protests

The Global Power of Protest

Angelo Franco

Throughout human history, protest has always held a center-stage role, shaping the narrative with the timbre of collective voice and action. From the rugged cobblestone streets of colonial Boston to the sunbaked squares of Tahrir, the black soil of Selma to the neon-lit expanses of Hong Kong, the power of protest has reverberated through time and across continents, shifting paradigms and confronting the status quo.

How Police Use Military Tactics to Quell the Nonviolent U.S. Protests

Robert Fantina

For years now, the U.S. military has been selling surplus equipment, material designed specifically for war zones, to local police departments. In many cities, police departments have nearly all the equipment, including weaponry and armored vehicles, that the U.S. military uses when it goes to war. Police departments also have tear gas and chemical weapons, which, should the U.S. decide to use against foreign enemies abroad, would violate the terms of the Geneva Convention.

Of Pears and Kings: Caricature as a Method of Political Protest

Patricia Mainardi

Censorship could occur in several intensifying degrees. In France, censorship of images was always more severe than censorship of text because images were thought to have a more direct appeal to the lower classes whose literacy was limited. It was customarily exerted in one of two ways: normally, censorship was post-publication, meaning that if a text or image was judged offensive, it would be seized and the author, artist, and publisher tried, fined, and imprisoned. In periods of great instability, however, the more severe measure of prior censorship was instituted.

Why I'm Protesting Against Betsy DeVos

Velma Veloria

We have a lot to lose. Trump issued a racist immigration ban based on religion and skin color. He continues to imperil undocumented students and their families. He threatens to cut critical services that many Americans need to live. The AAPI community needs to be worried—Trump’s agenda makes clear that the rights of people of color are secondary to those of his white constituents. 

2014: The Year of the Protester

Kirsten West Savali

There have been those who have described this as the latest iteration of the civil rights movement, but as Malcolm X taught us, there can be no civil rights until we first have human rights. These protesters understand that the expectation of subdued civility in the face of the continued dehumanization of black life is evidence of the racism that this country was founded upon. 

In Defense of Student Commencement Protesters

Leonard Steinhorn

The commencement tempest this year has taken place at three schools: Rutgers, Smith, and Haverford. At each, students simply have spoken out against the selection of speakers that were foisted on their graduation ceremonies by college administrators or wealthy trustees. And at each, the invited speakers themselves withdrew after students leveled their criticism. 

Do Demonstrations and Marches Help or Hurt Their Cause?

Pilar Marrero

As Congress begins to discuss immigration reform, immigrant rights groups, DREAMers and their supporters marched in many U.S. cities, begging the question: Do these marches help achieve the goal of legislation beneficial to immigrants or are they counterproductive? "It is ironic that we are asking this question today, May 1, which commemorates an 1886 march of the emerging labor movement in Chicago demanding an eight-hour work day. That march was attacked by police, its leaders were eventually executed, and it was quashed immediately. 

Protestors in D.C. March for Jobs, Unemployment Benefits

Michael Lawson

New America Media and Investigative Reporting Workshop: Young and old in mud-caked shoes marched toward the Capitol last Thursday calling for jobs and economic fairness. The marchers have convened in Washington from across the country, camping on Washington’s National Mall by day and sleeping in local churches by night. They are part of an effort backed by Our DC, a grassroots advocacy group focused on good jobs for District residents.

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