Planning a Protest

This may seem obvious, since you can’t protest on your own and there’s power in numbers. What you should do is get a group of people together with a shared passion and goal in mind. Make sure that you gather people with individual talents, especially if your goal is long term campaigning. You’re building your dream team here who will march by your side. Fill your team with visionaries, planners, strategists, leaders, and mediators!

Once you have a solid core group of passionate people, it may seem tempting to jump into action immediately. It is crucial to calmly create an action plan and make sure you all have the same intended goal in mind. Are you fighting for a certain outcome of a court case? Are you protesting for or against the President? Are you leading a climate strike? What is your intended outcome of your actions?

At this point, you have built the small group of people you’ve been planning this with but it’s time to get hundreds or thousands of people to march for your cause. To do this, you should spread the message through social media, you’re Gen Z, this is what we do best! Also, you should keep in mind that putting up flyers and spreading the message through word of mouth are also very effective ways to grow your following.

As you’re organizing, it is essential that you know some important laws and regulations. For instance, you don’t need a permit to march in a public place, but you do need permission to march in private spaces, so please keep this in mind. Also, yes, the First Amendment gives you Freedom of Speech, but it does not give you freedom disobey law enforcement, interfere with someone’s arrest, or resist arrest. A good thing to keep in mind though is you can take pictures or videos of things that may seem sus, as long as it is “in plain view” of a public space. For example, if a police officer or opposing protesters seems to be doing something unlawful, you can and should record it.

Make sure your message is memorable. A creative impactful poster will lead to a longer lasting impact on your audience. This can mean puns, shock factors, sarcasm, anything that will grab the attention of observers.

The best way to really get the most attention for your cause is to call in the big shots. Try to get influencers on board with promoting your cause. Big names get big attention, think of it like building a brand, and your profit is spreading passion for what you’re protesting, influencers will definitely help with that. Also, if your protesting campaign is becoming really successful, it may be time to find sponsors. Sponsors and influencers allow for both financial backing and credibility.

Broadcasting, broadcasting, broadcasting! If your protest is big enough, make sure that you get news coverage. On top of that, take a whole bunch of pics and videos, post these on social media and/or write a blog about your protest. To continue with further protests and campaigning, post-protest promotion is a super important step.

Congratulations, you survived your first protest, and we hope it went well! Yet, most protests are not a one-and-done sort of deal. You came this far, which means that you’ve set your campaign in motion, don’t let it end here! Keep promoting and advocating for your cause!