Have you ever gone to a protest and just\u2026 not protested? I recently had this experience at the Hands Off rally in Washington, D.C. The excursion was part of a field trip with SEGL, my semester-away school. As such, peers and I were given specific guidelines for participation. No sign holding, no expression of support or lack thereof and no active involvement. We were there solely to observe, and this ended up being the best way to experience the protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a political climate where it can seem like not having the loudest voice equates to having no voice at all, attending with my mouth metaphorically taped shut proved to be a unique challenge. The point of protests after all is to make noise, enough to inspire change and movements. Historically, protests have done exactly this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The March on Washington and protests throughout the Civil Rights Movement led President Lyndon Johnson to sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964<\/a>, making discrimination illegal. The Stonewall uprising catalyzed<\/a> the LGBTQ+ rights movement. The 2016 Women\u2019s March during the first year of President Trump\u2019s first term inspired<\/a> a slew of related rallies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In contrast, observation tends to garner a passive reputation because it does not require a traditionally \u201cactive response<\/a>.\u201d Observing does not mean raising one\u2019s voice or taking a marked stance. Rather, the practice lends the unique opportunity to step back and watch people advocate for the issues they care about: a meaningful avenue into understanding the political atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My school\u2019s \u201cno protest engagement\u201d rule provided precisely this avenue. A group of ten classmates and I reached the National Mall, watching the rally unfold all around us. My first instinct was to let the crowd around me blur into a comfortable echo chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as I eyed the protest and resisted getting swept into its exhilaration, I started to appreciate its nuances. The rally had some hallmark characteristics: a cacophony of call and response chants, \u201cSave Democracy\u201d etched across cardboard and a crowd pulsating around the Washington Monument. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Intentionally observing brought my noticings a step further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I watched participants promote the messages relevant to them, using the rally as a vehicle to articulate their political grievances. Children and families hoisted poster boards in support of the Department of Education into the air. Their signs turned my mind to the present state of the agency, thinking about the Department of Education\u2019s role in data collection in order to illuminate inequity in education<\/a>. Watching the family make their way through the crowd, I wondered how they might be affected by the Trump administration\u2019s plans to dismantle<\/a> the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n