Americans learn to protest like the French.
Plus how to fight the power from abroad!
The French are famous strikers and protesters. The protests against Macron’s plan to change the retirement age filled the news cycle for months. American protests were a true force during the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam, but since then it has become harder and harder to convince Americans that public dissent actually works. But this weekend Americans proved that when their backs are against the wall, they can yell as loud as the French.
(I have noticed that when I post about politics we always lose a couple of followers. I know this Substack is supposed to be about moving to France, but the name “Escape Hatch” should tell you that we are leaving for reasons greater than French food.)
When we arrived back in the US in March, I immediately looked for something, anything I could do to fight Trump’s dangerous and unconstitutional agenda (When I lived here year-round it was easy to fall into an overwhelmed state of inaction.) I found the perfect group in Forwrd-ATX, which started as a few female friends discussing activism and blossomed into a group of over 600 women. This group suits me because the first time I went to a meeting they split us into break-out groups according to our interests and skills.
I went to the “art and theater” group, which might surprise you since I am a novelist, but I also have a background in theater and making props out of cardboard, Velcro, and spit. When I went to the Rally for Democracy on March 8, I noticed a real lack of dramatic visuals or theatrically, and the lack of news coverage of the rallies that day was disheartening.
So I went into the “art and theater” meeting thinking about how we could make a bigger visual impact at the next protest, which would be the No Kings rally on June 14. We started firing off ideas immediately. Could we bring in musicians and a choir? What about a dance flash mob? Could we make a ginormous puppet? I was and am very into the idea of masks and enormous puppets, like the ones created by the political theater group Bread and Puppet, founded in 1963. They always make an impression and almost always make the news.
Our art committee obstacles:
We only had three weeks to prepare
Protesters cannot have a stick over 12” long that is made of wood, plastic, or metal, which makes large scale puppetry very complicated.
The day of the rally would be extremely hot, so no full body costumes, rubber masks, or wool pussy hats.
No real budget
My theater brain took these limitations as a challenge, not a deterrent. We started with the idea of one single item anyone and everyone could wear, like the pussy hats but not hot. We landed on the idea of a crown, in line with the No Kings theme. I found them cheap on Amazon (yes, yes, Bezos is part of the problem but needs must) and we spent three weeks writing No Kings on 1300 crowns.
Our second idea was to create banners that people could use as a meeting point and to highlight the damage being done to the arts. We wanted people to show up with signs declaring how much funding they have lost due to this administration. The banners took a lot longer than the hats.
I took the first finished banner to a Forwrd-ATX meeting and it inspired someone to make their own with our leftover fabric!
We were working furiously to finish by Saturday when I got this email on Tuesday from someone in our committee:
“I need a little emotional reassurance from you all that the arts should be our focus when the Natl. Guard is shooting protesters with rubber bullets in Los Angeles. So disturbing!”
Totally fair point. Here was my response to the concern:
“I think it’s important to finish what we’ve started. Unified symbols like the crowns and the banners tell the other side that we are organized and putting the work in. More importantly, we will attract people to the rally who have protest fatigue and want to be surrounded by friends. We will continue to make banners addressing other groups (education, research, libraries, LGBTQ, etc.) but we are doing what we can with the time we have.”
I wrote this to reassure her but also myself. Were pretty banners actually worthwhile?
I bought these two days before the rally in preparation for being gassed (a sentence I never thought I would write.)
The day of the rally quickly arrived as well as the news that four Minnesota lawmakers had been shot by a MAGA radical. This radical had a list of targets and several Austin lawmakers were on the list. Worried our event would be canceled, we waited hours as police assessed the danger. Two hours before the start time, we got word it was a go.
We handed out all 1300 crowns to a very enthusiast crowd. The visual image wasn’t as striking as I had hoped, because 20,000 people showed up! But this was a good problem to have.
At first, I was very disappointed with the outcome of the banners. People who had volunteered to hold them up for us had a hard time locating us in the dense crowd. Plus, the heat kept anyone from holding them up for very long. I thought that after all our hard work, they were a big flop, until Roberto sent me a text that said, “You made the New York Times!!”
And sure enough, this picture below was included in the Times story about No Kings Day, with two of our banners floating back like super hero capes.
Media coverage was the whole goal! So I will call the day a win. Although, I did suffer from heat exhaustion and had to get ice packs and electrolytes from the EMTs on site. You would think as a native Texan I would be made of sterner stuff.
I was delighted to see that our small city in France even had a No Kings protest! (And the one in Paris was quite large). How wonderful and encouraging to see Americans everywhere raising their voices.
And here is my favorite US sign that I saw online:
If you are reading this from abroad and are trying to find ways to be involved, I suggest looking for the local Democrats Abroad society. The one for all of France is here and the one in Montpellier is here. There is plenty to do from afar—making calls, giving donations, and lending your organization or design skills to activists on the ground. Even your energy is important to share with people who are wearing thin. This Forwrd-ATX calendar lists many opportunities to phone bank, write post cards, and connect with other activists.
I am completely exhausted and need a week to recover. And then it will be back to work planning for the next event.
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois,
Carolyn & Roberto
PS- please share any protest stories or pictures you have in the comments.
There is something deeply moving about the aggressive care that went into the creation of these banners. They scream “this is fucked up” in the most demure way. If I was a kid and saw these banners, I would know this was the right side to be on.
Congratulations on making it to the NYT! Art IS the highest form of hope!
Your banners are great!!! Art can transcend barriers, like music, and both can bring people together. Breaking bread is a lost form of bonding. Commedia dell'arte is a perfect expression, rich with exaggeration and humor. Excellent!!