Making Empowered Decisions
One way of avoiding unexpected or unwanted outcomes from a protest, is to plan and learn with your group.
Doing good research and collective organising not only strengthens your connections with others, it also helps decisions to be well-informed and empowered.
Here are come useful tips:
- Know about the injustices you are fighting. Be clear about what your vision for change looks like, and what strategies and tactics it involves.
- Be clear about how you want to participant in a protest or action and what you hope to achieve.
- Educate yourself about the risks involved in certain protest situations.
- Be reflective of your own needs and vulnerabilities which might be different to others (you have may child care responsibilities, you may be on a visaPermit that allows either temporary or permanent stay in a country. More, you may be pursuing career or travel options that having a criminal record may foreclose).
- Know your rights in protest situations.
- Know what the potential consequences are arising out of a particular protest; what are the likely charges, penalties and other ramifications flowing from that.
- Know you limits, barriers and respect them (and the limits and barriers of others)
- Know what potential triggers may be for you and take action to avoid or minimise these (this may involve informing support people of these)
- Own your actions and choices. Be prepared to take responsibility for your actions.
