I’ve never attended a protest before. Never marched in the streets. Never held signs. Never attended a political rally.
I went to the “Hands Off” protest/rally yesterday downtown. It was many things. It was inspiring to see and listen to so many passionate people. It was fun to see the creativity in the signs people made and were carrying – there were more than a few hilarious signs. It was thought provoking as you listened to both the speakers and the conversations around you. It was confusing as I tried to find the purpose and/or benefit of some of the messages. It was frustrating as I heard a lot of emotion that may have been misguided.
Perhaps all protests and rallies are like this. And maybe I am placing too much weight on the event, expecting more than what could be delivered. I bet I am but I can’t help it.
As I looked around the area and saw signs stating “Hands off DEI” I couldn’t help but notice the lack of racial diversity in the crowd. There are many reasons for this but it was just something that struck me. Maybe it’s easier to protest when you aren’t risking a ton. This thought may be unfair because folks in the crowd may be risking a lot but I couldn’t help that the thought crept into my head.
I listened to one speaker – a very passionate speaker – talk about what was unacceptable. She was absolutely correct on many of the things she found unacceptable. But I couldn’t help but notice that she kept referring to a statement that Hakeem Jeffries, the Minority Leader of the House, made during one of his press conferences about the lack of leverage the Democratic Party has to affect policy. She continued to blast him about this comment seemingly calling him out 15 or more times. (It might not have been that many but it sure seemed like it). I wished she had “clicked a couple more times” when she came across the viral video of his comments.(I encourage my kids and friends to always “click two more times” when seeing article or video. This is to try to find more information/sources about the statement or video so to make sure you are getting a fuller story) If she had, she would have realized the context and nuance of his answer. I kept thinking as she talked that if you’re coming to a rally/protest as a speaker please make sure you have a bit of depth to one of your main points. Of course, the purpose of a rally is to provoke emotion and outrage perhaps. She was successful if this was the goal. And it was something to see the passion in her. We have too little of this in the greater society – myself included.
As I think about the entire event I come away with the same thought process as I do when I go to a corporate training event, as silly as this sounds. If I can take away one or two new thoughts or ideas then it was a success. I learned a few things during the rally. I learned of different organizations in the community that are doing some tough work. (The area has a lot of non-profits…a lot! Sometimes I wonder if combining some would be more beneficial but that’s a different topic). I learned that there is a a lot of young and older people that care deeply about what is going on today. While the racial diversity in the crowd was lacking, there was diversity of gender, sexuality, religion and age. I also learned, and am coming to more thought about this as I type, that the rally is the “cake and ice cream”, the “dance”, the exciting and fun part of what we need to do. The actual work comes now (which a couple of the speakers touched on) and we all have to figure out, and figure out quickly, what that work is going to be.
For example, we can scream “We need Healthcare for All!” Yes we do, but what steps do we need to take to make this happen. It is not just something that is solved by legislation. What about the actual logistics of universal healthcare. Everything comes down to supply and demand. If we had free healthcare for everyone tomorrow do we have enough doctors and facilities to handle the amount of people that will be seeking care? No, we do not, and then the wait times that everyone is concerned about if we go to free healthcare become self-fulfilling prophecy. What is the plan to increase our pool of doctors, nurses, facilities, etc? We have to figure that out.
That’s just one example. We can do the same on education, housing and more. It’s not just coming up with a solution but also coming up with the infrastructure to support that solution. (And changing some of our own mindsets and exploring our own prejudices that we don’t think we have until confront with new low-income housing being built near where we live for example)
Attending the rally/protest was good. I felt that I needed to go and show my support. I took one of my daughters. I wanted her to experience it. Not to indoctrinate her but for her to see and experience what a passionate, collective endeavor could feel like. She was excited, bored, cheering, clapping, ready to go to a coffee shop in the two hours we were there (she’s a pre-teen). I did leave with the mixed emotions I stated in the second paragraph but my overall feeling was it was a good thing. Not a perfect thing but a good thing and advocacy doesn’t have to be perfect. We won’t always get it right. We won’t always say things right. We may get into good trouble…even with our partners…which is ok and sort of the point.
Now…let’s do the real work
MattMunnell.com 