Tuesday, August 4, 2020

The Power of Protest in 2020

The freedom to participate in non-violent protest is an essential part of a healthy democracy. Over the years such protests have been crucial to the advance of a range of issues from women's rights to civil rights.  Most recently the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has successfully stood up to police brutality and brought real reforms to cities across the country.  From income inequality to gun violence protestors are fighting for justice.

These interrelated struggles include the fight for climate action. All around the world clmate demonstrations are being led by young people. People like Greta Thunberg and many others show us the true power of protest.  Protest can augur meaningful change as illustrated by an important yet under-reported victory in Canada. Five months after the world's largest ever climate march in Montreal protestors helped to diffuse a massive tar sands carbon bomb in Alberta

The climate movement encompasses a wide swath of people from diverse walks of life. Women are leading the call for environmental justice and organizations like the People's Climate Movement are part of a broad climate coalition.  Groups may have different approaches but there is one goal and that is climate action.

While the United Nations amplifies the message of climate protests, governments in the leading climate protest countries try to curtail people\s right to demonstrate.  No democracy has been more active in its efforts to outlaw protest than the United States under Donald Trump.  However, the president's most recent attempts to stymie protest have failed miserably. This includes the Lafayette park fiasco and his attempt to depict BLM protestors as terrorists.  His use of secret police has only emboldened protestors and caused a growing number of Americans to realize that protest is an appropriate and necessary response to the Trump administration.  Indeed many believe that protesting Trump is essential to the survival of life on this planet.

Related
States Outlawing Protest to Protect the Fossil Fuel Industry

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