RIVERA SUN – From mass refusals to boycotts to walkouts, regular Americans are bravely pushing back against the administration. Their actions are diverse and multiplying — and already having an impact.
Tag: LGBTQ
Are We Fine with Empty Seats? The Policy of Othering
PATRICK T. HILLER – Resisting the Trump administration’s agenda is not about partisanship. And no, it is not about being “sore losers,” as someone called us during the protest. It is about humanity. If we ignore the signs, we may one day see more empty chairs in our schools, workplaces, and communities—not because of a protest, but because a government decided certain people do not belong. I refuse to stay silent. When my son comes home from school, asking why his classmates’ seats are empty, I want to tell him I resisted.
Remembering the Genius of Bayard Rustin
GEORGE LAKEY – Thirty-five years after his death, the man who mentored Martin Luther King Jr. still has much to teach movements about harnessing the power of ‘people in motion.’
Media Turns Against Government for Supporting Violence In Country of Georgia
GIORGI LOMSADZE – Following the death of a cameraman who was attacked by a far-right mob, thousands rallied against the government, which they blamed for condoning the violence. But the authorities only doubled down.
Coronavirus Is a Historic Trigger Event—So Let’s See a Social Movement Rise
PAUL ENGLER – There are times in history when sudden events — natural disasters, economic collapses, pandemics, wars, famines — change everything. They change politics, they change economics and they change public opinion in drastic ways. Many social movement analysts call these “trigger events.†During a trigger event, things that were previously unimaginable quickly become reality, as the social and political map is remade
What It Takes to Change Hearts and Minds
COLIN BEAVAN – Some years ago, the communications psychologist John Marshall Roberts said at a talk I attended that there are three ways of converting people to a cause: by threat of force, by intellectual argument, and by inspiration. The most effective of these methods, Roberts said, is aligning communication about your cause with the most deeply-held values and aspirations of your friends, relatives, neighbors, and fellow citizens. To get people’s total, lasting, and unwavering support, in other words, we should try neither to cajole them judgmentally nor convince them forcefully. We should inspire them toward a vision that they—not we—can really care about.