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Serious Change: A National Protest Movement to End the Iraq War |
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On September 15th, members of The Seminal staff attended ANSWER Coalition’s antiwar march in Washington, D.C., dressed in professional attire. Our aim was to reclaim the symbols of power and show that protesters are speaking for ordinary Americans. By dressing professionally, we believed we would appear articulate, serious, and organized.
To get involved, please sign up for the email list:
The response we received before, during, and after the protest has been astonishing. Our articles were featured twice on the front page of reddit.com and we were invited for an interview on the Bryan Suits Show, a major conservative radio talk show in Seattle. At the protest, we were perceived positively by our fellow protesters. Everyone understood our reasoning, and many supported it. Most importantly, after the event we received emails from activists saying they wanted to join us at the next event we attended.
In response to these expressions of support, we decided to create Serious Change as a formal platform for our tactics. The idea of dressing in professional attire is neither original nor complicated, and it does not belong exclusively to us. In fact, we encourage people to use the tactic with or without direct contact with Serious Change. However, we believe we can assist the antiwar movement by organizing, by putting like-minded activists in touch with each other, and by helping activists present themselves effectively to local and national media.
Serious Change is a movement committed to ending the war in Iraq. We stand in full solidarity with everyone who supports an end to the war, no matter what your approach is. But if you like our tactics, we invite you to join us. More information is available at our webpage, www.theseminal.com/seriouschange, where you will find materials to help you get started. If you are interested in joining the movement, please sign up for the Serious Change email list to receive updates on our latest events:
The next event we plan on attending is United for Peace and Justice’s nationwide October 27th protest. If you are interested in organizing in your city, email us at seminal@theseminal.com. We hope you can take part!
How do I participate if I don’t live on the East coast but still want to be part of the Serious Change movement?
How do I invite other professionals to participate?
You can participate in Serious Change no matter where you live. For example, for the October 27th protests there will be events in Chicago, Tennessee, Florida, the West Coast, and elsewhere. And even if you live in somewhere that doesn’t see a lot of protest action (say, Alaska, Hawai’i, Oklahoma, etc), we would still love to hear from you. Anyone who is interested, even if they live abroad, should subscribe to the email list or contact us directly. Let us know what your skills are and we’ll figure out an opportunity for you to engage with the movement.
As far as letting other people know - *and they do not have to be professionals to participate* - send them to http://www.theseminal.com/seriouschange or have them subscribe to the email list.
Please sign the email list to get involved!
You guys have my support! Rock on.
Great idea, though I hope you have a more formal logo planned (something less load, in a serifed font, and without the black-on-white/white-on-black).
I am impressed that this is working. I am currently writing a paper on the ineffective nature of protesting in our modern political climate and what we can do to make it more effective. This idea is actually of paramount importance to what I am writing about!
If this keeps up, I might have to move away from political cynicism and start being a bit more optimistic!!
Good Job!
@Brian,
If you would like to do an interview with us for your paper, we could make that happen.
I have been trying to sell peaceshirts, myself. What do you guys wear on the weekends?
http://blog.peaceshirts.us
Cheers, and keep up the good work.
Too little too late.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Fahrenheit 451. 1984 Orwell. Brave New World. The New World Order by HG Wells (1940).
“We’re in a whole lot of trouble” - Howard Beale in Network (1976).
America needs to SHUT DOWN. We need to quit. Hippy time. We are all slaves. America is nothing more then a TV Brainwashing, Fascist Isreali/American Elite controlled Tyranny hell bent on war against Iran and installing a Martial Law Police State. Pick up T-Shirts! Get your bumper stickers! Don’t miss this weeks exciting action on AMERICA’S YOU’RE A FUCKING SLAVE YOU BRAINWASHED IDIOTS!!!!!
@Ish
I would very much appreciate that. I think it would be of great help to myself but also the exchange of ideas between us could very well lead to more effective ideas and tactics as well.
I can be contacted at mayb@greenmtn.edu
@FascistUSA
Actually, we do need to quit “hippy time”. It was barely effective during the 60’s in regards to the Vietnam War and is even less effective in the 21st century.
Since this is the case, we do need to redress our tactics for political dissent. Since a protest that lacks unification is highly ineffective, the idea behind Serious Change is the first place to start. Even though the idea of a uniform flies in that face of what most protesters believe (individuality is important) what it shows the media and on a small level the government is that people are able to organize and unify. That may be more important then anything else at this point, because organization is what the higher governmental powers fear more then anything.
“Since a protest that lacks unification is highly EFFECTIVE”
Sorry about the typo
Protesting at places where u believe the news media SHOULD be is a waste of time. The cameras are the for our benefit and to take our pictures to study later. However protesting in massive numbers where the media SHOULD NOT be, I believe to be the most effective voice. During the “Die In” There was not one mention of this massive protest on ANY of the news outlets. If the “Die In” where to be held during the OJ Simpson Trial, or Brittney Spear’s hit-and-run trial or her big custody battle.
“GO WHERE THE NEWS IS. NOT WHERE IT SHOULD BE”
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ad,
The point of a unique protest is all about media. Look at Burma right now and the press it’s been getting. 20,000 monks come out to protest the military junta? People want to know, and that many monks is bound to get attention. Look at PETA’s naked protests. It’s on the BBC every other week, and even if I don’t agree with their message, it’s still there in my face.
Point is, a peaceful protest doesn’t get noticed by those in power if you do it at the front door. It gets noticed when there’s pictures of Burmese (also, Vietnamese if you want to talk about the Vietnam War) monks getting hit the in head with rifle butts (and lighting themselves aflame). It sparks an outcry by the peers of those in power. They look BAD.
Unless you’re planning an armed insurrection, you need to march on the symbol of power, rather than the seat of power itself. Luckily, these things run together a lot of the time.
I really think that in order to get a protest noticed that it has to be well executed. We technically have a right to peacefully assemble and protest. Technically the government can make no law infringing upon that, however with having to apply for a permit to protest and the recent usage of stay away orders being given out, they are infact infringing on our rights.
Myself, I have never seen protests as being affective unless they affect the bottom line of a corporation. But I am willing to concede to the idea that maybe just maybe that it is not the idea of protests that are ineffective but it is more the fault of the organizers who fail to truly give their movements power and force.
Other countries protest and things get accomplished, however in other countries, the government is typically fearful of their citizens, in the US people have forgotten that it is the government who should be afraid, not the citizens.
The task we have now is how to organize highly effective protests that are efficient and unstoppable. If we continue to play by all of their rules then how are we to negotiate our demands? The system is heavily weighted in their favor, the trick is to figure out how to manipulate the system such as corporate America has learned how to do.
We have all the tools we need literally at our fingertips, how we choose to use them will ultimately decide the strength of future protests.
hrm noticed that i had corrected my “typo” with a typo….disregard that correction please
I will not work with International ANSWER:
“Many of ANSWER’s leaders were members of Workers World Party (WWP) at the time of ANSWER’s founding, and are current members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist-Leninist organization that formed in 2004.”
-Wikipedia
I oppose the war, but will not work with any group that supports Lenin. Duh! Sorry, folks.
@Ben
It could be argued that political ideology needs to be set aside when dealing with the Iraq war. Is it not better to have another 2000 people on the side of anti-war then to not have them?
This is what I am talking about when I talk about the lack of unification within the protest movements. Political ideology in some cases needs to be set aside in order to achieve the greater good.