#Art #Poetry and More During #AprilDays #Protest - #aprildayseverywhere

It took a haiku to make me believe in the power of Twitter again.

We're at the beginning of an important antiwar campaign - the April Days of Action Against Drones. Part of that campaign is getting the word out on Twitter, using the #AprilDays and #nodrones hashtags.

I've been very focused on the dozens of protests that have been scheduled at the facilities of drone manufacturers, research facilities, and bases. We've been using Twitter to encourage turnout.

In the last week, three things have encouraged me to remember that protest can include a lot more.

Creative Resistance: A Chicago production of The Predator by Jack Gilroy

The first was a production of the play (reader's theater) called The Predator. This is important because people everywhere can download the script and share it with their communities -- whether or not they are able to join a street protest. The Predator is a great way to educate people about the issues surrounding drones.

#aprildayseverywhere

The second was the Drones Quilt project. Each square of the quilt is made by an ordinary member of the public, who writes their name and then the name of a victim on a square of fabric. The quilt will be finished by the 1st May and, on the 6th, will be taken on a pilgrimage for peace, calling for an end to the use of armed drones.

Creative Resistance: The Drones Quilt Project

People everywhere -- no matter where they are -- can take the time to make a square and add it to the quilt.

#aprildayseverywhere

The third -- and this was the big Aha! moment -- was @DroneHaiku.

Creative Resistance: @DroneHaiku on Twitter

@DroneHaiku reminded me of all the creative ways that we have used social media like Twitter in the past year to built widespread, robust, multi-dimensional protest. Efforts like #AfghanistanTuesday. And #Natoin5. And #NoIranWar.

With @DroneHaiku, all you need is 17 syllables and a Twitter account.

#aprildayseverywhere

No matter where people are, no matter what their gifts are, they can be part of the April Days of Action Against Drones.

What are YOU prepared to do?


Related posts

Eventually, in large part due to Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, the United States was converted from a country in which a small number of people thought slavery needed to be ended into a country determined to act to end slavery. This literary work took the movement wide, and it took it deep.

Why is a novel an important tool for creative resistance?


(See Creative Resistance 101: Uncle Tom's Cabin )

Grounded raises tough questions. I was hoping that the play would challenge the idea that killing people with drones is good. It's a reflection of the seriousness of this work that that is just one of the issues it raises; others include our society's willingness to destroy the people who we employ to "serve" ("serve our country," serve us in general), our culture's worship of violence / use of force, and the consequences of pervasive surveillance.

(See "Everything Is Witnessed": Searching for "the Guilty" in GROUNDED )

I'm marveling at the adjacency of a piece of public art -- one with a very clear message about the risk of human ambition and self-absorption and heedlessness -- to the center of political power in the city of Chicago.

(See NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Who will bring us down to earth? )