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Summer of Direct Action Update [1]

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Date: 2023-04-13  

Since last writing about the need for direct action, news from certain states in the country has only gotten worse, as expected. In the meantime I've been contacting and emailing legacy interest groups for two reasons: first to see if they have any plans for sustained campaigns this summer, and second if they are or would be interested in coordinating with protesters and groups on the ground. Not a lot of interest so far, but I'm a nobody so if they don't respond to me I'm not going to be shocked.

One thing I explained in my emails was the need for these actions to be sustained. I like the framework from this truthout.org article from early 2017, focusing on spectacle, sustained action, and disruption. They argue that finding influencers at the start of a campaign is important because street leaders on the ground keep movements going.

Luckily, we already have leaders. We have the two legislators expelled and reinstated in Tennessee along with high school students and local chapters of interest groups. In particular, Tennessee is already being discussed as a model for how Democrats can mobilize and fight back at the state level. But at the end of the day these activists have to return home, leaving state legislatures free to continue to operate with impunity. That is why a direct action campaign must be sustained: the second we take the foot off the gas the enemy will criminalize every form of dissent as fast as they possibly can.

There are definitely models for managing a large scale direct action without complex coordination, for example the Seattle general strike. In that case, strikers themselves organized committees and supply chains that kept the strike going. But most large scale general strikes were relatively short, usually counted in days. What we need is a coordinated action or series of actions that shuts down or seriously derails state legislative agendas for as long as an election cycle. There is no way that can be done without national and coordinated help.

The next immediate step for me or anyone interested in participating is a draft campaign plan. Yeah, it's pretty quixotic to write up a plan and send it out and just hope people use it but at least there's precedent for how it can be distributed. Believe it or not, the biggest tool for coordinating during the George Floyd protests (that I witnessed anyhow) was Google docs. You can share a plan of action via link and anyone with the link can view it. That's the next step. In the meantime, if I get any response from my initial contacts I'll update here.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/13/2163824/-Summer-of-Direct-Action-Update

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