Future protestors learn nonaggressive tactics

Eight people pretended to be demonstrating against an appearance by Dick Cheney, while seven… Eight people pretended to be demonstrating against an appearance by Dick Cheney, while seven other people pretended to be members of the local Republican club counter-protesting.

The two sides yelled at each other for about 45 seconds. Some comments were about political affiliation, while others were personal, such as insults about someone else’s mother.

The role-play was part of an Organizing for Our Future Activist Training workshop titled “Do You Want to Go to Jail for Justice? Preparing for Nonviolent Civil Disobedience and Direct Action.” The activist training session was held Saturday by the Alliance for Progressive Action/Pittsburgh Jobs with Justice.

After the role-play, the workshop trainers, Myron Arnowitt and Nancy Niemczyk, noted that the participants’ hands were often on their hips or pointing at others while leaning toward their opponents. Niemczyk said that body posture like that was bad for nonviolent demonstrations since it tends to inflame others and put them on the defensive.

“It’s not worth wasting your energy” by arguing with a lot of people, she said. She suggested remaining calm and quiet while being verbally attacked.

Arnowitt added, “Which we admit is a bit tricky.”

Mary Barr, a participant agreed with the technique.

“I just keep my mouth shut when they start yelling,” she said. Barr added that the strategy often keeps her calm while frustrating her opponents.

Most of the 15 participants attended the workshop because they plan to hold or become involved in demonstrations soon and wanted some suggestions on how to make their protests the most effective.

The workshop began with introductions and then a definition of civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience is “consciously breaking the law” to bring about social change, Arnowitt said.

Niemczyk said protesters either break an unjust law to get it changed or break a law that “is in general, to most people, a reasonable law” in order to produce change in another area.

Niemczyk used breaking and entering as a law that protesters can break to call attention to themselves and their cause.

“Nonviolence does not create the conflict. The conflict is already there,” Niemczyk said. Rather Niemczyk said nonviolent disobedience tries to reveal a conflict that most people are not aware of or don’t think about.

Niemczyk used Susan B. Anthony’s attempt to vote, which was illegal at the time, as an example of civil disobedience. Without her or others like her, people would not have realized the need and legitimacy of a women’s movement, Niemczyk said.

Violent protests will make people feel ashamed of their actions if they later change their minds about a particular issue, Niemczyk said.

“I think it’s pretty vain to think we’re going to be 100 percent sure” of a political stand, Niemczyk said.

Niemczyk quoted Martin Luther King Jr. as saying, “The nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot opponents but also refuses to hate them. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.”

Arnowitt focused on the organization of a protest. He said a protest should be made up of a least one affinity group, which he defined as a small group of about five to 15 people. Affinity groups can combine for larger protests.

Within the affinity group, there must be a group of people willing to take actions to get arrested and another group, referred to as the support group, purposefully refraining from those actions so they can stay out of jail and “feed your cat,” Arnowitt said.

“Or get you out of jail,” Niemczyk added.

Only one person of a specific gender in the “jail” group is not recommended, because that person would not have support while in jail, Arnowitt said.

Arnowitt also said some groups have a rule that bail will not be posted because it is “immoral” to allow only those with money to get out of jail. Other groups have agreements that bail will be posted after a certain time if a person has a more important commitment like children.

“[Protesting] is a fun thing to do. It’s a creative thing to do,” Niemczyk said at the end of the workshop as Arnowitt laughed.