Hello comrades! I am in the position now that I can start helping out with some organizing and I’m looking for some tips.

First, a general question. Can anyone provide some resources for protesting tips? Anything from safety, legality, and how to be successful? I have come across very sparse help in the past, but I’m sure there’s some resources out there that people have written down.

Second, a more specific question. Does anybody have a good recommendation for a sound amplifying machine? Something bigger and more boisterous than a simple loudspeaker. Price is reasonably flexible. I have some money set aside I can spend on this in the hundreds of dollars.

It’s probably necessary to know that I live in the United States in the Pacific Northwest, but I won’t get any more specific than that. Point me in the right direction and I can figure it on my own. I’m just looking for places to get started. Also, I am not alone in my organizing, so I don’t plan on doing anything without referencing the more experienced people around me.

Thank you for everyones help and recommendation, comrades.

  • albigu@lemmygrad.ml
    5·
    7 months ago

    I don’t have any tips, but you should crosspost this to Ask Lemmygrad. It’s the more active community.

    • RedClouds@lemmygrad.mlOP
      3·
      7 months ago

      Thanks for the tip. I couldn’t find it in the Jerboa app, so I had to wait until I got onto a browser. But I just cross-posted.

  • TeezyZeezy@lemmygrad.ml
    4·
    7 months ago

    Yeah, I’m still pretty new at actually engaging in this as well (>1y) but some things I’ve picked up along the way -

    • Always have a dedicated pig liason, and at least 1 experienced marshal (more if there is going to be a lot of people, ofc)
    • Route out your march beforehand and review it with all comrades assuming you’re marching
    • Reach out to community members most affected by whatever issue you’re protesting, so Palestine obviously Arab turnout will be higher etc.
    • Build connections with those who come, not necessarily for them to help organize but just to always have someone to reach out to who can come. Network with them and people they know.
    • If marching, have banners and a lead car at the front and a tail at the back, to prevent people from getting lost and any reactionaries who might want to run into you (low likelihood, but it happens)
    • Use an encrypted app/tool to communicate with the most active and trustworthy comrades, vet this chat and don’t let any random join.
    • Meet beforehand with comrades leading it to voice any last minute questions or changes. Should be at least an hour before the event to check out conditions.
    • Organize speakers for the event and co-sponsoring organizations, have someone able to reach out to those who came and get their contact info or see if they’re interested in joining.
    • After the event, meet again with comrades and use rose-bud-thorn criticism format. Rose is things that went well, bud is improvements that could be made, thorn is things that were bad.

    I do not have any recommendations for loudspeaker, I don’t handle that most of the time. Subwoofers in a car do wonders tho