‘I will not look away’ at heart of public protest
“I’VE got a good mind to get into a truck and drive straight over the top of you lot tomorrow afternoon.” And then he hung up.
It was February 13, 2003. The irate caller was voicing his disapproval of a rally I had helped to organise the following day on the streets of Toowoomba. The rally was to bring together local citizens to voice their protest about an impending war in Iraq. The caller believed that those who opposed the war supported the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Of course this was far from the case and the rally went ahead nevertheless.
Toowoomba doesn’t do street marches, let alone protests. Besides Anzac Day, Labour Day and the Carnival of Flowers parade, the streets remain largely the domain of cars rather than people.
I suspect the 2003 rally may have been one of the biggest in Toowoomba’s history. It was part of a global movement that got millions of people from around the world onto the streets, calling on their leaders to search for dialogue and peace before launching headlong into a war that was based on a flimsy premise.
Turns out we were right. Saddam was a ruthless and evil tyrant, but the vacuum created by his removal brought about an even bigger monster with which the world now wrestles. But the protests changed nothing. Most of us rarely if ever will be involved in a physical protest, but would at some level acknowledge that the ability for people to gather publicly and have a voice is an essential part of democracy
I think that those who organise protests need to reflect deeply on what works and whether their efforts can really create change.
To succeed, protests must build support from all parts of society. They must build left and right support and try to bridge the social divide. We know that mob violence and shouting and demonising others does not work.
The disgraceful actions of protesters who ripped the jacket of Liberal Party member Christine Forster last week is a great example of what doesn’t work. Nobody is talking about the human rights disaster on Manus Island when people act out in this way. It defies logic to believe that screaming at and demonising those in power will bring about the change one desires.
Some of our greatest global change agents in modern history, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi, demonstrated that you cannot beat hate with hate. These leaders were creative with their actions and I think this is a critical element in any protest.
When the people of Felton walked up the streets of Toowoomba with wheelbarrows full of produce, they caught people’s imagination and engaged with political leaders in a way that shouting or slogans never could. Their successful campaign to stop an open cut coal mine proposed for our region was conducted with passion, creativity, respect and best of all, good humour.
There is a time and place for people to gather in the public square; indeed there are moments when nothing else will do. A powerful example occurred in 2012 when tens of thousands of people in Melbourne spilled onto the streets in honour of Jill Meagher, a woman raped and murdered in the suburb of Brunswick.
Three thousand people spontaneously came out and stood with Jill’s family and made a statement that their community would do all it could to be a safe place for women.
The opposite of activism is slacktivism or clicktivism where speaking out for those who are hurt or vulnerable costs us nothing and comes with the click of a mouse. This is not the pathway of positive change.
Public protest is not easy and is often misunderstood. At its core is a simple message. I have witnessed cruelty, injustice or inhumanity. I will not look away. I refuse to avert my gaze and I invite you to join me in bringing about some change.