March Forth 2020

Below, you will see the response papers written by social change students during the Spring 2020 semester.   In this post I will outline what I did to prepare for the event, and how that differed from the past.

March Forth 2020 was a great success.  The big difference this year was the formal use of chanting.  I produced a generic list of chants, and then asked them to plug in their issues.  I then produced a list of chants, which included 3-5 chants for each student's cause.  I handed out the chant list to all the students on the day of the protest, and then during the protest, we did a call and response.  We chanted through almost all of the protest, which was the perfect amount of time to get through chants for each student's cause.  In the end, we had a little more space to walk and didn't have any chants so I just made up a few on the spot, and the group responded nicely -- "whose streets"  I would yell, and the crowd, now in the Social Science quad, would respond loudly in unison "our streets".  I would then chant, "what power?" and the group screamed back "protest power".  We did this a few times until we returned back to the Free Speech area.   I think the chants were an important part of the energy and I can't believe we never formalized chanting in the past.  One mistake I made is not spending a few minutes asking people to talk to other protesters and onlookers around the free speech area.  We had a few minutes at the end or beginning where people could have spent time to learn about each other's causes.  I typically remember to create space for that interaction, but I guess I just forgot this time.  I also wanted to make sure everyone could make it to their next class with no problem.  This crowd of protesters is about normal, I would say, which is surprising somewhat, given the lack of involvement of other student groups and other community groups.  Usually we reach out to student and community groups and secure some of their involvement.  That typically happened through my involvement as adviser of the sociology club.  That adviser status also allowed me to easily book the free speech area, as well as table and chairs for community groups and student groups to do tabling before and after the march.  I'm not sure about why the group was large despite the lack of outside involvement.  There are two differences -- I gave extra credit to students in my other classes, and I gave extra credit for students in the social change class to bring up to two friends with them to the protest.  I also sent a message to the sociology listserv inviting everyone to the protest, placed sign-making materials in the sociology office, and students included advertising for the event on all their flyers.  I created a packet of flyers that included one flyer for each class member.  Each student was responsible for distributing all 35 flyers (one for each classmate).  In the past we did flyers, but not the packet.  In the past, we did flyers and chalking but it did not include advertising for the event.  In the past, we used the listserve to announce the event, but we didn't provide sign-making materials in the department office.  In the past, I did give extra credit to students in my other classes, but I did not give extra credit to students in the sponsoring class to bring friends with them.  Generally, all the changes, I think were positive.  Getting more student groups and community groups involved will be a goal for next time, or for when I teach the social movements class.  In the social movements class, I typically have students create mini social movement groups, with formal positions, etc.,  and ask them to connect with similar community groups, thereby students recruit the community groups. I've even had the students in the social movements class start student clubs and apply for funds. I don't think any of those clubs persisted, but they could have.  The social change class that led the protest this year was not given the opportunity to create movement groups or connect with the community, because social movements are just a small part of social change, I don't feel its right to spend most of the semester on that type of project.  We did everything in just a few weeks.  We started with students picking a cause and doing some freewriting about that cause.  Then I asked them to look up a slogan and some statistics about their cause and bring it to class the next day.  I sent them out to chalk campus with these stats, slogans, along with an advertisement about the March Forth event.  For the next class periods, I asked them to produce a collective action frame and a flyer.  On the last class period before the protest, I gave them instructions about what to expect -- emphasizing that this should be fun way to gain attention for your cause -- and then told them the importance of choosing a simple two or 3 word slogan for their sign (So it could be seen) and then spent the whole class period making signs.  This year I did not book the free speech area and I did not know if the area would be packed with others.  Thankfully there was no smog-belching bus or other groups using the area.  I brought all the signs with me and students picked up their signed and talked to others.  This was the informal time for discussion. I hope people talked about their issues.  I assembled the group for a picture, gave a quick speech about the importance of protest for democracy, and reminded them to not disrupt classes, carefully cross roadways, and be safe . . .and away we went . . .