“The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.”
While holding a sign downtown with Vets For Peace on Tuesday, I met a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student interning for the summer from Michigan. He is barely getting by here because he’s paying $1,500 a month for a studio apartment. His prospects for the future dwindling, but he’s pressing on nonetheless. It sucks. So this is the 3×2 sign I prepped for the overpass protest the Visibility Brigade called for today at drive time. (I’m taking my cue on readability from Patrick Randall, the Freeway Blogger. He’s still out there.)
I may be alone but I will be there. Maybe in an oxford shirt.*
Clicktivism and casual criticism in the face of fascism is not enough. Direct action is a necessity. If it pisses off some it will inspire others. We must build a community of opposition to the authoritarian overthrow of the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. For many, they will need their neighbors’ permission to take their first baby steps. Deeper commitment comes later. That’s the ladder of engagement.
I’m done calling these streetcorner displays protests. Protesting sounds too much like work. What they are is pop-up parties. (I bring a Bluetooth speaker and play a curated song list.) We want others to join. That’s how you build a movement. And God knows we need one.
“A movement must be public,” Derek Sivers told TED in 2010. Writing your congresscritter or calling your senator’s office every day as others urge is good, but it’s not public. Others don’t see you doing it. They have to see you doing it to feel they have permission to join in. Behold, here’s how a movment builds:
Remember: “The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader.”
Today is a good day to be that lone nut. Maybe you’ll find you aren’t alone.
* My button-down Oxfords have languished in the armoir since retirement. In this blue bubble of a town, people are accustomed to dismissing protesters as the usual gaggle of peaceniks for whom public protests are a way of life. In a crowd, I want to stand out: bright colors and Hawaiian shirts. On my own, I want to flip the narrative by presenting an image drivers here don’t expect to see. Would a tie be overkill?
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