This posting is one of the most cogent, workable, and strategic approaches to defeating authoritarianism I’ve ever read. That’s not a exaggeration. And it’s based on a really simple premise: isolated we fail; together we succeed. Doesn’t that just make intuitive sense?
With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-29-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Mayor Michelle Wu, J im Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens,
Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth,Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson--
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday.The Dr. Martin Luther King Center.And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters Southernn Poverty LawCenter
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity"
Thank you, thank you for calling out all those standing up and standing firm! I've been talking to a variety of people and orgs about the potential for a fund to financially support all these courageous individuals and institutions and would be grateful to hear from anyone interested in joining this effort. Many of these you mention are suffering and will continue to suffer monetary damages from litigation, public positions, and collateral consequences, and some of those folks are not in a position to bear these costs (or bear them for long). I'm looking to identify funders, including grant-making nonprofits, willing to discuss the possibility of standing up a structure in defense of these stalwarts and much more broadly, in defense of the democratic legal infrastructure and the integrity of legal advocacy. Hopefully this would be a short- to medium-term shoring up in order to weather the storm -- and to encourage others to join in the public and concrete pushback rather than ceding in advance or staying silent. DM me if interested.
All good points BUT I see another huge problem! We ARE playing catch up and are always on defense! Millions are deer in the headlights, frozen OR victims of paralysis by analysis, reading articles every day, and are in denial of what’s happening OR worse yet DON’T KNOW what’s happening! Trump’s criminal enterprise declared WAR on USA in 2015 with Putin’s game plan! So 10 yrs of WAR already! Millions don’t know it even now! They must WAKE UP FAST or we’ve already lost. Seriously.
another problem IMO. Trump jerks our chain on nonsense. Like his executive orders on challenges to voting requirements and birthright citizenship. Those particular EOs are going nowhere but deflect focus on the more important harmful things he is doing.
Problem is that everything Trump and his mob are doing is key to the overall plan to BREAK the country, BREAK the people, BREAK our institutions, BREAK the Constitution & definitely BREAK the Rule of law that is the grease that keeps our democratic republic running. Nothing he’s doing isn’t well planned. Watch last week’s Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes shows on MSNBC to see/hear subject matter experts & guests speak on autocracy and law to see what Trump’s intentions are. 1st of all, he intends NEVER to leave the presidency! He intends to have the U.S. House under Holy Mike never again certify any elections in blue states! Everything he tried in 1st term, he’s doing now but on steroids! Everybody with Trump is hiring their inlaws. Most of the cabinet appointees lied to Senate & American People during confirmation and so on! King isn’t good enough any more. He wants to be Emperor for life like Caesar. We need to seriously wake up and talk with everyone we know who still isn’t paying attention. Nothing & no one is safe from this hostile takeover of our futures! But we must not lay low—or this only gets worse. We must realize we have agency! Those who serve Trump are not enablers, they’re collaborators!
I worry that the left will have trouble responding to the current crisis because of its history of infighting. You say that: "An effective coalition would: (1) align on what issues and fights to prioritize; (2) coordinate its strategy for advancing democratic values and practices; (3) elevate key leaders; and (4) advance a clear narrative about democracy’s importance and autocracy’s failures."
I don't feel confident that the left will be able to rise to this moment and fill those criteria. With both the women's march and black lives matter (but especially the former), infighting about which issues to prioritize led to the collapse of many institutions and an inability to capitalize on massive popular interest. Furthermore, the focus on decentralization from groups like Occupy Wall Street and 50501 has made it harder for leaders to emerge.
I think it's critical that the American left learn its lessons from the past decade, and put a focus on promoting democracy first, above other (also very important issues!) like climate, racial and gender equity, etc. That's the only way we can get to an effect coalition. The biggest threat from Trump is that he dismantles democracy itself. Without democracy, we can't effectively achieve any of our other goals.
I am beginning to think this is a Republican talking point to keep us separated from each other. The more we focus on it the stronger they become. We need to move forward.
We MUST mobilize!! As Thomas Jefferson wrote “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty”. We have reached the need for resistance and duty. We the people must stand TOGETHER to fight back against this corrupt government!!!
Thank you for laying the lesson out - now we need to heed the lesson and act. Most of us are folks, just folks, not connected to universities, law firms, or unions; do you have a recommendation for us? How can we support institutions so they stand up to, instead of give in to, the administration?
Thanks for the excellent analysis!Someone smarter than me might just end up figuring out how to make an idea work that'sbeen on my mind: the new Big Tent for Democrats, Independents and disaffected Republicans* perhaps called Constitutional Democracy. Is it the reformed Democratic Party, a united platform with firm resolve and concerted actions, much is yet to be determined. But while dynamic, grass roots rallies and other opposition really needs multi-partisan and unified leadership.
* The GOP is gone, only The POT (Party of Trump) remains. I used to be a moderate Republican but turned independent to escape MAGA.
Humor me, maybe a summit in South Dakota to chisel out the particulars that will keep traitor Trump off that mount. Maybe the message of Constitutional Democracy delivered daily and directly in opposition to Trump, Vance, Musk et al in bipartisanship fashion by Pete Buttigieg and Liz Cheney. Maybe win-win election strategy that guarantees enduring bipartisanship in congress. Sure compromise will be needed, no better time than now.
Thanks for the info, I'll look into joining. Remember "Keep America Beautiful"? Such movements went beyond ideas pitched by a variety of people, but had a huge coalescing element. How will that happen here? Will Adam and Bulwsrk and Democrats and VoteVets and so and so on keep operating from their platforms or will they fundamentally find each other in time to coalesce? I read something recently about 12 million working together will create the critical mass needed. Now how to get it done.
Some say democratic capitalism. Others like Stiglitz say-progressive capitalism.
Some on the left dislike capitalism so those terms can be an issue. You can't please everyone, except by lieing for a while. I scanned the article. Looked good. We had big spaghetti diiner last night of 200 plus like minded folks. That has value, plus actions will result from it.
Great points. Publicly visible opposition is important. This article explains why Paul Weiss and Skadden were not rational in settling with the Trump administration. Maybe they thought that they were playing a one-move game and that the settlement will hold. But it won't. Trump doesn't honor agreements, so settling with the Trump administration just weakens everyone's position and sends the wrong signal to the public. Also: I appreciate that you are reframing from resistance to winning. Much better! Thanks for all you are doing.
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a good analogy because most people are making their decisions in isolation - after all, it's the isolation that allows the Prisoner's Dilemma to work. So, what if we built a social platform that allowed everyone to indicate their support for candidates and issues without the heavy lifting of protesting, or expense of booting or running ads, or the personal risk to career or safety of posting under real names? For example, I use Yelp, and when I see a business with 2 out of 5 stars and lots of negative reviews, I can simply keep looking. When I see a business with 5 out of 5 stars and lots of positive reviews, I can do business with them. Free markets, consumer sites, and digital marketplaces do an incredible job in weeding out bad business - we can apply the same structure to politicians and elections! We're building the platform now... I'd be happy to demo to any one interested any time.
Sure - I'd be happy to give you a Zoom demo and get your thoughts... I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn doing demos. Let's connect there(?) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgillis/
Sometimes there is no other way to the heavy lifting, protesting, booting ads, or taking personal risks. Accept what is and get busy doing anything and everything for freedom. Today republicans are throwing everything at us all at once, we can do the same by fighting everything at once! JMO
🌟⭐️BRAVO!! 🌟⭐️What an uplifting compilation of heroes, patriots🇺🇸🗽and ”the helpers,” as Fred Rogers’ wise mother advised him to notice and seek out in times of fear.
I feel 🎁 ed with several cleansing, invigorating and relieving
🌬️💨💨breaths contained within this inspiring post! After all, as Ben Franklin is credited with exclaiming,” We must all hang together or we will most surely hang separately.”
Your efforts are much appreciated, thanks for sharing!! 🍀☮️☘️
This posting is one of the most cogent, workable, and strategic approaches to defeating authoritarianism I’ve ever read. That’s not a exaggeration. And it’s based on a really simple premise: isolated we fail; together we succeed. Doesn’t that just make intuitive sense?
Unfortunately the left is only unified on purity tests and circular firing squads. Purity or power, pick one, you can't have both.
With the anticipated thousands [million+?] of heroic protestors on April 5th (actually any and all days, including Women's March) here's an updated partial list of those fighting back every day [as of 3-29-25). I'm also adding courageous law firms who haven't caved. Besides upstanding lawyers, and law-abiding honorable (present and former) judges (including James Boasberg, chief judge, D.C. District Ct.), here's a growing list of Profiles in Courage men, women, and advocacy groups who refuse to be cowed or kneel to the force of Trump/Musk/MAGA/Fox "News" intimidation:I'll begin (again) with Missouri's own indomitable Jess[ica] (à la John Lewis's "get in good trouble") Piper/"The View from Rural Missouri," then, in no particular order, Heather Cox Richardson/"Letters from an American," Joyce Vance/"Civil Discourse," Bernie Sanders, AOC, Gov. Tim walz, Sarah Inama, Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Jasmine Crockett, Ruth Ben-Ghait, Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi, Stephanie Miller, Gov. Janet Mills, Gov. Beshear, Gov. JB.Pritzker, Mayor Michelle Wu, J im Acosta, Jen Rubin And the Contrarians, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, Jay Kou, Steve Brodner, Rachel Cohen, Brian TylerCohen, Jessica Craven, Scott Dworkin, Brett Meiselas, Joy Reid, D. Earl Stevens,
Anne Applebaum, Lucian Truscott IV, Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth,Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff, Jon Ossoff, Elyssa Slotkin, Tristan Snell, Delia Ramirez,Tim Snyder, Robert B. Hubbell, Ben Meiseilas, Rich wilson, Ron Filpkowski, Jeremy Seahill, Thom Hartmann, Jonathan Bernstein, Simon Rosenberg, Marianne Williamson, Mark Fiore, Jamie Raskin, Rebecca Solnit, Steve Schmidt, Josh Marshall, Paul Krugman, Andy Borowitz, Jeff Danziger, Ann Telnaes,͏ ͏Will Bunch, Jim Hightower, Dan Pfeifer, Dean Obeidallah, Liz Cheney, Adam Kimzinger, Cassidy Hutchinson--
American Bar Association, 23 blue state Attorney Generals, Indivisible. FiftyFifty one, MoveOn, DemCast, Blue Missouri, Third Act, Democracy Forward, Public Citizen, Democracy Index, DemocracyLabs, Fred Wellman/On Democracy, Hands Off, Marc Elias/Democracy Docket, Public Citizen, League of Women Voters Lambda Legal, CREW, CODEPINK, ACLU, The 19th/Errin Haines, Working Families Party, American Oversight, Every State Blue, Run for Something, Jessica Valenti/Abortion Everyday.The Dr. Martin Luther King Center.And, as Joyce Vance says, "We're in this together"--or via Jess Piper, from rural Missouri: "Solidarity." FIGHT BACK! WE ARE NOT ALONE! (Latest addition h/t , Robert B. Hubbell: Law firms, see below). All suggestions are welcome.* Perkins Coie and Covington & Burling have resisted Trump, fighting back with the help of other courageous firms like Williams & Connolly. Per The ABA Journal,Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, representing fired inspectors general. (Law.com)Hogan Lovells, seeking to block executive orders to end federal funding for gender-affirming medical care. (Law.com)Jenner & Block, also seeking to block the orders on cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com, Reuters)Ropes & Gray, also seeking to block cuts to medical research funding. (Law.com)Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, representing the Amica Center for Immigrants Rights and others seeking to block funding cuts for immigrant legal services. (Law.com)Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.Wilmer Hale Keker, Van Nest & Peters Southernn Poverty LawCenter
Perhaps I should add our nation's motto--and on our Great Seal--the phrase "E pluribus unum" (out of many, One ). Ii's 13 letters makes its use symbolic of the original 13 Colonies which rebelled against the rule of the Kingdom of George III . . .And now we protest together against King Donald. As my rural MO. indomitable Jess Piper always says: "Solidarity"
Protect Democracy added, of course
Thank you, thank you for calling out all those standing up and standing firm! I've been talking to a variety of people and orgs about the potential for a fund to financially support all these courageous individuals and institutions and would be grateful to hear from anyone interested in joining this effort. Many of these you mention are suffering and will continue to suffer monetary damages from litigation, public positions, and collateral consequences, and some of those folks are not in a position to bear these costs (or bear them for long). I'm looking to identify funders, including grant-making nonprofits, willing to discuss the possibility of standing up a structure in defense of these stalwarts and much more broadly, in defense of the democratic legal infrastructure and the integrity of legal advocacy. Hopefully this would be a short- to medium-term shoring up in order to weather the storm -- and to encourage others to join in the public and concrete pushback rather than ceding in advance or staying silent. DM me if interested.
All good points BUT I see another huge problem! We ARE playing catch up and are always on defense! Millions are deer in the headlights, frozen OR victims of paralysis by analysis, reading articles every day, and are in denial of what’s happening OR worse yet DON’T KNOW what’s happening! Trump’s criminal enterprise declared WAR on USA in 2015 with Putin’s game plan! So 10 yrs of WAR already! Millions don’t know it even now! They must WAKE UP FAST or we’ve already lost. Seriously.
another problem IMO. Trump jerks our chain on nonsense. Like his executive orders on challenges to voting requirements and birthright citizenship. Those particular EOs are going nowhere but deflect focus on the more important harmful things he is doing.
Problem is that everything Trump and his mob are doing is key to the overall plan to BREAK the country, BREAK the people, BREAK our institutions, BREAK the Constitution & definitely BREAK the Rule of law that is the grease that keeps our democratic republic running. Nothing he’s doing isn’t well planned. Watch last week’s Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes shows on MSNBC to see/hear subject matter experts & guests speak on autocracy and law to see what Trump’s intentions are. 1st of all, he intends NEVER to leave the presidency! He intends to have the U.S. House under Holy Mike never again certify any elections in blue states! Everything he tried in 1st term, he’s doing now but on steroids! Everybody with Trump is hiring their inlaws. Most of the cabinet appointees lied to Senate & American People during confirmation and so on! King isn’t good enough any more. He wants to be Emperor for life like Caesar. We need to seriously wake up and talk with everyone we know who still isn’t paying attention. Nothing & no one is safe from this hostile takeover of our futures! But we must not lay low—or this only gets worse. We must realize we have agency! Those who serve Trump are not enablers, they’re collaborators!
People are looking for leaders to take their hands. Be that leader. Take that hand. Join us together.
I worry that the left will have trouble responding to the current crisis because of its history of infighting. You say that: "An effective coalition would: (1) align on what issues and fights to prioritize; (2) coordinate its strategy for advancing democratic values and practices; (3) elevate key leaders; and (4) advance a clear narrative about democracy’s importance and autocracy’s failures."
I don't feel confident that the left will be able to rise to this moment and fill those criteria. With both the women's march and black lives matter (but especially the former), infighting about which issues to prioritize led to the collapse of many institutions and an inability to capitalize on massive popular interest. Furthermore, the focus on decentralization from groups like Occupy Wall Street and 50501 has made it harder for leaders to emerge.
I think it's critical that the American left learn its lessons from the past decade, and put a focus on promoting democracy first, above other (also very important issues!) like climate, racial and gender equity, etc. That's the only way we can get to an effect coalition. The biggest threat from Trump is that he dismantles democracy itself. Without democracy, we can't effectively achieve any of our other goals.
I am beginning to think this is a Republican talking point to keep us separated from each other. The more we focus on it the stronger they become. We need to move forward.
Bingo.. The Left is nothing but purity tests. Purity or power, pick one, you can't have both.
We MUST mobilize!! As Thomas Jefferson wrote “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty”. We have reached the need for resistance and duty. We the people must stand TOGETHER to fight back against this corrupt government!!!
While Thomas Jefferson did express similar sentiments, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that he actually said this. https://checkyourfact.com/2018/04/13/fact-check-thomas-jefferson-quote/
Thank you for setting this example straight
Thank you for laying the lesson out - now we need to heed the lesson and act. Most of us are folks, just folks, not connected to universities, law firms, or unions; do you have a recommendation for us? How can we support institutions so they stand up to, instead of give in to, the administration?
See on on 4-5-25.
Thanks for the excellent analysis!Someone smarter than me might just end up figuring out how to make an idea work that'sbeen on my mind: the new Big Tent for Democrats, Independents and disaffected Republicans* perhaps called Constitutional Democracy. Is it the reformed Democratic Party, a united platform with firm resolve and concerted actions, much is yet to be determined. But while dynamic, grass roots rallies and other opposition really needs multi-partisan and unified leadership.
* The GOP is gone, only The POT (Party of Trump) remains. I used to be a moderate Republican but turned independent to escape MAGA.
Humor me, maybe a summit in South Dakota to chisel out the particulars that will keep traitor Trump off that mount. Maybe the message of Constitutional Democracy delivered daily and directly in opposition to Trump, Vance, Musk et al in bipartisanship fashion by Pete Buttigieg and Liz Cheney. Maybe win-win election strategy that guarantees enduring bipartisanship in congress. Sure compromise will be needed, no better time than now.
I think that's sort of the idea of Adam Kinzinger's Country First organization https://www.country1st.com/
Thanks for the info, I'll look into joining. Remember "Keep America Beautiful"? Such movements went beyond ideas pitched by a variety of people, but had a huge coalescing element. How will that happen here? Will Adam and Bulwsrk and Democrats and VoteVets and so and so on keep operating from their platforms or will they fundamentally find each other in time to coalesce? I read something recently about 12 million working together will create the critical mass needed. Now how to get it done.
Some say democratic capitalism. Others like Stiglitz say-progressive capitalism.
Some on the left dislike capitalism so those terms can be an issue. You can't please everyone, except by lieing for a while. I scanned the article. Looked good. We had big spaghetti diiner last night of 200 plus like minded folks. That has value, plus actions will result from it.
Please post this article on BlueSky
I did
Thanks.
This post is brilliant.
Mr Bassin nails it again. For those of us not in the world of institutions being attached, we will see you on April 5.
Great points. Publicly visible opposition is important. This article explains why Paul Weiss and Skadden were not rational in settling with the Trump administration. Maybe they thought that they were playing a one-move game and that the settlement will hold. But it won't. Trump doesn't honor agreements, so settling with the Trump administration just weakens everyone's position and sends the wrong signal to the public. Also: I appreciate that you are reframing from resistance to winning. Much better! Thanks for all you are doing.
April 5, Takedown Tesla, town halls, and much more
✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻
The Prisoner's Dilemma is a good analogy because most people are making their decisions in isolation - after all, it's the isolation that allows the Prisoner's Dilemma to work. So, what if we built a social platform that allowed everyone to indicate their support for candidates and issues without the heavy lifting of protesting, or expense of booting or running ads, or the personal risk to career or safety of posting under real names? For example, I use Yelp, and when I see a business with 2 out of 5 stars and lots of negative reviews, I can simply keep looking. When I see a business with 5 out of 5 stars and lots of positive reviews, I can do business with them. Free markets, consumer sites, and digital marketplaces do an incredible job in weeding out bad business - we can apply the same structure to politicians and elections! We're building the platform now... I'd be happy to demo to any one interested any time.
I'd like to see it. I've often thought of something similar and would love to discuss added ideas.,
Sure - I'd be happy to give you a Zoom demo and get your thoughts... I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn doing demos. Let's connect there(?) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimgillis/
Sometimes there is no other way to the heavy lifting, protesting, booting ads, or taking personal risks. Accept what is and get busy doing anything and everything for freedom. Today republicans are throwing everything at us all at once, we can do the same by fighting everything at once! JMO
🌟⭐️BRAVO!! 🌟⭐️What an uplifting compilation of heroes, patriots🇺🇸🗽and ”the helpers,” as Fred Rogers’ wise mother advised him to notice and seek out in times of fear.
I feel 🎁 ed with several cleansing, invigorating and relieving
🌬️💨💨breaths contained within this inspiring post! After all, as Ben Franklin is credited with exclaiming,” We must all hang together or we will most surely hang separately.”
Your efforts are much appreciated, thanks for sharing!! 🍀☮️☘️
Apr 5 2025 protest peacefully against this un-American leadership
April 5, 2025 - do your part people and collectively protest peacefully