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Quick Protest Planning: 10 Easy Steps

Quick Protest Planning: 10 Easy Steps
by Sue Basko


Need to put on a protest really soon?  If so, quick protest planning is for you.

1) Pick a Topic.  You can be for something, against something, or informative/ educational.

2) Pick a place.   It must be “the public way,” meaning a public sidewalk or publicly-owned plaza that is not part of a park.  If you are staying within the public way and not in any way interfering with the flow of vehicle or pedestrian traffic, you should not need a permit. 

 NOTE: If you have a large group protesting a recent event, and if you will not fit on the sidewalk and must take to the streets, international law says that the police should allow you to be in the street, even if it inconveniences others.

3) Pick a day and time.  The best bet for a quick-planned protest is to pick an afternoon time slot of 2 hours, on whatever day of the week you think people will come.   You have to be there the whole time, but attendees will come and go.  

4) Invite people.  Set up an events page on Facebook.  Tweet it on twitter.  Make a website or blog about it.   Post about it in logical places.  Put ads on Craigslist under "events" and "politics."

5) Make signs.  Nowadays, most  protest signs must be hand-held, because sticks of any size are not allowed.  That means a sign should be no larger than 18 inches by 24 inches, so a person can easily hold it.   Many protests hold a sign-making party before the protest. Some protest organizers print up signs to provide to attendees who did not bring their own signs.  If sign sticks are allowed, if you limit them to the length and width and thickness of a wooden measuring yardstick, you should be fine. 

 Update June 2020:  Sticks or poles of any kind are now definitely not allowed.  Make your signs of paper or cardboard and of a size so they can be easily carried and held by one person.  Don't allow sticks, flagpoles, banner poles, plastic pipes, or any other thing that could be used as a weapon.

6) Find out if you can use a loudspeaker or megaphone.  Check the municipal ordinances for sections on noise, sound, amplification, etc.  If you can use one, try to get one.  If you cannot use one, plan to use call-and-response.  Make up some easy call-and-response chants.

7) Decide how you want to run the protest.  Will there be speakers?  Will people lead the protesters in call-and-response?  Will you walk on the sidewalk to someplace?   Will there be music? (Invite acoustic musicians or drummers.)   Plan an agenda of what happens when, where, by whom, and how.  Write it down.  Stick to it.  Give copies of the agenda to many key people so they also know what is happening.  Try to do these things online and digitally, so you are not creating pieces of paper that will become litter.

8) Get people to help.  Assign some people to be crossing guards or to keep protesters on the sidewalk or just generally to help keep the group organized and on track.  Get people to commit to speak,  to clean up. Invite acoustic musicians or drummers.  Ask everyone to bring their own water, but it is also a good idea to have some bottles of water available.  

9) Last Minute Preparations: Keep reminding people about the event.  Try to get a certain number of people to commit to coming.  Prepare what you will bring:  Sound system, signs, trash bags for clean-up.

10) On the day of the protest, show up a little early to greet early arrivals.  Start off slowly, since most people will arrive late.  Run the protest.  End on time.

And don't forget: > Clean up.  Pick up all flyers, water bottles, or other trash.  

For more detailed information, see:

Permits for Protest Marches
FREE Download - Occupy Poster by Aaron Kuehn
Top 7 Things That Get People Arrested at a Protest aka How to Not Get Arrested
Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions on Peaceable Assembly
Oakland Police Department Crowd Dispersal Policy
Occupy Protests and the First Amendment
Agents Provocateurs: What and Who They Are
Flash Mob Protests
Undercover Cops at Occupy Protests
High School Protest Rights