October 30th
Dear friends,
Once again, we have achieved Friday. It may not seem like an achievement, but these weeks of chaos are long and difficult. Yesterday, I spent a few hours with a good friend whom I had not seen since the pandemic began. He is not my most optimistic friend, but he thinks that Biden will be our next president. I found that comforting.
And yet.
I informed the organizations I work for and volunteer with regularly that I may not be available to work next week.
The test starts next week, so let’s review: we have to be ready if the electoral results are in jeopardy. One part of this preparation is commitment to Non-Violent Discipline. George Lakey, who led the how-to-stop-a-power-grab training that I attended, recalled that during the 1991 coup in Russia, the people faced down the army, telling the soldiers, “You don’t want to shoot us! You want to join us!” Whole military units joined the resistance. Implausible? Yes, but it happened.
Non-violent discipline is just one of the tactics that reduce our vulnerability. Another is to avoid an invitation to conflict. While we must protest in large numbers, there are many meet-up spots for folks to protect the results in order to avoid a single place where any opposition — including the police — can meet the protest en masse. Your weekend homework is to choose your spot and to figure out who you’re meeting. Yes, I just gave you homework.
And here is your reminder about what to do when we do face opposition in the streets. 1) Slow down to de-escalate violence. Do not run. Say “we’re walking slowly.” 2) If there are people advancing on you with weapons, sit down. This is deeply counterintuitive, which is one reason it is effective. The armed opposition is in fight mode, and the sight of masses of seated people will confound them and possibly slow or stop the attack. The research supports the idea that there will be fewer injuries of peaceful protesters if we sit. Listen to and communicate with marshals and show leadership as needed. We keep us safe.
And, in the spirit of preventing police violence and abuse of power, here are two actions you may have missed last week, both of which are quick and important: Stand with the people of Nigeria to demand an international inquiry into the Nigerian government’s mass killing of peaceful protesters on October 20th. Contact your City Council member and ask them to support legislation to outlaw all surreptitious DNA collection and delete DNA profiles of children from the city’s index.
It’s not too late to register for Draw What Scares You, at 7 PM tonight, with Sophie Lucido Johnson.
with love,
L