Can I be honest? I’m so tired of these no kings rallies and protests. I honestly eyeroll every time I see a march, if it’s just a march.
Hear me out….
Gathering in solidarity is not bad. It’s an awesome thing to see the numbers of people who agree on these important topics. But standing together with some signs doesn’t do sh*t in regard to actual change. Maybe if all those people gather together and collectively got on the phone with their representatives calling over and over until each and every one of them had voiced their concerns, I might say that it’s of value. Or if they collectively, simultaneously tweeted, messaged, and @ tagged the relevant politicians and judges, while at these rallies creating a trending picture that “broke the Internet.” Or better than that, because they’d probably still benefit from the engagement… If every single person at those rallies collectively disabled their social media accounts and didn’t reactivate them until there was change….
Maybe if those marches landed at the homes of the people who are creating, promoting, and/or voting in favor of these policies, or picketing was outside their children’s schools…. Nonviolent, not law breaking, but doing enough in large enough numbers to make people feel uncomfortable, and that they can’t just go on with their lives as usual, because these gatherings are actually impacting them. Then, I would say these are gatherings are high value.
I strongly believe that allies just aren’t doing enough to make people in power uncomfortable. Shutting down a highway on the weekend has a lot less impact than shutting it down at 9am Monday morning, and again on Tuesday, and again on Wednesday… until concerns are addressed. I think that’s what’s missing in these marches and protests and social media posts. There’s no actual discomfort imposed on those who have the power to do something.
Standing up with banners saying “we don’t like this” does not create change. It doesn’t impact them so they don’t care. We aren’t seeing things shift because the actions being taken don’t bother them. The bus boycotts back in the day impacted them because they were losing money. People not showing up to work causes businesses to lose money and cause production delays. Everybody spending as usual, continuing to feed their cash cows (Meta, ChatGPT, Amazon, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Dunkin Donuts, etc. ) and showing up on a random Saturday to hold up signs doesn’t do sh*t.
Finally openly agreeing with marginalized groups that sh*t is f*cked up doesn’t change a damn thing. Change only comes when people who can change things are made to feel uncomfortable… when their money and their peace are disturbed in an ongoing manner. And I don’t understand why nobody seems to get that.
Marlene Dillon Empowerment Specialist
MDillon Designs & Publishing 