Highlight the Plight of Abused Women in Nicaragua – UK
British designer Robert Kennett decided to use his entry in the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show to draw attention to VAW in Nicaragua. His garden featured butterflies and frangipani, a flower native to Nicaragua. Mr. Kennett was inspired by an Amnesty International campaign called Butterflies of Hope, through which he learned that more than 14,000 women in Nicaragua, many younger than 17, had been raped in the past ten years. In talking about his inspiration he said, “There’s a real stigma there…it’s thought of as the victim’s fault…Altogether I thought there were many women silenced there and I could help express things they couldn’t say.”
Creative VAW Campaign 5: Professional Athletes Speak Out – United States and Canada
North American male athletes are stepping up and speaking out about VAW. In June, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden helped launch the 1 is 2 Many campaign, featuring a PSA with well-known male athletes including soccer star David Beckham, basketball player Jeremy Lin, and National Football League star Eli Manning. “Young boys and men get a lot of mixed signals about what constitutes manhood … that’s why it’s so important today that these incredible athletes, these guys got together, stepped up, and did this,” said the American Vice President. In Canada, the B.C. Lions football team joined forces with the Ending Violence Association, government, and labour groups on the “Be More Than a Bystander” campaign which speaks to the majority of men who do not commit violence against women, encouraging them to condemn and speak out against the minority that do.
Creative VAW Campaign 6: Father’s Club Addresses Violence Against Women – Haiti
In this small Caribbean country where sexist attitudes are widespread, past initiatives to reduce gender-based violence have tended to exclude men. In an effort to get more men involved, one man in a rural community about 90 minutes from Haitian capital Port-Au-Prince decided to establish a fathers’ group to discuss issues like meaningful consent and the importance of not using violence. Group members receive training from CARE. Group members also go door-to-door in their community to talk to other men about VAW. “Children see their fathers beating their mothers and some carry on the cycle of violence when they grow up. We’re trying to show other fathers it’s not okay to do that,” said fathers’ group founder Rorny Amile.
Creative VAW Campaign 7: Red Dresses Draw Attention to Violence Against Aboriginal Women – Canada
Jaime Black has found an interesting way to draw attention to the high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. There are 600 official cases of missing or murdered Aboriginal women in the country, 300 of which have not been solved. Ms. Black’s art installation features red dresses hung around the campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Dresses were donated and represent all ages and roles that women in society hold.
Creative VAW Campaign 8: Documenting VAW in “Paradise” – Norway
Photographer Walter Astrada, featured in a previous post in our blog, continues his work to raise awareness of VAW through photography. Having previously photographed women in Guatemala and Congo, he decided to turn his lens to a country with relatively few social ills to demonstrate that, even in a place that many think of as a paradise, violence against women occurs. TRIGGER WARNING: Mr. Astrada’s photographs, featured in the New York Times article linked to above, may trigger strong responses in anyone who has experienced domestic or sexual violence.
Creative VAW Campaign 9: Stopping Harassment of Women on Public Transit – Sri Lanka
The organisation Sri Lanka Unites tried a novel approach to addressing harassment of women on public transit. Hundreds of young men received training and then ventured onto buses to speak with people about public transit harassment. They apologised to women for any harassment they had endured, informed them of the legal recourse available to them in the event of harassment, and challenged men to take responsibility for the problem. In just one week, these young men boarded over 1,000 buses and reached over 30,000 commuters in the city of Colombo. According to event organisers, the response from the public was very positive, with many asking for more information.
Creative VAW Campaign 10: Alerting Police to Girls in Brothels with Secret Photos – Cambodia
Somaly Mam was forced into prostitution as a child but escaped and now works to free other young victims of sex trafficking. Her efforts led brothel owners to kidnap and rape her daughter, and issue death threats against Somaly herself. Still, she carries on, using techniques like sneaking into a brothel and surreptitiously photographing the young girls there. Presenting her photographic evidence to authorities has led to raids with mixed results but, as New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof says, this is how the battle against human trafficking is being fought around the world.
Creative VAW Campaign 11: New Stove Decreases Risk of Rape – Sudan
Women in the Zam Zam refugee camp in Darfur risked rape by Sudanese militiamen every time they left the camp to collect wood for their cooking fires. If they chose not to venture out, they would have to spend scarce money on firewood. Ashok Gadgil heard about the problem and worked with Darfuri women and other engineers to create an affordable wood-fired stove that would use less wood. In fact, it uses four times less wood than open fires, saving the women money. The end result—80% of the women can now afford to buy firewood since their new stoves run so efficiently, meaning they do not have to leave the camp to search for wood.
Creative VAW Campaign 12: Black Friday Condemns VAW – Jamaica
Stories of the brutal rapes of four women and a young girl in a home invasion galvanised public sentiment in Jamaica. Fifteen organisations in the country came together to launch a protest, encouraging people to wear black and stand across various locations as a sign of solidarity against VAW and sexual abuse. The protest was supported by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller who issued a public statement asking members of the public to participate.
Creative Campaign 13: Red Shoes Protest VAW in Juarez – Mexico
Another visual artist used red to highlight violence against a particular group of women. In this case, it was Mexican artist Elina Chauvet. She placed red shoes outside the Mexican consulate in El Paso, Texas to protest against VAW in Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico.
The Lebanese Council to Resist Violence Against Women organised a program to teach girls Aikido, a Japanese martial art that teaches people to redirect the force of an attacker rather than rely on physical strength. The Aikido instruction was part of a year-long “Together We Make Change…Stop Sexual Abuse” campaign that taught over 2,500 male and female school students about sexual abuse and harassment and how to defend themselves. Organiser Randa Yassir noted that the Aikido element of the program would help girls combat the traditionally held notion that females are weaker and should surrender rather than fight back when attacked.
Qamar Naseem began his role as an activist with the organisation Blue Vein which worked to raise awareness about breast cancer. In conservative areas of his country, this caused some degree of backlash from people who saw this as a discussion of women’s sexuality. “We faced a lot of resistance,” he said. “We learned that women are not allowed to make decisions about their own bodies.” He realised that to really effect change, programs had to involve men and women. He organised community support groups where community members can talk about issues like domestic violence and delaying the age of marriage for girls. He has also worked to increase girls’ access to education, even when that means challenging militant elements in a community.
Creative VAW Campaign/Programme 16: Combating Street Harassment – Egypt
The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights conducted a study in 2008 that showed that 83% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign women reported incidents of harassment that included sexual touching, grabbing and cursing. In response, Egyptian women’s groups carried out the Faouda Watch initiative in which they monitored how the country’s president performed regarding women’s rights during a one-month period. They are hopeful that they can convince the president to make street harassment a criminal offense. Other initiatives by Egyptian NGOs and women’s groups include volunteer street patrols, with photographs to document incidents, and an open mic night where women could speak out about their experiences with sexual harassment.
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Palestinians are using the viral smartphone game Pokemon Go that has taken the world by storm to highlight their political grievances, News.com.au reported Tuesday.
While seemingly innocuous at first, the game has been subject to a number of conspiracy theories, including in China, and its links to the CIA have raised concern by many, including among Egyptian security authorities who claim the game threatens Egypt’s national security.
But now Pokemon Go is being used as a way to showcase the injustice Palestinians face under Israeli military occupation.
Although it has not officially been released in the region, tech-savvy users have managed to cheat the system and download the game.
One user tweeted an image of Pikachu lying among rubble in a site that has been torn down, with the health status of the creature describing it as “Dead.”
Another image being shared widely depicts a rare Charizard that’s out of reach because it’s on the other side of the apartheid wall that separates Israeli territory from the West Bank.
Facebook user Abd Elrahman Salayma, who lives in Hebron in the West Bank, joked: “There is a pokémon down the street in the settlement… how the hell am i going to catch it?”
Another Twitter user commented that Israel doesn’t need the game as it already “hunts Palestinians for fun”.
Haaretz reported last week that the Israeli Defense Force issued a warning to its soldiers, telling them not to use the game on military bases, as it’s a “source for gathering information.” Soldiers are reportedly also prohibited from “checking in” on social media platforms at military bases, in fear of soldiers revealing sensitive information about military operations.
Great Action from Amnesty. Might inspire some more!
By Amnesty:
Forty body bags, representing the number of people killed by the police in May 2016 in Rio de Janeiro were displayed in front of the Local Organizing Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympics by Amnesty International’s activists in a peaceful protest.
The activists also delivered a petition signed by 120,000 people from more than 15 countries demanding public security policies that respect human rights during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“The Local Organizing Committee is in charge of the mega event and bears shared responsibility over the security operations and consequent human rights violations committed by agents of the State in the context of the Olympics,” said Atila Roque, Amnesty International Brazil Director.
The Local Organizing Committee is in charge of the mega event and bears shared responsibility over the security operations and consequent human rights violations committed by agents of the State in the context of the Olympics.
“It is part of the Local Organizing Committee’s mandate to ensure that security practices are aligned with the Olympic values of friendship, respect and excellence and that international protocols on the use of force and on human rights are fully respected.”
Since April, Amnesty International has been raising concerns around the increased risk of human rights violations in the context of Rio 2016 Olympics, as it happened before in other mega sporting events such as the 2014 World Cup and the 2007 Panamerican Games. Since 2009, when Rio won the bid to host the Olympics, more than 2,600 people were killed by the police in the city.
“Brazil failed to learn from past mistakes. In the month of May alone, 40 people were victims of homicides committed by the police, a 135% increase in comparison to the same period in 2015. These numbers are unacceptable and compromise the Olympic legacy,” said Renata Neder, Human Rights advisor at Amnesty International.
Great example of how to use innovative technology to catch young people’s attention!
From the Advocate
PFLAG Toronto has come up with a way of getting its message to schools — at least to those who know how to read it.
The group’s innovative new campaign uses posters that reveal a hidden pro-LGBT message only when students take a picture of them while using a camera flash.
PFLAG estimates that 76,000 middle and high school students will see the posters in Toronto district schools. Featuring rainbow colors, the posters spell out Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Straight, Queer and 2-Spirited on the left side. When students snap a picture, the words “are suddenly accompanied by nouns that illustrate LGBTQ folks are people they know, respect and love,” according to AdWeek.
“We wanted to send a positive message to students that we are all more than just our gender identity and sexual orientation,” Toronto PFLAG president Anne Creighton said. “Our mission is to get students talking about these things, so the novel and shareable nature of this poster was a perfect fit for our message.”
Watch the ad switch between the two messages:
Many years ago a peculiar form of sign language emerged in the meetings of Quakers in Europe and North America. These simple hand signals were used to ensure that people could share their thoughts and feelings, without interrupting speakers. They quickly spread through the British environmentalist movement as a way of improving meetings efficiency.
In more recent times they were adopted by the American Occupy Movement, and became a common occurrence in most parts of the West. The modern standard, which is now-recognised by many social campaigns, uses a number of hand signals based on simplified American sign language to facilitate communication in public gatherings.
If you find that your meetings and public events sometimes struggle with multiple people talking at once, or if you find that they can be difficult to access for some groups, then you might want to consider implementing hand signals into your next event.
For more information on these hand signals and how to use them, please visit this Wikipedia page.
If you want more advice on actions for IDAHOT 2016 then consider joining our creative protest group on Facebook.
Check out this interesting article about what messages our opponents use. They really know no limits. This is definitely “going too far”. But beyond outrage, what messaging can we oppose to this fear-mongering tactics. Research shows that upfront combatting this argument would just make things worse. Campaigns would be better off engaging the voters on the values we share with them, like respect, freedom, understanding.
Activists are stunned after the HERO, or Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, failed with voters by a wide margin Tuesday, reports the Houston Chronicle.
The ordinance had banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and 11 other characteristics in employment, housing, and public accommodation. But anti-LGBT forces rallied, including the lieutenant governor and a veteran antigay activist doctor from Houston, to repeal the measure, which the City Council passed in 2014.
With about 95 percent of votes counted, the ordinance was losing 61 percent to 39 percent, according to the Chronicle.
The opposition painted the law as a “bathroom bill” by preying on fears of transgender people, claiming that men would invade women’s restrooms to assault them; such behavior has never been reported as a result of a trans-inclusive equal rights ordinance.
“Prop. 1 is not about equality. That’s already the law,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in a video posted as part of the campaign to Vote NO. “It’s about letting men in women’s locker rooms and bathrooms.”
On the other side of the fight, the ordinance had received public support from President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. It also got the backing of nearly 60 companies — including Apple, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, BASF, and EMC.
It’s a blow specifically to the city’s out mayor, Annise Parker. She had pressed for the law and was then sued when its detractors pushed to get the repeal placed on the ballot. The Texas Supreme Court ruled in July that Houston officials either had to repeal HERO or put it up for a vote by the public.
Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin noted that Houston becomes the largest American city without protection from discrimination for LGBT citizens, and he warned that opponents of equality will try to expand on their success in other parts of the country.
“It’s almost unbelievable that this could happen in a city like Houston, but make no mistake: if we don’t double down today, we’ll face the same thing again and again in cities across the nation,” said Griffin in an email to HRC supporters.
The coalition formed to fight for the ordinance, Houston Unites, said Tuesday that it would press to have it restored.
“We are gravely disappointed that for now, Houstonians will continue to be denied critical local protections against discrimination,” the group said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding later that “Tonight is not the end.”
Watch an example of the video campaign run against HERO:
The first Democratic debate last night was, refreshingly, a spirited exchange of important ideas and policies, unlike the egomaniacal, mean-spirited, rhetoric-spewing GOP slugfests that have so far transpired. This, even despite CNN’s silly showcasing of the last night’s event as if it was a Vegas prizefight.
The debate also highlighted just how important it is to pressure candidates, including via loud protest, to focus on the issues progressives care about. That was evident literally a few minutes into the debate when Hillary Clinton, in her opening remarks, was the only candidate to focus on the battles ahead over full equality for LGBT people:
..[T]his is about bringing our country together again. And I will do everything I can to heal the divides — the divides economically, because there’s too much inequality; the racial divides; the continuing discrimination against the LGBT community…
Those few words were impressive because Clinton has been criticized for being slow to embrace marriage equality in the past, and, more importantly, has been pressured in recent months to speak out more forcefully on LGBT discrimination. Responding to the pressure, Clinton recently discussed the importance of adding protections for LGBT people in housing, employment and public accommodations to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, something even President Obama appears to be reticent about doing at this point.
The issue didn’t come up for discussion in the debate last night, but that’s because it wasn’t raised by the moderator: For Hillary Clinton’s part, she laid it out as an agenda item in her opening remarks, the only one to do so. And she had to do that, considering those on the stage with whom she was debating. Sen. Bernie Sanders was one of only a handful of legislators who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act as a House member in 1996, a bill that President Clinton signed into law. Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley pushed and signed a marriage equality bill in his state, as did former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, and both of them touted these successes during the debate last night — another example of how pressure from LGBT activists has shown candidates that embracing equality, rather than ducking from the issue, can be a win for them.
From Black Lives Matter to the DREAMers, the debate underscored how vigorous protest is vital in making Democratic candidates talk about the issues, just as protest pushed President Obama to act on LGBT issues, as Kerry Eleveld lays out in her new book, Don’t Tell Me to Wait: How the Fight for Gay Rights Changed America and Transformed Obama’s Presidency. There was criticism from some progressives of the Black Lives Matter protest at the progressive gathering Netroots Nation last July in Phoenix, when activists interrupted the appearances of both Sanders and O’Malley. But last night both candidates, rather than offering the bungled and embarrassing responses they had at Netroots — when O’Malley actually said “all lives matter” — spoke in detail on the issue of police brutality against African-Americans, having done their homework. And Hillary Clinton, having been hounded by the DREAMers, the young immigration reform activists who challenged her even before she announced she was running for president and who are rightly continuing to do so, spoke to the issues and championed the DREAMers and their cause.
Surely some of this was pandering as well as campaign strategizing to make sure the candidates didn’t step on any land mines. And there were less than adequate responses at times on issues affecting all of these groups, or just vague responses. But the fact that the candidates are responding at all validates how important protest is — including protest against those considered our “friends” — and how only those who speak up, loudly, will be able to make change.
