How to #Resist Without Going to the Dark Side
Well this is it. Welcome to the pussy-hat wearing resistance led by the Forest Service and the Merriam Webster dictionary. At the women’s march in DC, I saw lots of Princess Leia signs, and hundreds of calls to #Resist. In the first days after the inauguration, I felt strongly drawn to these simplistic archetypes of good and evil. However I began to see something in the “good guys” that I found myself vehemently disagreeing with. Like Rogue One’s Saw Gerrera, people seemed ready to inflict violence as long as it was “for the cause”. Just because our motivations are supposedly rooted in truth and justice, does that make violence an acceptable answer? (The answer, my dear muppets, is NO).
I recounted to an acquaintance how, at the march, a man in an Anonymous Guy Fawkes mask was trying to bait protesters into crossing a downed fence to get closer to the White House. He urged us to bring down the remaining barrier and flipped us the bird when we ignored him. The marchers around me said things like “that just undermines our cause” and “that guy’s an idiot,” while a small group advanced anyway. Hearing this, my acquaintance insisted we should ALL have stormed the fences and run right onto the White House lawn, no matter how many were killed in the process. He’s such an intelligent, compassionate guy; it surprised me how quickly I saw his sentiment echoed in similar messages from others across my social feeds.
If the evil Empire is running the galaxy now, Richard Spencer is definitely a Sith, and the video of someone punching him on the street was widely shared. I saw reactions ranging from a smug giggle to suggestions that Spencer should be murdered — anyone who disagreed was labeled an apologist. The same reactionary rhetoric at Berkeley led to a college student with a red “Make Bitcoin Great Again” hat being pepper sprayed in the face, presumably because it resembled the Trump hats. I have no eloquent reaction for that — WHAT THE FUCK, PEOPLE?! We hate Fascists because they want to silence any voice that disagrees with theirs. Supposedly our motivations are to resist intolerant ideologies, but you can’t employ hate to dispel hate any more than bombs can rid the world of terror. Even the people you think are the most evil, corrupted agents of the Empire are still just people.
Besides the fact that violence should never be condoned, there’s another reason to avoid it. Violence is exactly what Trump wants.
Just ask Ryan Holiday. He helped develop some of the media tactics Milo Yiannopoulos and his ilk are using (though he doesn’t endorse them.) Basically, that playbook is to feign persecution to give the alt-right the sense that they’re scrappy underdogs, and we’re falling for it repeatedly. So far, it’s resulted in minor skirmishes with the anarkiddies, but imagine the consequences if things really became violent. Trump would have all the ammunition he needs to bring down a military boot on our necks. As of right now we still can march, speak, organize, and uplift each other. Should we openly endorse violence, things will get much, much worse. Bannon is itching for a real excuse to burn the country to the ground. Need I remind you, the post 9/11 apparatus of unregulated domestic surveillance, legal limbo for prisoners, and black sites never went away.
So what are we to do in the face of violence once things get real? The Rebel Alliance were willing to kidnap a girl, murder her father, and slay their own out of expediency, so I’d rather turn to my favorite little green sage for advice.
Anger is not wrong, and I have seen it light a fire in progressives that gives me hope. I feel it often, but our path, one unknown to the Sith, must be fierce love. This combination may seem like an oxymoron, but don’t let the word “love” fool you. It’s like fighting with judo; you use the chaotic energy of your opponent against him, and let him fall on his own, while staying firm in your own balance and discipline. Fierce love takes action that not only stands up to the oppressor, but elevates the side resisting, often while being jeered at by both sides.
Do not mistake this love for weakness. When a black man personally befriended KKK members to show them their errors, was that weakness? When a Muslim doctor chose to treat the wounds of a bigoted patient despite horrific violence visited upon her family, was that weakness? How about the victims of the Israeli Palestinian conflict coming together when both sides have suffered and bled? Theirs is a strength that we’re only just beginning to understand. Here in the states, black citizens have long been repeatedly subjected to violence, yet Dr. King endorsed organization, not retaliation.
“There’s a great deal of difference between non-resistance to evil and non-violent resistance. Non-resistance leaves you in a state of stagnant passivity and dead-end complacency. Wherein non-violent resistance means you do resist in a very strong and determined manner. And I think some of the criticisms of non-violence, or some of the critics, fail to realize that we are talking about something very strong, and they confuse non-resistance with non-violent resistance.” — Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Malcolm X disagreed strongly with this approach. Both men agreed opposition was necessary, but Malcolm loathed the notion of peacefully resisting, going so far as to call Dr. King an Uncle Tom. Both were justified in what they fought for. Both were painted terrorists by their own government and attacked by violent racists, yet their reactions could not be more different.
Dismiss me as privileged if you want, but I think my white friends high on moral outrage need to realize some harsh truths. Simply saying we would sign up on Trump’s list of Muslims may sound nice but it means absolutely jack shit. If it ever came to pass, that list would NOT be voluntary, and I doubt you belong to a single Muslim organization even on social media, and that is already being used as a measure of your nationalism. How many of you can truthfully say you attended a Black Lives Matter or immigrant rights march before now? I admit that I didn’t. Now is the time to start. It’s time to take action in our wider communities, and start reaching outside our comfort zones and social circles. We need interfaith services, interracial conversation and support, and actions beyond the protests.
1) Help BLM, Immigrant, LGBTQ, Muslim (and any other targeted communities) in ways THEY ask us too instead of making useless videos that proclaim to the world how much you realize your privilege. Join BLM and Muslim facebook groups, go to rallies, go to mosques, go to Jewish community centers and gay bars, and have conversations. Some of these conversations will be uncomfortable, but have them anyway. Weave our disparate social strands into a rope so strong it cannot be cut, even after this administration comes to an end.
2) Whatever gifts you have, now is the time to share them openly. Financial support to organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood are fantastic, but not everyone has money to give. Donate your time, your skills in medicine, art, law, writing, or community organizing to whomever StormTrumpers target next. Be like the Jewish community in Victoria Texas, who reached out to support their Muslim neighbors when the local mosque burned. Share these uplifting stories in every medium that you can to give us hope in these dark times.
3) Even if it’s a marketing gimic, support companies doing good work. This climate is likely to make brands become more political, and we can choose to support those who resist alongside us. Starbucks promises to hire 10,000 refugees (alongside veterans and students), and Lyft is donating $1 Million to the ACLU. Budweiser arguably pissed off its target consumer with a pro-immigration superbowl ad, while AirBnb’s ad struck a similar note and the corporation upped the ante by offering free housing to refugees barred from U.S. entry because of Drumpf’s ban. If there’s one thing Trump’s cronies understand, it’s money. Whether it’s California threatening to refuse federal taxes or Seattle divesting from WellsFargo bank for supporting the Dakota Access Pipeline, hit them in their pocketbooks.
4) Like it or not, if you have any conservative friends left, you need to talk to them, and more importantly — listen. This isn’t just a trite request to “play nice”. Populists can only succeed when they have an evil to fight. Right now that evil is you. Keep in mind that many of them are tuning in to media that bases itself on Alternative facts, and the divide is deeper than ever.
5) If someone from what you perceive as the Dark Side seeks out the Light and has questions, have the grace to answer them. Welcome them, and show them the humor, love, creativity, and selflessness that I have seen so many in this movement give to each other.
Welcome to the Resistance. Hopefully this one will change everything, including us.