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Protesting the Narrative

By Anonymous

In this imagined scenario of workshop series, I would pitch a string of workshops that focused on crafting protest narratives. I think that more recently people have been turning to non-violent protest as a way to try to combat some of the injustices encountered in the world. While I agree that this is a viable, direct approach to addressing certain issues, I feel that many times these protests fall short of their goal due to inefficiently crafting the narrative surrounding their cause. With this workshop series, those interested can find more effective ways to create, spread, and act on the narrative surrounding their cause.

My ideas for how this workshop series would be set up is similar to that of a graduate level seminar. Full completion of my series would include attendance at five three-hour long which would include a good balance of lecturing/explanation of the topic and individual or grouped activities centered around application of the tools learned. The series would be presented in a “crash course” sort of set up, where all five parts of the workshop take place in the same week. Taking all of the pieces in quick succession works best for the content of this series because they all build off of one another so well. I also feel that there may be some urgency in wanting to understand and apply these concepts to their own real life causes coming from the intended audience of these workshops- making this quick layout ideal. Getting the word out to increase attendance would mainly involve placing physical ads in popular common areas (like college campuses and community center bulletin boards) and social media promotion to easily reach the most likely to show up. There would also be no cost for participating - possibly a voluntary donation - so that would also hopefully play a part in making the workshops easily accessible to those interested.

The following is a general breakdown of what each of the sessions in my workshop would entail. The first session would be dedicated to understanding the importance behind needing a strong protest narrative and understanding the story behind the cause and the rhetoric surrounding it. The second session will discuss the necessary steps to take to craft a narrative for their individual causes/events/protests. The following will give advice on how to promote/spread word about/rally for the narrative they’ve created. The second to last workshop is reserved for working on how to respond to opposition or critique of the narrative in a way that won’t damage the crafted narrative. The series will end with a talk on how to utilize the narrative during negotiations/resolutions.

My goal for this workshop series is to help provide activists and other interested parties with the proper skills and tools necessary to create narratives for their causes. Making sure that there’s a clear, attainable goal and story behind the cause is an important part of impacting change, so it’s crucial that those involved are well versed in the various approaches to doing this.

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