When my friend was three, her dad taught her how to climb a tree. Not for sport, but so that in case she needed to, she could stage a tree sit.
This was a totally foreign concept to me, especially having a parent endorse such an activity. I’m from a small town in the Midwest and think my first time seeing a protest was in a scene from Forest Gump. Protesting, in my mind, involved sit-ins, marches and getting arrested.
In the new millennium, successful direct action campaigns not only keep their participants out of prison, but they also aim to gain their respective causes considerable media attention by getting creative, funny and, in some cases, naked.
In Worldchanging, the book, we give our take on how to run an effective campaign as well as a few of our favorite examples, including the Yes Men's "golden skeleton in the closet" stunt and PETA's "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" campaign.
In Bibi van der Zee’s new book, Rebel, Rebel: The Protestor's Handbook,
she expounds further on how to go about staging meaningful civil
disobedience without getting arrested. Her book also goes into detail
about how to join or start a campaign, raise funds and reach the
masses. And according van der Zee, raising your voice has never been
more crucial or effective:
Campaigns against the over-packaging of food have jolted supermarkets into acknowledging the need for change, while campaigns against the growth in aviation have kept airlines and the emissions in the headlines. In Wales and the west of Ireland, new gas pipelines have been the subject of unwanted attention...Direct action is cheap, quick and easy to organize. It can be massively embarrassing for the company involved, or for the government. Shame is one of the most potent weapons a protester has.
Her first bit of advice is to arm yourself with knowledge. Step one, she says, know your rights during demos, marches, civil disobedience and direct action. Step two, know what you could be arrested for. Organizing or partaking in a campaign, van der Zee say, can be kept easy, fun and legal:
You could spend your Saturdays outside the local petrol station dressed as a polar bear; that's direct action and it's certainly not against the law. You could, Women's Institute-style, bring back handfuls of packaging to your local supermarket, or stage a die-in in front of a coffee chain. Neither of these should land you in a police cell.
For the record, my friend has yet to be arrested. She was, however, recently escorted by John McCain’s body guards from the Seattle Westin, dressed as a salmon.
Photo credit: stock.xchange
