October 9th
In a conversation with a friend about drawing, we were discussing the mistake we all make of focusing too exclusively on rendering the central figure and too little on the whole tableau. Yesterday, the FBI foiled multiple plots to kidnap the Governor of Michigan, and it didn’t make the front page of the NY Times. The president is completely unhinged and angered that (among so many other things) Governor Whitmer criticized his white supremacist rhetoric instead of thanking him for the FBI’s work. And there we are again, focusing on the central figure.
So, because of my enduring interest in the whole tableau, and my promise to share what I learned about beating a power grab, I want to talk about the millions of ordinary activists who will take to the streets when the president declares victory (or whatever he declares). The question burning up the chat room during the training was what about the police? what about the armed domestic terrorists? As you can imagine, this got addressed at the end of the training. I’m going to move it to the fore, however, because the little figures in this tableau matter to me.
There was a whole lot of talk about deterring violence, which I will come back to another day. This is what I learned about what we do when the police and/or armed gangs come at us in the streets: 1) Meet violence with de-escalation by slowing down. This means don’t 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. Sitting is also protective, as clusters of seated people shield one another (to an extent). The research that Choose Democracy has done supports the idea that there will be fewer injuries of peaceful protesters if we sit.
Yesterday, I talked to a friend whose doctor was concerned about her elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol is a stress hormone, and I expect that collectively, Americans are off the charts these days. If you haven’t yet reached out to family, friends, and neighbors to talk about the importance of peace, stability, and averting civil war, take care of that this weekend. I have to do this myself.
Here is a piece of good news to end your week: staff at Brooklyn Friends School (BFS) ended their strike in triumph when the administration of the Quaker school agreed to withdraw their petition to the National Labor Relations Board to get the BFS union disbanded on religious grounds. The union-busting behavior led staff to strike for three days and to garner significant support from parents. I’m sorry that a Quaker school couldn’t see the importance of meeting the demands for safety from their own staff without first facing a strike, but I’m glad that direct action worked and a little victory happened in a near corner of the tableau.
with love,
L