I keep seeing people talk about how protests wont accomplish anything in this fight. To some degree I actually agree with that. The direct effect of a protest in some random location in some random city might not be that large. But the combined effect of it happening in many locations will be helpful to the cause as a whole. What we in Boston hope to accomplish is to get the word out to more people and hopefully build up a group of people willing to meet often and brainstorm bigger ideas. We are going to be bringing flyers to the event for everyone to hand out to all the passing foot traffic at both locations. The people giving out the flyers will be inviting people to stick around and learn about the cause and also leading them to the various sites online where they can start to take part. I dont think we can hope for much more. When I mention "bigger ideas", I literally just mean "what can we do that will actually get the general public off their asses and into the fight?" Any others out there with different ideas for tomorrow?
All about trying to engage the public. If nothing else just try to increase awareness of the current state of affairs and hopefully convince people that this is something they should care about. Small goals are usually the best.
I want to have an effect on the narrative. The narrative thus far, as spun by the media, seems to be that Assange is guilty espionage (and, unrelated, rape) - and that a tiny faction of shadowy, secretive, anarchistic cyber-terrorists support Assange. Oh, and that wikileaks /is/ Assange. The narrative includes the assumption that big brother knows best, and needs to be left alone to tend to matters that are really important to our well-being, but should not concern us. A global protest would accomplish a number of things. First, it makes the numbers visible (a 'show of hands'). Second, it humanizes us - 'Anonymous' internet posters can easily be described as 'shadowy cyber-terrorists.' A married couple with a child carrying signs that say 'I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT MY GOVERNMENT IS DOING' is not so easily dismissed. Third, it is a non-violent 'show of force' - a global protest organized in a /week/ is impressive. It's like the world's largest flash-mob. When you can get that many people to march on this short notice - it says a lot. There's a difference between 'passive' and 'active' participation in politics... Random surveys measure the opinions of the masses, the passive participants in our political system. Generally, such surveys will include some questions like 'how likely is it that you will vote in the upcoming elections' (or, more discretely, 'did you vote in the past election'). Surveys serve a purpose, but asking for a show of hands sends a CLEAR message. And the fact is, anybody in any village, city or town can protest tomorrow. All they have to do is show up, take a picture, and post it online - and it's added to the tally. There's no 'official' headcount, but a series of images sends a hell of a message. Like this one for example: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4dcig_road-to-february-10-2008-final-vers_news
I don't feel I live in a particularly repressive regime, but I want to show solidarity with those that do suffer as a result of censorship - and I wish to state loudly that I will not tolerate any efforts at censorship by my government.
In Minneapolis, we're trying to get everyone together for a big rally just for the sake of collecting them in one place, and then afterwards go out to eat or something and plan our next steps as a local cell.
Next step == Next month. Third Saturday of Every Month. Thinking is hard. Monthly protests for FREEDOM!
What I hope is that people coming out to protest know what it is they are protesting because they have done their homework by spending some quality time reading the leaks. What I hope does not happen is that a minority of uninformed loud troublemakers and nincompoops will hijack the message, get 90% of the media attention, and just make everyone out to look bad. Not unlike what tends to happen during WTO protests.
the point in all of this is to feel injustice commited to anyone as it was your own, we should be the voice of those oppressed and scared to talk
It's not about giving a voice to the voiceless; that's the old model of activism. It's about amplifying voices.
...as opposed to a large group of shadowy, not so secretive(anymore), state-sponsored cyber-"freedom fighters"? http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/16/israel-iran-nuclear.html
At least the gov't is busy protecting us against dangerous hackers like David Kernell: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/jan/13/convicted-palin-hacker-david-kernell-prison-camp-k/
Nice try at trolling. More seriously, you should have attended this second French class: basic rules were presented and explained.
As long as there are voices stilled, shuddered into silence and also voices clear and high, but faint and distant we can use the synergy of BOTH Voice for the voiceless: Amplification:
I didn't attend a gathering, but left many piles of leaflets in 3 cities. I'm willing to accept that every single one was binned and pulped; maybe even TP for a homeless. I'm also open to the possibilty that one of them may have caused a ripple of causality with effects beyond my comprehension. These are the two extremes and I claim neither one, but as long as both remain a possibilty, I'd consider myself a fool to ignore the opportunity.
