Everyone has heard the horror stories, and some have experienced them: smashed windows, yelling, chaotic streets. It seems like peaceful protests are becoming more and more like uncontrolled riots, and it can be both scary and frustrating. This is a time of controversy in our country and around the world, and there have been many times when I have asked myself: How do I get my voice out if I don’t want to be violent? If you are asking yourself that same question, here are some suggestions for how to peacefully protest:

• Donate to organizations that support your cause. Donating helps organizations get their message out and garner more support, and even small donations make a difference.
• Apparel such as t-shirts, pins, and wristbands advertise your cause to anyone who cares enough to look.
• Marches are organized walks in public areas with partakers often wearing costumes or carrying signs. A recent successful and peaceful march was the Women’s March, a worldwide demonstration for women’s rights and equality.
• Social Media is an easy way to speak out for or against a cause. About 76% of Americans use social media, and there are plenty of social media platforms that provide a variety of communities and ways to express oneself.
• Contact your local or state representatives. You can do this by calling, emailing, or writing letters to them. Contacting your representative is the first step to making a real change, and this website makes it easy to find your representatives and contact them.
• Sit-ins are events where groups of people sit in an area in order to bring attention to their cause. Sit-ins are undeniably peaceful — they grew out of the Civil Rights Movement with the aim to be peaceful and gain sympathy for a cause.
• Get involved with a group that supports your cause, or make your own. With a group of like-minded people helping you, you can set up marches, sit-ins, and spread your message with even more effectiveness.

These are only a few possibilities for peaceful protest — there are plenty of other actions to choose from. Some of these seem like very small actions, but even simply saying that you support a specific group or cause can have a huge effect. I will most certainly be using some, if not all, of the forms of protest listed above in order to publicly support causes that I believe in. Now it’s your turn: find a topic that you care about, and go find a way to show your support!

Creative Commons photo source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/59152532@N05/14733314158/