This is What Democracy Looks Like: Protecting Social Movements in the Streets

Webinar, July 2020

We are bearing witness to the largest protest movement in US history. Across the country we are seeing people rise up and take to the streets to demand justice for Black lives and an end to police brutality. Indigenous Water Protectors and climate protesters are also using civil disobedience to shut down dirty energy projects. No matter the issue, non-violent protest has always been fundamental to creating social change and is vital to the health of our democracy.

Attempts to stifle dissent are not new, but right now protesters nationwide are dealing with unprecedented, multi-pronged assaults on their right to speak out and make change. This includes militarized police forces violently dispersing and arresting protesters, a proliferation of anti-protest bills that impose severe criminal penalties and fines against protesters, and aggressive prosecutions and Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) designed to intimidate and tie protesters up in court.

At the same time, national attention directed toward the protests and an increasingly supportive view of protesters have created a unique opportunity for positive reform that would have been unimaginable six months ago. Whether fighting for Black lives, Indigenous sovereignty, immigrants’ rights, climate change, clean water, food systems, or education - peaceful protest is vital to achieving our goals and attempts to stifle protest will impact us all movements for justice.

Please join us to hear from leaders on the front lines about the integral role protests play in movements for social change and the challenges they are confronting nationwide, the path forward for positive reform, and the ways that funders can support networks and campaigns to defend and champion our right to protest.

Speakers:

• Maurice Mitchell, Working Families Organization/Working Families Party, Movement for Black Lives
• Krystal Two Bulls, Oglala Lakota/Northern Cheyenne organizer, Voices of the Sacred, NDN Collective
• Anne Rolfes, Louisiana Bucket Brigade
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

Protecting the Right to Protest

Funder Briefing, Oakland CA, September 2019

Black lives. Indigenous sovereignty. Immigrants’ rights. International human rights. Climate change. Clean water. Food systems. Education.

No matter the issue, peaceful protest is fundamental to creating social change. As money floods our political process, voting rights are rolled back, and courts are captured, the right of the public to assemble, oppose governmental and corporate actions, and demand change and accountability is ever more critical. However, a multi-pronged assault on the right to peaceful protest is proliferating nationwide and jeopardizing all that we are fighting for.

• Protesters are being subjected to intrusive surveillance, violent and militarized policing, and overzealous prosecution designed to suppress their activism.
• Anti-protest laws creating severe criminal penalties and fines have been enacted in 12 states (over 100 bills have been considered in 35 states) in response to actions led by Indigenous Water Protectors, Black Lives Matter, and students opposing white supremacy. Some bills explicitly target foundations that support these groups.
• Anti-boycott laws targeting the movement for Palestinian rights have been adopted in 27 states, and are being considered by more than a dozen other states and the federal government – a model for repressing boycotts of all kinds.
• Gag laws passed in 12 states seek to chill undercover activists and whistleblowers. Originally aimed at factory farms, some laws have expanded to any private business, including hospitals, elder care and veteran care facilities, and schools.
• At the federal level, proposed National Park Service regulations would all but eliminate protest in our nation’s capital. A new presidential executive order aimed at college campuses would chill speech by students of color and anti-fascists.
• Corporations are bringing SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) against activists and NGOs, aimed at tying groups up in costly litigation.

Join us to hear from leaders on the front lines in conversation about the challenges they are confronting nationwide, how they are building alliances to fight back and win, and how funders are supporting new networks and campaigns to defend and champion our right to protest.

Speakers:

• Kylah Johnston, The People’s Lobby
• Liz Jackson, Palestine Legal
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund
• Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective
• Steven Renderos, MediaJustice

Protecting Environment’s Voice: Resisting Assaults on Protest Rights

EGA Fall Retreat, Napa CA, September 2019

A multi-pronged assault on Indigenous Water Protectors, oil pipeline protesters, and climate justice activists is jeopardizing all that we are fighting for. The “Standing Rock” model of policing protests is proliferating nationwide. Draconian legislation designed to criminalize protest has passed in 14 states, with 100 more bills introduced. Regulations have been proposed to limit protest on the most iconic lands in our nation’s capital. Corporate-driven Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation are being brought against environmental organizations and activists. Hear from leaders on the front lines about these challenges, and how funders are supporting new networks to defend these fundamental rights.

Speakers:

• Katie Redford, Director, EarthRights
• Nick Tilsen, President & CEO, NDN Collective
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director, Partnership for Civil Justice Fund