Thoughts On A Protest From Rank & File Participant, Who To This Point Has Rarely Attended Protests

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 This post is mostly written by Carol Wells who lives just outside Houston. It is about a protest she took part in this past weekend at a for-profit prison that is processing ICE detainees. She posted it on Facebook. I'm using it with her permission.

(The picture above is from the protest and taken by Nora Dayton. Nora has been chronicling protests around Houston. It's important work and I'll have a post about Nora's efforts soon.)

Carol says this was the 2nd protest she has ever attended. She offers thoughts on what she experienced.  Carol and her sister as well went outside what they normally do, and shared what they saw. 

Voting is not going to be enough to get us out of this nightmare we are living through. Most of are never going to be organized by any group. We must show up for ourselves. Carol is a great example of showing up for ourselves, and of leadership in explaining what she saw as a way of encouraging others to also join the fight. 

From Carol: 

Thoughts on a Protest

My sister and I participated in the August 3rd protest at the Core Civic Houston Processing Center, a for-profit prison corporation and Trump campaign donor that is profiting from ICE rounding up and detaining people. It was eye-opening to see the facility and its location, even if only from the outside.

I appreciated the energy from the protestors, who were made up of various organizations, as well as non-affiliated folks like us. Speeches were made, chants were chanted. Notable were the call and responses of "¡Viva [fill in the country]!" aimed at the detainees, who evidently can hear them inside.

As this was only our second protest (the first being the 50501 Houston Good Trouble protest/march in downtown Houston), we learned more about group dynamics, as well as protest "rules." After standing across the street from fellow protestors for an hour or so, everyone rushed to our side on the sidewalk at the end. A woman right in front of me started screaming "F@%k HPD/Core Civic" and kept stepping off the sidewalk on to the grass, which we were told not to do because it was private property. An HPD (Houston Police Department) officer calmly told her to back up but she kept putting a toe over the line. The officer warned her she would be arrested if she didn't step back. The crowd was shoulder to shoulder and there were megaphones blasting our ears. I felt like it could go wrong and we'd be knocked down by the crowd.

I don't have a loved one inside the facility so can not speak directly to the anguish, but I can share the rage against the regime and all those enabling and profiting from it, like Core Civic. My ambiguity comes from the tactic of screaming "F&%k HPD" and "F&%k Core Civic" in the faces of low-level employees. Earlier in the protest a speaker had implored to the humanity of both HPD and Core Civic employees, saying we understand they need the jobs to support their families, but they also have rights and a moral obligation to do the right thing. This seems like a better tactic when 10 feet away from a captive audience.

My sister and I extracted ourselves from the crowd and stood on the edge of the gathering. An HPD officer approached us and told us our metal poster holders were not allowed; she calmly showed us a professionally printed template (pictured) with rules for protest signs. Who knew? This made me realize we had put ourselves in further danger, because of our non-compliant poles, when in close proximity of the defiant protestors.

I'm not writing this to dissuade anyone from protesting, I encourage everyone to get out there. Just learn from my naiveté -- be aware of your surroundings, and if you're uncomfortable with a particular group or groups find another. Or protest in your own way, whether that's online, one-on-one with a neighbor, or on your own street corner.
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Would welcome your thoughts or own experiences. This is all new and perplexing.

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show every Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

Here is a fundraising pitch for the Houston Democracy Project. I'm doing the work and showing up in many different ways.  Please help the effort. ​​​​

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