Non violence only works when the media is on your side.
It does help to have a sympathetic media.
That will never happen for us until Civil Disobedience becomes so disruptive that their wall of silence is cracked. Then the rest will follow for fear of being left behind on a continuing story. The media must be convinced you are in it for the long haul.
In the meantime we use the inside media; local news sources,institutional communications, shortwave and talk radio to your advantage reaching out to our own,networking, organizing,recruiting and growing our numbers. There are tens of thousands of decent persons who would act but don’t know what to do or where to go to join. it is our job to reach and inform them.
In this early stage the purpose is to build a core of truly dedicated believers who will sacrifice their time and energy in their communities. Women should be included in your planning always, both in organizing and in your front line action. I found them to be dedicated and effective soldiers. There is no question of their courage, and they will be looking to you as men to show that example. After your first baptism of action you will be family.
As you grow in numbers and operational effectiveness the national media will realize you are somehow doing this without them and land on you in full hate mode. This is exactly what you want and will grow your numbers geometrically. Soon the Lame Stream Media will want you far more than you need them.
During five years of pro-life non-violent Direct Action in the 80’s and 90’s there were over 60,000 arrests and well over 100,000 participants. Yes, these were in great part dedicated Christian people who also passionately embrace our Constitution. Considering what I saw on media coverage of the Virginia Rallies last week I believe this movement has gone to the very heart of our defense of the Constitution and what it means to be an American.
The potential for the involvement of millions in non-violent Direct Action is undeniably here. It must start in our own communities where all successful movement must.
If we are doing it others are too. It is up to us!