The idea of protest has been around for centuries, probably since the beginning of humans first coming into contact with each other. With this being an imperfect world, full of people with differing views and opinions, protest is inevitable in society. To protest something means that you have a belief that goes against whatever that 'something' is, and you take action through your belief. This action can be small, such as verbally protesting, or, it can become something large, such as organizing a rally full of sign-carrying, chant-crying supporters. Whatever your form of action, the idea of it all is that you want your point to come across, which hopefully will lead to some change of whatever is being protested.
To qualify something as a protest can be subjective, but I believe, in general, that a protest involves at least one person taking a form of action to show their beliefs against something that they feel is wrong or needs to be changed. In history, we have seen different forms of action taken by people in protest. One example is a recent one, in which the television business is experiencing a writer's strike. Examples of the writers' protest could be seen with people gathering outside studios with posters. These writers felt strongly about how they felt mistreated and did not hesitate to show it. Even further back in history was Rosa Parks and the famous bus incident in which she refused to give up her seat. I believe her action of not getting up was a form protest, though quiet and more subtle, led to greater things. Leaders such as MLK took charge, boycotts began taking place, and everyday people began to feel what Rosa felt and took action. This is another aspect to protest: The domino effect. Though it only takes one person to protest something, it takes even more for that cause to be successful. More people will join in and emphasize the saying, 'there is strength in numbers'. People are influenced by other people everyday in the most simple of ways, and protest is no different.
All in all, if a person wants to protest something, it should be because of what they truly believe is right and wrong. Whatever your form of action is, be safe, be respectful, but be strong.
2 comments:
The purpose of a protest is to make your opinion known that you are against something. This is what you said, and I completely agree with you. I also liked the way you gave examples on protests, like the writer's strike, and the Rosa Parks incident.
I definitely agree that people are influenced by other people. As I mentioned in class the other day, I suspect that few of us could claim to be one hundred percent free from the influences of the media, our communities, our family and friends. These people, and their values, definitely influence how we respond to a protest (and its values). I also wanted to push more on this idea of getting one's point across in a protest. How does a group figure out the best way to get their point across? What are some examples of a group doing a really great job of getting their point across?
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