The need for successful nonviolent civil disobedience to save our country.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

I was literally right in the middle of composing something I wanted to post on what successful nonviolent civil disobedience means when I read this from Dr. West:

“And even at this moment, when the empire is in deep decline, the culture is in deep decay, the political system is broken, where nearly everyone is up for sale, you say all I have is the subversive memory of those who came before, personal integrity, trying to live a decent life, and a willingness to live and die for the love of folk who are catching hell. This means civil disobedience, going to jail, supporting progressive forums of social unrest if they in fact awaken the conscience, whatever conscience is left, of the nation. And that’s where I find myself now.”

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1113516

Dr. West is 100% correct.

As someone who marched more times that I can count in the lead-up to Afghanistan, Iraq, and after the 2000 selection, I need to say something:

We didn't do nearly enough.

In all those circumstances, we did not do everything it took to make the difference.

We marched. Orderly, with permits. Some of us got arrested. Some of us got arrested several times. But mostly we showed up with our signs, went to the rallies, walked the march route, and then went home. We made some calls, wrote some letters. Sometimes we have felt a teeny tiny bit better about the situation, or a little better about having at least tried to make a difference.

But we never really took it to the wall. Never really went the distant. Look at the following pictures. This is what it means to be fully committed to nonviolent civil disobedience, this is how far you need to be willing to go, this is what you must be willing to risk, and these are the outcomes you must be willing to live with.

























What you see is what it took to bring about civil rights.

What you see is what it took to end a war.

We forgot that here. We forgot that violence is always the response to successful nonviolent civil disobedience. We forgot just what it takes to win and what can be lost in the process.

Egypt reminded us of that. This was the start of their journey.




But, at the end of the day, this is what it took to win.