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/