Concerted effort

For examples of dunking not being helpful, one is playing out in real time with Kentucky governor Andy Beshear. A Democrat, he has tried very hard to do good things but is hamstrung by a obstructive state legislator entrenched in place via gerrymandering. He does frequently refer to prayers, and that is what is being jumped on in tweets in the aftermath of a recent shooting. 

Certainly there are frequent meaningless references to thoughts and prayers, but that is not what is happening here, and that is not something the tweeters care to check. I assume they feel smart and righteous, and also that it will do nothing other than give them that ego boost.

In terms of effecting change, there are a few examples that come to mind, but I want to start with the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

One of the things that made it effective was that there were clear goals. The rules about Black passengers having to ride in the back of the bus did not only mean people standing, even when there were seats available, or when they had been on longer. It also meant that sometimes people would pay their fare, then as they had to walk outside of the bus to the back door, sometime the bus would drive away. The rules gave the drivers an easy and tempting way to abuse power. 

That allowed for an easy goal of ending the busing segregation laws, with the added goal of the hiring of Black drivers. That would not only add some jobs to the community but also increase the odds of finding a friendly and respectful driver. Reasonable goals, but not something that those in power would have an interest in, if for no other reason than that those in power do not like change to the status quo.

How do you resolve that? Economic pressure is a great way to affect those in power. Suddenly excuses about not being able to make changes because it would be bad for business are coming up against significant business losses that are actual, not imagined. 

That pressure needed to be maintained for long enough (a little over a year), and there are people who depended on the bus for transportation. 

Organizing is more than choosing an action and advertising about it; it is making it possible. In this case, that meant organizing carpools. It got taxi drivers driving for bus fare, which is a personal sacrifice. It involved some people walking, perhaps uncomfortable distances. It involved fundraising, like the cooking efforts of Georgia Gilmore.

Those efforts combined people being willing to sacrifice, but also not ignoring the efforts that others had to make. That comes from community and caring. 

Protest efforts may start with anger, but that is a limited fuel.

Stirring up emotional responses matters too. 

I remember talking to a family friend about some of the demonstrations in the 60s. Younger then, anything that happened before I was born seemed a long time ago, but she remembered seeing those those fire hoses and police dogs in Birmingham, and being shocked.

White people up North and out West had their own prejudices, but there was a viciousness that they saw there that they could not have imagined. 

It was a strategy at the time that demonstrators would be well-dressed and use passive resistance; they knew the power of those images would help them. The influence of public opinion made it easier for politicians to pass bills that protected civil rights.

It was a lot of work. It is not just the marching and the telephone trees and cooking and car pooling, but also putting all of that together and being in for the long haul and working with people who annoy you. That all goes into it.

And as much as you can influence public opinion and get new laws passed and old ones struck down, there is always another force trying to ruin it.

This will be continued.