Do the right thing

"[L]ess than five per cent of a population engaged in resistance is often enough to cause huge shifts in the zeitgeist and make it much harder for illegitimate authority to rule."

Younger Daughter insists that participation in public demonstrations is something she has to do. In the current anxious environment in which so much is so unclear, when sinister provocations to violence arise from hidden nefarious sources, a parent wants to say no you don't. You don't have to be part of the 5%.

But a parent who remembers the fervent activism of his youth, and who has decried the complacency and disengagement of so many young people ever since, also glows with pride for the conscientious young adult who's willing to put it all on the line for social justice. You don't have to, but maybe you have to. The fact that you want to, for all the right reasons, speaks admirably of your character and commitment.

So do what you have to do. Just be smart about it, on "UN International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression."

LISTEN 
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"...less than five per cent of a population engaged in resistance is often enough to cause huge shifts in the zeitgeist and make it much harder for illegitimate authority to rule" https://t.co/uqtmItNEFI

— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) June 4, 2020

"I've been hearing a little bit of chatter in the Internet about voting versus protest, politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action," he recounted. "This is not an 'either or' — this is a 'both and' — to bring about real change we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable."

"Just remember, this country was founded on protest: It is called the American Revolution," Obama said. "And every step of progress in this country, every expansion of freedom … has been won through efforts that made the status quo uncomfortable."https://t.co/9dBofAy8XE

— NPR (@NPR) June 4, 2020

“Your lives matter,” he said, addressing young people in his virtual audience. “You should be able to learn and make mistakes and live a life of joy without having to worry about what’s going to happen when you walk to the store or go for a jog, or driving down the street, or looking at some birds in the park.”

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Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and 2018 MTSU convocation speaker:

Bryan Stevenson on the Frustration Behind the George Floyd Protests

...as courageous black people began to advocate for civil rights in the nineteen-fifties and nineteen-sixties, when these older, nonviolent black Americans would literally be on their knees, praying, they were battered and bloodied by uniformed police officers. That identity of violence and oppression is not something we can ignore. We have to address it. But, rather than address it, since the nineteen-sixties, we have been trying to distract ourselves from it and not acknowledge it, and not own up to it, and all of our efforts have been compromised by this refusal to recognize that we need to radically change the culture of police.

Now, the police are an extension of our larger society... (NYer, continues)

So, defunding police or just focusing exclusively on them does not address the larger problem. As our last real president said, "to bring about real change we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable."
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Postscript. The rally seems to have been peaceful and constructive, the right thing to do.

The kids are gonna be alright. https://t.co/htTMsRPjOO

— Dean Hall (@deanhallmusic) June 4, 2020

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NashvilleProtests&src=trend_click