1. What were the objectives of the action?
2. In what ways were the objectives met, and to what effect?
3. If objectives were not met, what is the cost of not meeting them?
4. What would it really take to achieve the most ambitious stated objectives?
5. What follow-up work is being done to ensure the action has a political impact?
6. What role did the action play in what larger strategy?
7. What was the intended audience of the action? Did the time, place and messaging reflect that?
8. Was it the kind of action you’d want to join if you saw it passing by?
9. Do you think onlookers would be more likely to side with the protesters or want to be protected by the police?
10. Did participants seem to be aware of how their actions might be perceived by potential allies?
11. If you were a reporter, what kind of story would you have come away with to report?
12. What attractive alternatives were presented to the wrong being denounced?
13. In what ways did the action reflect the world you want to see? In what ways did it not?
14. If protesters were arrested or injured, did they do so on their own terms? Did they contribute to a narrative of empowerment or victimhood?
15. What kinds of populations seemed most comfortable with how the action went? Least?
16. Did the action mobilize the people most affected by the issue at hand?
17. Would undocumented immigrants or other precarious community members likely feel safe participating?
18. Was it an action one could bring children to? Was it advertised as such?
19. Did the march make potential allies more or less likely to join such actions in the future?
20. Who wasn’t there who should have been? Do you know why?
21. Did you have an opportunity to participate in the planning of the action?
22. Was there any messaging used that made you feel misrepresented?
23. What venues are available for you to express misgivings about how things went in a productive fashion?
24. Did you feel like you were able to express the reasons you participated in the action?
25. Do you think you were heard by those you most want to hear it?
Wow, I didn’t realize that that sign meant “all cops are bastards.” I was really amazed at the vehemence with which people screamed at the police during that march. It was an event colored by much anger. These are really excellent questions; I hope they really do become part of a debriefing (you’ll let us know?).
Thanks, Rachel. I actually assembled these questions after getting a call from someone who participated in the march and felt not just “amazed,” but really disappointed and poorly represented by the march. I know, though, that not everyone felt that way. But there needs to be a venue to have those sorts of conversations, especially outside the usual groups of organizers in the movement.
Your questions are crucial. Thank you.
You forgot the most important one, and the one likely motivating the people who brought the ACAB banner-
“Did this action make you feel more powerful?”
Appealing to others for mercy is for the weak!
Questions for Nathan:
1) What is the strategic purpose of asking these questions with regard to this action?
2) Are (nonviolent) expressions of anger at police brutality and the arbitrary imposition of authority ever justified?
3) How would you prefer to address the issues of police brutality and the arbitrary imposition of authority?
4) How did you learn about this action? Were you a part of it — either as an observer or participant — or did you learn about it from media or other sources?
5) How complete a view of this action do you think you have?
Thanks for turning the tables:)
1) To facilitate critical conversation. After the march, several people expressed frustration to me about how it went, and it seemed like they could benefit from some questions to help clarify their thinking, as well as a forum in which to express their responses. I know of at least one case in which these questions were used in such a debrief.
2) Of course. But keep in mind I’m also trying to shift the discussion from “is it justified?” to “is it strategic?”
3) It depends on the circumstance. In this case, I thought that some excellent progress was being made in using humor against police “arbitrary imposition of authority” — for example, on the previous Wednesday night, after the cops cleared Union Square, there was an incredible spirit of play and fun that totally disarmed the fear that the police were attempting to inflict.
4) I was at the march from start to finish, running through the streets with everyone else, covering it with my Waging Nonviolence (i.e., useless in the eyes of the NYPD) press badge. So, more like a civilian accompanier than participant observer.
5) As complete as anybody who was there and had a subjective experience of it, without being too closely involved in how what decisions were made when.
Thank you for your considered response.
Though I can’t speak for anyone involved, and it doesn’t look like anyone who was involved has chosen to answer your questions (at least not in this forum) it seems that the strategic purpose of the march was encapsulated in its title:
“March Against Police Brutality/Fire Ray Kelly”
ie: to highlight and protest police brutality in general and NYPD brutality in particular and to place responsibility and accountability for it on the Police Commissioner.
I notice you did not address the issue of police brutality or how you would prefer to see it addressed by OWS and the other groups involved in the M24 protest actions.
Humor and mockery have been extensively used by OWS and other Occupy activists to highlight injustice and official misbehavior. Since the subject of police brutality is such a sensitive one to those who have experienced it, humor may not be the best approach.
Nevertheless, the mockery of the ScooterCops by the bike riders during the M24 march was certainly appropriate.
Given the number of amply documented incidents of police brutality and arbitrary arrest associated with the march that day, once again the behavior of the NYPD helped make the point for the marchers.
Those who were unhappy about how things went during the march might be able to help the strategic planning of future marches by explaining what specifically they were unhappy about.