Monday, November 28, 2016

Why Anti Trump Protests Matter

From rollingstone.com
By Sarah Jaffe

Since election night, U.S. cities and towns have rung with protest. Hundreds of thousands of people, from New York City to Los Angeles, from Columbia, South Carolina to Salt Lake City, Utah took to the streets en masse to protest the election of a man who promised, among other things, to force Muslims to register [Click] and to repeal a health care bill that helps some 20 million people [Click] get health insurance, and who has been accused of sexual assault by at least 13 women [Click]. Hand-scrawled signs declared "Not My President," "No To Bigotry," "Trump Puts My Life In Danger," and "Protests Are Patriotic."

High school students have walked out of class in protest across the country, including in Montgomery County [Click], Maryland; Minneapolis [Click], Minnesota; Phoenix [Click], Arizona; and Omaha [click], Nebraska.

Teresa Díaz was one of those protesters, marching in New York on Sunday, November 13th, in a "Here to Stay" rally against Trump's proposed deportations. "As an immigrant mother of two beautiful U.S. citizen daughters, I woke up to my worst nightmare on Wednesday morning," Díaz, a member of community organization Make the Road New Jersey, told Rolling Stone. "But I'm marching today to show that I'm not afraid.”

The speed with which these protests came together and the vehemence of their reaction far outpaced the growth of the Tea Party movement in the wake of the election of Barack Obama in 2008, but there has still been a reaction from some quarters that the protesters are behaving like "sore losers."

Such a sentiment is a byproduct of the fact that Americans tend to think that the only way one can participate in politics, the only possible way to take political action, is to vote. And yet in recent years – in particular since the 2008 financial crisis – Americans have been rediscovering the power of protest. They have embraced, in increasing numbers, disruption as a tactic for making their voices heard. As they have lost faith in the elites who run the world – as evidenced by still-dropping voter turnout numbers that saw Donald Trump win the electoral college with fewer votes than Mitt Romney got in losing the 2012 election – more and more of them have turned to civil disobedience to attempt to make change. As one popular sign from the anti-Trump protests read, "Not Usually A Sign Guy, But Geez."[click]

The anti-Trump protesters have offered up many different reasons for joining the rallies, vigils, marches and walk-outs. Some, like Díaz and Zuleima Dominguez, a member of Make the Road New York and a recipient of Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy, would directly be affected by Trump proposals. "Trump's pledge to revoke DACA in his first 100 days as President would affect me because I would lose my work permit and be forced to live in fear of being separated from my family," Dominguez says. "I would be afraid to leave my home, and it would be hard for me to continue with my education, given that I could no longer apply for scholarships that require a social security number." Others decided to show up to offer solidarity to those frightened of what a Trump presidency might mean. Amy Vandenberg, a University of Southern California student, told the [Click], "There are a lot of marginalized people in this country who are scared, are hurting. If I can protest as a white person to say, 'I see you, I'm with you and I love you,' that's what I'm going to do."

The protests offer people like Vandenberg a way to show support and people like Dominguez a place to find new allies; they create connections in a public space [Click] at a time when more and more people are isolated. For the high school students and undocumented immigrants, in particular, who were prohibited from taking part in this or any election despite being deeply affected by its results, these protests have created a space for them to take part in the democratic process, to have their voices – and their objections – heard.

In particular, civil disobedience allows protesters to "generalize the crisis," as Tobita Chow of Chicago's People's Lobby [Click] told me in 2015 as I was reporting my book, Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt [Click]. As people around the country continue to struggle with the wake of the financial crisis and the austerity budgets imposed by state and local politicians, the powerful rarely feel the pain they're inflicting. "The politicians and these rich people who are funding them, they're imposing this crisis on a vast majority of people, but as far as they're concerned there is no crisis, it's not part of their life," Chow said. He also noted that taking part in a protest can have a transformative effect on the people who get involved. "It expands your sense of freedom about what you're willing to do and what you're capable of doing," he said. "It has a really liberating effect on people."

Beyond the participants and the targets, protests also have an effect on those who witness them. Seeing large crowds can on the one hand inspire more people to come out for the first time – as many have done in the wake of this election. On the other hand, the protests will certainly turn off some of the people who see them. Yet in this moment, when many people may have rationalized a vote for Trump by telling themselves that he wouldn't really go through with his promised deportations and registries, street protests force them to confront these people and the lives with which they've gambled. If Trump voters simply shrugged off the harm that his proposals would cause because they don't know any Muslims, any immigrants, any queer or transgender people, street protests in supposedly "red" states like Nebraska and Texas make them look in the eyes of those people and realize that they are human, they are part of the community, that they hurt and fear.

The protests also pressure elected officials on both sides of the aisle to stand up to Trump. As Democrats attempt to regroup and Republicans lick their chops in anticipation of power, the rapid response serves up notice to the GOP that their actions will not go unnoticed, and to Democrats that they are expected to resist or face anger from their own constituents.

The movements of the past few years, as Minnesota organizer Cat Salonek told me, have been like dandelions blown on the wind. They scatter and take root and grow, and each new movement is another dandelion that sprouts. This is true of this week's protests as well: The participants were part of Occupy and they were teachers who struck in Chicago against austerity; they came from Black Lives Matter and from Bernie Sanders's support network and Moral Mondays; and many of them were new to taking action.

The question going forward will be whether they can sustain the energy for the long, ugly fights ahead. As new networks are built in the streets and online, new protests planned for the inauguration and beyond, and terms like "general strike" [Click]are bandied about, experienced organizers and newly-activated people can draw from the lessons of the movements of the past several years – from the Tea Party to the Fight for $15 and beyond – to turn disruption into concrete victories.

Sarah Jaffe is a reporting fellow at The Nation Institute and the author of Necessary Trouble: Americans in Revolt.

27 comments:

  1. Cat is first for keeping us so well informed!! Alan is also first for the same reason!
    I am very grateful for your sleuthing and sharing!

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    1. You're welcome. It's heartsick making work.

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  2. Mah*Sweetie and I had the good fortune Sunday evening of hearing Peter Yarrow sing, along with his son Christopher, at the Town Hall Theater in Middlebury, Vermont. Peter has been at Standing Rock (along with Joan Baez) and his daughter Bethany Yarrow is there now.

    "We must focus with ever greater determination on doing 'the work'. The measure of our success will depend upon the strength of our hearts, our love for one another, and our commitment to the principles in which we believe. We must listen to the words and hearts of those with whom we are at odds, empathize with their narratives, and help to relieve their pain and distress. That does not mean, however, that we can or should forbid ourselves to be outraged by acts that seek to injure or destroy justice, fairness, liberty, or the goodness that is within us. Notwithstanding, we must be less preoccupied with what’s wrong and more focused on what it is that we need to create. Onward my friends, with ever greater resolve." ~ Peter Yarrow

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    1. Peter invited anyone present who disagreed with his views, including who support DT, to stay after the show and talk with him, and he would listen. This is in the wake of a heckler at a show just prior to this one.

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    2. Very eloquent and absolutely right, difficult though it is to do.

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  3. This article is confused and confusing, but will give you the gist of what's going on:

    Red Fawn Fallis: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know - Click

    For those with FB access, Kevin Gilbertt talks to Red Fawn's sisters:

    Free Red Fawn - Click

    Fundraiser for Red Fawn's bail and legal expenses (woefully underfunded):

    Free Red Fawn - Click

    Her first court date is today, the Twenty-eighth. Supporters are asked to wear red in solidarity.

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  4. Just saw a comment on Kevin Gilbertt's page that the state charges against Red Fawn Fallis have been dropped. She still faces federal charges. More will be posted as info becomes available.

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  5. It's snowing at Standing Rock. Some five inches are forecast for tonight. Some people are still living in canvas tents and in un-winterized teepees. There's not a lot folks at a distence can do quickly, but just keep them in your prayers.

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    1. We sent medical supplies for large wounds. It's something. I can't recall if I mentioned it here, but I was able to use my insurance pharmacy card to pay for most of the supplies.

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    2. Thanks, Listener. I sent some stuff from Beans - pitifully little, though the cost mounted rapidly enough. *sigh* And I was even dumb enough to forget to activate the 20% discount! Idiot!

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  6. Does anyone know how to take a screenshot (still) from a video?

    I found the perfect split second in a video, switched to full screen and pressed the "Capture Screen" key. And... Window-eyes announced, "Print screen"and nothing discernible happened.I've taken screen shots before using that key. At least, I've taken screen shots of other things, not of videos.

    If I can't get the still, it's no big deal, I guess. It just would have been perfect for one of he upcoming days' blog post.

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    1. I have a screen capture utility [SnapNDrag--don't know if there is a Windows version] that generally works well; for the past two or three years Apple has made it so that screen captures don't work for videos played with their dvd/video player, but as I recall there is no problem using VLC Player. I don't recall trying to take a screen capture from a YouTube video, but if it should not work directly, I can download the video using Wondershare AllMyTube, and if that should still be resistant, drop it into VLC Player. No screen capture key on my computer that I can see...

      Alan

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    2. I just take a photograph of it and use that.

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    3. It's a moot point now, as the FB page including the video in question, belonging to Kevin Gilbertt, has been shut down. Someone,or several someones, posted malicious lies about him and FB shut him down within minutes. Funny how they have no problem shutting down a truth speaker, a citizen journalist, and yet people report and report offensive, obscene, hate mongering pages and FB does nothing.

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  7. Appeal to the Working Class? Don’t Bother, Says Krugman [Click]

    Journalists Denounce WaPo Fake News Blacklist as Red Scare Redux [Click]

    Cornering Trump on Jobs, Sanders Announces Anti-Outsourcing Bill [Click] I am not at all convinced that this would be either wise or effective, but suppose it ought to be given fair consideration.

    “Oh, if there are no jobs at home,
    They’ve all been sent off shore;
    Go down and join the army,
    There’s sure to be a war.
    There’s sure to be a war, my friend,
    There’s sure to be a war;
    Go to Iraq, if you don’t come back,
    We’ll just keep sending more!

    Oh, put it on the ground,
    Spread it all around;
    Dig it with a hoe,
    It will make your flowers grow.”


    Theory challenging Einstein's view on speed of light could soon be tested [Click]


    The Trump effect has rallied the US markets – but what next? [Click]


    The Standing Rock protests are a symbolic moment [Click] “
    America’s surprise election is like water on the garden of activism. We stand in solidarity with all those who seek to protect the planet and nurture hope.”

    —Alan

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    1. You know, Krugman makes me want to haul out all my shiniest curse words and fling them about randomly. Ignore the working class? Does he not realize that's EXACTLY why Hillary Clinton lost? These people living in the bubble, congratulating themselves on their magnificence as they put their total ignorance on public display just maddens me. They haven't learned a thing and I guess they think they'll just magically win the mid-terms after trump screws everybody over. Way to live in la-la land!

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    2. Ayup. A clueless Hilariac. There may be some who know what hit them, but many more who certainly do not--including Krugman. He should have stuck to his last, rather than traipsing off from economics into partisan politics. And when do we get to call "centrist" Democrats what they are--right wingers? And "conservatives" right wing radicals and anarchists? As if political labels meant anything. I suppose folks might call me "liberal" or "left wing," but my positions seem literally conservative to me. I think we could use a center-left party in this country again; we have been without one for decades.

      --Alan

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    3. Center left would do, I suppose. My preference would be left left.

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    4. It's all a matter of perspective. HRC is way to the "right" of Eisenhower--and what was he if not conservative? I would consider Prince Kropotkin very lefty, also anarcho-syndicalists. UK Old Labour would be a bit to the left of center-left from my point of view. New Democrats are right-of-center, GOP nowadays what we called the lunatic fringe in my youth and literally anarchist in recent years--not conservative at all. I am by inclination and conviction a Social Democrat (which is hardly recognized in the US), but have no qualms about cooperating with Democratic Socialists.

      --Alan

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  8. Opec meeting to focus on Donald Trump amid fears of falling oil prices [Click] “…price, not policy, will likely drive shale-oil production decisions, they said. Just because Trump opens more federal lands for drilling doesn’t mean companies will automatically throw up new rigs.

    “The economics never lie. The economics still say the line of demarcation in the US is $50 [a barrel]. Below there we will not see much production growth,” Thummel said.

    Michael Hsueh, analyst at Deutsche Bank, concurred: the concerns about Trump’s influence on US and global energy might be overstated. He noted changes from current US energy policy might not be great considering other “broader and more durable trends in place”.

    —Alan

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  9. When the oil companies have to resort to fracking and tar sands you know they're winding down and panicking about it. Yesterday gas here was $1.94/gal. Today? $2.29. They're going to hack to planet to pieces because of their refusal to go with renewable resources. Did you see that Michigan is allowing Nestle to pump millions of gallons of clean water while STILL refusing to make things right in Flint? Greed is going to kill us all.

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  10. edit, that was hack "the" planet, and Nestle is only paying $200. Yup. $200.

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  11. Susan, you really ought to be a columnist or at least run for office. You have real clarity and it's needed so much these days.

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    1. I don't feel like I have clarity. I just feel like a fat hot little ball of grandma rage. I used to get my writing published about 30 years ago, but that was then and I am happier just making people mad on Facebook and chatting with friends here.

      Well, I will still write my poison-pen letters to the heartless politicians though.

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  12. Today (Tuesday the 29th) is the birthday of authors:

    Louisa May Alcott (1832)
    http://www.louisamayalcott.org

    C.S. Lewis (1898)
    http://www.biography.com/people/cs-lewis-9380969

    Madeleine L'Engle (1918).
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_L'Engle

    The world is so much deeper and richer because of their gifts!

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