Activist Cookbook - 1. Public Speeches

Appetizer - The Methods of Nonviolent Protest and Persuasion

Formal Statements - 1. Public Speeches

Serve

4 - 4 million

Ingredients

1 Pen

1 Paper (Sheet)

1 Megaphone

Directions

Choose words carefully and blend together with pen on paper for emotional impact. Focus on the nature of power as deriving from people and ultimately dependent on people. Speak from the heart. Season lightly with rhetoric.

Use megaphone or any medium that will amplify your speech. This may be using a video-sharing platform, speaking at council meetings, addressing public events. Anywhere you can reach an audience.

Speak of the injustices dividing people and how these can be resolved to bring people together. Serve with kindness.

Put the molotov cocktail down. Any activist using violence against a more powerful and militarized opponent will be killed by the courts or the bullets. Or both.

Nonviolent struggle as a technique for moving society forward is largely misunderstood. Nonviolent action is more than street protests. It works by destroying an opponent by denying their source of power.

Dr Gene Sharp researched and catalogued “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action” to increase the chances of revolutionary success. Swarthmore College produced and maintains a  “Global Nonviolent Action Database” that lists hundreds of examples of succesful actions and campaigns.

Think of a revolution as a full, nutritious meal. A single course won’t satisfy the appetite for change. You need a complete meal plan.