The Merits of Protest

By Ezra Levin
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

No Kings III now has a date: March 28.
It’s going to be the largest protest in American history, and the
flagship event will be the largest in Twin Cities history.

But what’s the point of a protest, even an historically huge one? Last week, we had our friend and social movement expert Erica Chenoweth of “3.5%” fame on What’s the Plan to discuss the logic of No Kings (you should check out the new WTP podcast here -- like, share, etc, thanks).

It’s easy to overplay or underplay the role of mass mobilizations. So let’s review two strawman sides of the debate:

Argument A: Protests are the sole answer. Some folks think the “3.5% rule”
means all we need is to get 11-12 million people to show up, and
suddenly fascism loses. Already with last year’s mobilization, Trump has
seen a string of electoral defeats, his poll numbers are in the toilet,
and his congressional coalition is fracturing. But as Chenoweth
counsels: That 3.5% has to be actively engaged in the work of
opposition, before and after national actions. One-day protests aren’t a
magic solution to fascism.

Argument B: Protests don’t work. Others
discount protest entirely. Sure, we saw protests hit historic levels
last year. But then what have we seen this year? Venezuela. Greenland.
An amped-up secret police force murdering people in the streets. If
anything, the regime is escalating. As we discussed with Chenoweth,
while the regime is undeniably weakened, weakened authoritarians lash
out. We should expect more of that as the walls close in on Trump --
it’s a sign of weakness, not strength.

Where does that leave us?

Reality: Protests are a tactic. Think
of organizing like this: goal, strategy, tactics. A campaign that
starts with tactics is never gonna accomplish much. A goal with no
strategies or tactics is never gonna get us where we want to go. So
think in this order: goal, strategy, tactics.

• Our goal: Stop the fascist regime from consolidating its grip on power.
• Our strategy: Organize overwhelming, nonviolent people power and foster a culture of mass defiance.
• Our tactics: No Kings is one
  tactic, that fits into our strategy, and aims to achieve our goal.
  Specifically, No Kings is designed to do three things:

1. Model defiance on a national scale. Optimism in the face of fascism is one of the most accessible forms of defiance. The
   regime’s plan is to scare everyone into submission. But millions of
   people taking to the streets calls the regime's bluff, and is a powerful
   display of optimistic noncompliance.
2. Create social proof that opposition is widespread. Humans
   are social animals. We follow each other. A massive demonstration of
   popular opposition helps reinforce that wherever you are, you’re not
   alone. Courage is contagious, but it only spreads if people see it.
3. Recruit folks who were not previously active. People-powered movements depend on new
   people flooding into their local organizing home. From ICE watch to
   mutual aid to advocacy to electoral work, everyone starts somewhere, and
   each No Kings is the entry point for millions to get involved beyond
   one day of protest.

This is all important enough that Indivisible's
throwing everything we have into making No Kings III historically huge.
I think that’s a good investment of time, energy, and money.

And I also know it's not enough.

Where we’re headed. The people of the Twin Cities are showing us our future. The deep, daily neighborhood-by-neighborhood organizing is breathtaking. It’s what it looks like when contagious courage becomes endemic.

There’s a big lesson there, and in the regime’s sadistic response.
This regime doesn't intend to deescalate. It's going to ramp up attacks
on our communities while doing everything possible to subvert elections
and hold onto power. To defeat fascism, we're going to have to marry
the breadth of No Kings mobilizations with the depth of organizing we’re
seeing in the Twin Cities.

Which is why I got downright emotional seeing the massive response to the Eyes on ICE training Indivisible hosted with our No Kings Coalition partners last week when 200,000 people showed up to learn how to observe and record ICE.
Two days after Alex Pretti’s murder, and in historic numbers, our
neighbors are training to stand up for their rights, just as Alex did,
and just as Renee did, and just as countless Minnesotans are doing now.

We’re going to win. It’s going to take a
lot more mobilizing and a lot more training and a lot more organizing.
But we’re going to win.