Nonviolence is a practice or doctrine that chooses peace and reason over violence in order to achieve its political, socio-cultural or economic goals and objectives.
Why Choose Nonviolence?
Nonviolence is the weapon of the weak. Generally, any protest movement targets hierarchy or a superior body or institution. Nonviolence is one of the techniques or methods that history has recorded as producing long lasting results. Recorded movements of such nature have been led by people such as by Mohandas (mahatma) Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolence reduces the excuses to use military artillery to crush an opposition while feeling the pressure from the opposition/protest. Nonviolence is a method that renders ineffective the power of artillery. Dr. Martin Luther King declared in his autobiography that he “… became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good”. Nonviolence undermines and questions the authority and /or legitimacy of any government or institution’s actions or policy (ies). Most governments depend on the cooperation and “consent” of their citizens in order to ascertain their power. When people manifest their discontent without destruction but refuses to cooperate (civil disobedience), the government or authority in place feels undermined and dis-empowered. When the people they are mandated to govern rise up against them, discomfort automatically sets in and they start loosening up and granting concessions to appease the participants and calm down the heat or pressure. Any use of force or arms against unarmed protesters will automatically attract local and national sympathy for the participants and international condemnation of the government or authority in place. Nonviolence seeks to bring change to an unhappy situation /condition and even if it doesn’t achieve all its objectives or goal, the situation or status quo never remains the same after the protest.
Planning a Nonviolence Protest Movemnet
1- Identify and clarify the problem. Be sure to have an agreed and concerted scope of the problem and stay within the boundaries of the problem for the effectiveness of your action.
2- Do not fall victim to a “paralysis of analysis”. Analyze the problem and see why and how you need to address it. Engage in a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) reflection.
3- Have a clearly written list of demands/needs to solve the problem. Have clear goals and avoid redundant or utopian visions that are unattainable.
4- Have a group of committed people to the cause for which you are fighting for.
5- For political movements, mass mobilization is necessity though not an obligation. Widespread, cross-cutting and decentralized masses, under a diversified leadership, make it difficult for the government to contain the protest, demonstration.
6- Identify spokesperson who will present your problem in a right, factual and convincing way to the public, media, stakeholders and wider international community.
7- Have a communion ground/building/location where important, strategic meetings will be held.
8- Empowering the participants or protesters is key and vital to succeeding in any movement for change. Train participants not only on nonviolent principles but also on the reasons why you are protesting. Obviously participants will be those who share the same problem and want the same or agree to the solutions to the problem. Use books, videos, DVDs movies that portray best practices of nonviolence protest. If you empower a people, you can leave them, and they will find their way. In other words, they will each be leaders in the struggle.
9- Any protest will gather more grounds when it receives media coverage. Ensure liaison with local and if possible international media. Media helps to spread your message and helps your message gain currency and support. Build good relationship with individual journalists and feed them with verifiable facts about your movement and cause.
10- Identify groups, communities who could be potential allies and support your cause.
11- Have a good negotiation strategy, sticking to your pre-defined goals and objectives.
12- Identify from the many ways or forms of nonviolence action which one will best help you achieve your goal. Choose whether it is sit-ins, marches, boycotts, demonstration, joining a protest list, fast, strike (general, hunger), non cooperation, blockades etc….
13- If your group is well organized, make press releases and communicate it to national and international press/news agencies.
14- Use other media such as websites, social network pages/groups/, blogs or wordpress to communicate your messages to the public.
15- Undemocratic governments or regimes will use internet surveillance or disconnection to stifle communication in movement or protest. Always plan for a plan “B”, such as cell phone text messaging, flyers, tracts, private newspapers etc…
Code of Conduct or Guidelines for Nonviolence Action
1- Do not carry any harmful weapons.
2- Do not destroy property, infrastructure or loot. You may be tagged as rebels or vandals.
3- Continue to remind/sensitize the protesters before/during and after the protest. Government may send infiltrators to push the group to violence; thereby having a reason to come in with force.
4- Avoid the use of physical or verbal abuse
5- Do not use alcohol or drugs except for medical reasons
6- Allow emergency vehicles /ambulances to pass
7- Fraternize and share the resources you have (food, water, shelter). It increases the union.
8- Sing a change song that is well known to the community /environment.
9- Always use a strong slogan that summarizes your demand/or the problem/solution.
10- For political protest, always carry the national flag with you and start your day with the country’s national anthem. This shows that you are not mercenaries or outsiders. It may also attract support from other groups such as military/security who may be reminded that harming the participants is harming their fellow citizens.
11- Try to gain the support of the security forces (military/police gendarmes). Not all security agents are brutal and unreasonable. Instead of demonizing and laying insults on them or the government, try to use appropriate language during the protest and reason them out. They are humans with the exception of the uniform, and before becoming security agents, many were citizens and can understand some of your concerns if well/reasonably placed.
12- Do not leave or end the protest until your demands are met. Let the authorities know you are ready to die for what you are protesting or manifesting for or against. If you back down at the least counter attack, the situation may move from better to worse. Oftentimes, the persistence in resistance has ended up twisting the arms of the hardest regimes/governments to grant concessions.
13- Do not keep all suppliers medical and food in one location. It is easier to locate and confiscate during police /military raids.
14- Continuous training and sensitization of participants on continuous practice of nonviolence no matter the opponent’s action(s). Also sensitize them how to respond to police violence and on jail solidarity and support for arrested members.
15- Be flexible in your plan of action and adapt quickly to changes in the course of the protest.
The conduct of your actions will determine the manner of the response you get. Given that power only bargains with power, a group of individuals united under a cause and using nonviolence constitute a force to reckon. Nonviolence is a force that cannot be quantified, but its yields are long lasting.
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